《The Illicitous Dungeon》 (Side B) Class Stats (Side B) ss Stats Species: Human (Otherworld Traveller) Name: Andria Greenwood ss: Guide Age: 34 Mana: 50/50 Exp: 0/80 Level: 1 Str: 5 Dex: 7 End: 5 Vit: 6 Int: 15 Mnd: 15 Lck: 10 Skills: Appraisal Path Seeking Guidance 5 mana/min Elemental Magic Fireball 5 mana Waterball 5 mana Earth Shot 5 mana Titles: Otherworld Hero, Otherworld Traveller ~~~~~ Species: Human (Otherworld Traveller) Name: Alex Brown ss: Compounder Age: 16 Mana: 70/70 Exp: 0/80 Level: 1 Str: 5 Dex: 5 End: 5 Vit: 8 Int: 10 Mnd: 10 Lck: 10 Skills: Appraisal Compounding 2-Item Mix 5 mana/min Titles: Otherworld Hero, Otherworld Traveller ~~~~~ Species: Human (Otherworld Traveller) Name: Jake Campbell ss: Hero Age: 17 Mana: 100/100 Exp: 0/80 Level: 1 Str: 10 Dex: 10 End: 15 Vit: 15 Int: 10 Mnd: 15 Lck: 10 Skills: Appraisal Holy Sword Hole Enchant 5 mana/min Holy Magic Holy Bolt 10 mana Titles: Otherworld Hero, Hero, Otherworld Traveller ~~~~~ Species: Human (Otherworld Traveller) Name: Zac Armstong ss: demaster Age: 17 Mana: 50/50 Exp: 0/80 Level: 1 Str: 10 Dex: 15 End: 10 Vit: 8 Int: 7 Mnd: 7 Lck: 10 Skills: Appraisal Swordsmanship Charging Cut 10 mana de Enchant Sharpness 5 mana/min Titles: Otherworld Hero, Otherworld Traveller ~~~~~ Species: Human (Otherworld Traveller) Name: Timothy Morgan ss: Brawler Age: 17 Mana: 50/50 Exp: 0/80 Level: 1 Str: 15 Dex: 10 End: 10 Vit: 10 Int: 5 Mnd: 8 Lck: 10 Skills: Appraisal Fist Arts Quick Strike 10 mana Inner Force Fist Aura 5 mana/min Titles: Otherworld Hero, Otherworld Traveller ~~~~~ Species: Human (Otherworld Traveller) Name: Leon Koch ss: Assassin Age: 17 Mana: 50/50 Exp: 0/80 Level: 1 Str: 8 Dex: 15 End: 8 Vit: 8 Int: 8 Mnd: 15 Lck: 10 Skills: Appraisal Assassination Shadow Step 15 mana Stealth Titles: Otherworld Hero, Otherworld Traveller ~~~~~ Species: Human (Otherworld Traveller) Name: Jessica Collins ss: Holy Maiden Age: 17 Mana: 100/100 Exp: 0/80 Level: 1 Str: 5 Dex: 10 End: 5 Vit: 15 Int: 20 Mnd: 15 Lck: 10 Skills: Appraisal Faith Arts Holy Heal 15 mana Holy Guard 15 mana Holy Magic Holy Bolt 10 mana Titles: Otherworld Hero, Otherworld Traveller ~~~~~ Species: Human (Otherworld Traveller) Name: Ashley Scott ss: Dancer Age: 17 Mana: 50/50 Exp: 0/80 Level: 1 Str: 7 Dex: 15 End: 10 Vit: 8 Int: 10 Mnd: 8 Lck: 10 Skills: Appraisal Evasion Dance Reinforcement Dance 15 mana Concealed Weapons Bypass Defense 5 mana Titles: Otherworld Hero, Otherworld Traveller ~~~~~ Species: Human (Otherworld Traveller) Name: Mason Anderson ss: Ink Mage Age: 17 Mana: 100/100 Exp: 0/80 Level: 1 Str: 5 Dex: 12 End: 8 Vit: 8 Int: 15 Mnd: 10 Lck: 10 Skills: Appraisal Ink Magic Monster Creation 10 - (Lv*10) mana Ink Creation ck 10 mana/100mL Titles: Otherworld Hero, Otherworld Traveller ~~~~~ Species: Human (Otherworld Traveller) Name: Stephenie Walker ss: Support Mage Age: 16 Mana: 80/80 Exp: 0/80 Level: 1 Str: 5 Dex: 8 End: 8 Vit: 10 Int: 15 Mnd: 15 Lck: 10 Skills: Appraisal Reinforcement Magic Strength Enhancement 10 mana Weakening Magic Feeble 5 mana Titles: Otherworld Hero, Otherworld Traveller ~~~~~ Species: Human (Otherworld Traveller) Name: George Taylor ss: Bard Age: 16 Mana: 50/50 Exp: 0/80 Level: 1 Str: 8 Dex: 15 End: 8 Vit: 10 Int: 10 Mnd: 10 Lck: 10 Skills: Appraisal Song and Tale Befuddling Voice 10 mana Dagger Arts Critical Hit 5 mana Titles: Otherworld Hero, Otherworld Traveller ~~~~~ Species: Human (Otherworld Traveller) Name: Brian Carter ss: Dream Mage Age: 16 Mana: 90/90 Exp: 0/80 Level: 1 Str: 5 Dex: 5 End: 5 Vit: 10 Int: 15 Mnd: 20 Lck: 10 Skills: Appraisal Dream Magic Dream Realm Step 10 mana Mental Magic Mind Shock 10 mana Titles: Otherworld Hero, Otherworld Traveller ~~~~~ Species: Human (Otherworld Traveller) Name: Mark Wilson ss: Artificer Age: 17 Mana: 50/50 Exp: 0/80 Level: 1 Str: 8 Dex: 15 End: 10 Vit: 8 Int: 10 Mnd: 5 Lck: 10 Skills: Appraisal Mental Designer Crafting Proficiency Weapon Proficiency Titles: Otherworld Hero, Otherworld Traveller ~~~~~ Species: Human (Otherworld Traveller) Name: Edward Parker ss: Strategist Age: 17 Mana: 50/50 Exp: 0/80 Level: 1 Str: 8 Dex: 10 End: 8 Vit: 8 Int: 10 Mnd: 10 Lck: 10 Skills: Appraisal Parallel Thought Prediction Foresight 10 mana/min Titles: Otherworld Hero, Otherworld Traveller ~~~~~ Species: Human (Otherworld Traveller) Name: Lisa Allen ss: Space Mage Age: 17 Mana: 100/100 Exp: 0/80 Level: 1 Str: 5 Dex: 7 End: 8 Vit: 10 Int: 15 Mnd: 15 Lck: 10 Skills: Appraisal Space Magic Storage 5 mana Blink 15 mana Space Barrier 20 mana Titles: Otherworld Hero, Otherworld Traveller ~~~~~ Species: Human (Otherworld Traveller) Name: Nichs Cook ss: Illusionist Age: 17 Mana: 100/100 Exp: 0/80 Level: 1 Str: 7 Dex: 10 End: 5 Vit: 9 Int: 10 Mnd: 10 Lck: 10 Skills: Appraisal Illusion Magic Conceal 1 mana/min Disguise 1 mana/min Status Concealment Titles: Otherworld Hero, Otherworld Traveller ~~~~~ Species: Human (Otherworld Traveller) Name: Katherine Moore ss: Songstress Age: 17 Mana: 60/60 Exp: 0/80 Level: 1 Str: 7 Dex: 8 End: 6 Vit: 10 Int: 10 Mnd: 12 Lck: 10 Skills: Appraisal Song Encourage 10 mana Sound Magic Disorientation 15 mana Titles: Otherworld Hero, Otherworld Traveller ~~~~~ Species: Human (Otherworld Traveller) Name: Susan Hall ss: Pdin Age: 16 Mana: 70/70 Exp: 0/80 Level: 1 Str: 10 Dex: 8 End: 15 Vit: 15 Int: 9 Mnd: 11 Lck: 10 Skills: Appraisal Holy Magic Holy Bolt 15 mana Guardian Taunt 10 mana Fortification Titles: Otherworld Hero, Otherworld Traveller ~~~~~ Species: Human (Otherworld Traveller) Name: Stephenie Walker ss: Tamer Age: 17 Mana: 50/50 Exp: 0/80 Level: 1 Str: 7 Dex: 10 End: 6 Vit: 8 Int: 10 Mnd: 10 Lck: 10 Skills: Appraisal Temptation Alluring Dance 5 mana/min Taming Submission Cor 10 mana Titles: Otherworld Hero, Otherworld Traveller ~~~~~ Species: Human (Otherworld Traveller) Name: Gabrielle Davis ss: medancer Age: 16 Mana: 80/80 Exp: 0/80 Level: 1 Str: 7 Dex: 10 End: 6 Vit: 8 Int: 10 Mnd: 10 Lck: 10 Skills: Appraisal Fire Magic Fireball 5 mana Fire Maniption Titles: Otherworld Hero, Otherworld Traveller ~~~~~ Species: Human (Otherworld Traveller) Name: Vivian Jiang ss: Priest Age: 17 Mana: 50/50 Exp: 0/80 Level: 1 Str: 5 Dex: 10 End: 5 Vit: 8 Int: 15 Mnd: 10 Lck: 10 Skills: Appraisal Priest Arts Heal 5 mana Cure 5 mana Prayer Titles: Otherworld Hero, Otherworld Traveller ~~~~~ Species: Human (Otherworld Traveller) Name: Elija Washington ss: Brawler Age: 17 Mana: 50/50 Exp: 0/80 Level: 1 Str: 15 Dex: 10 End: 10 Vit: 10 Int: 5 Mnd: 8 Lck: 10 Skills: Appraisal Fist Arts Quick Strike 10 mana Inner Force Fist Aura 5 mana/min Titles: Otherworld Hero, Otherworld Traveller ~~~~~ Species: Human (Otherworld Traveller) Name: Michael Green ss: Defender Age: 16 Mana: 50/50 Exp: 0/80 Level: 1 Str: 15 Dex: 8 End: 15 Vit: 15 Int: 7 Mnd: 7 Lck: 10 Skills: Appraisal Stone Skin Guardian Taunt 10 mana Fortification Titles: Otherworld Hero, Otherworld Traveller ~~~~~ Species: Human (Otherworld Traveller) Name: Eric Lin ss: Sellsword Age: 17 Mana: 50/50 Exp: 0/80 Level: 1 Str: 10 Dex: 15 End: 10 Vit: 10 Int: 7 Mnd: 7 Lck: 10 Skills: Appraisal Swordsmanship Charging Cut 10 mana Dual Wield Quick Steps Titles: Otherworld Hero, Otherworld Traveller Chapter 1: Awakening Chapter 1: Awakening Darkness. This is where it was born from, and where it was born into. Through the darkness, it saw hazy glimpses of cities filled with towers that pierced the clouds. Innumerable vehicles flying on sknes like worker bees. Lights and screens shimmering strange writing and images flickering on the sides of the cloud piercing towers and also in the air. The images were like smoke in the darkness, a heat mirage in the desert. They werepletely alien. Yet they held a strange sense of familiarity. ~~~~~ [Initializing] It woke up in a small cave, barely six feet in diameter and twenty deep. It opened its eyes, or whatever it was which constituted to its sight, to find everything in darkness, yet it could still faintly see. The entrance of the cave alluded to the outside world, a faint glimmer of moonlight shining into the cave. It wasn''t alone in this cave, there was alsorge brown bear along with a small pile of bones, a mixture between those of animals and human. ''Human? A human is me, right? No, I am not, but it feels familiar'' It thought to itself as its thoughts gradually became more coherent. [ System initializationplete 7 errors detected. Errors within eptable range. Global Status initializing ] ''System? Global Status? Initialization?'' It began to question the strange window in its head which was running what appeared to be an instation. [ bal Status initializationplete Calibrating body Calibrationplete. Start-upplete. ] Just as suddenly as everything began, the screen in its mind vanished as if it was never there. It also began to feel its body for the first time, instead of just an uncanny 360 degree field of view. Its body was a crude rhombus shaped crystal approximately 2 feet tall. It didn''t have any physical appendages, but it has tentacle like mana feelers which could feel the surrounding area and even drag itself through the air. They were also what kept it mysteriously floating in the air. There was also an additional panel in its mind which it could focus on. [ Species: Dungeon Core (Dungeon Master: None) Name: unnamed Mana: 100/100 Exp: 0 Level: 1 Abilities: Dungeon Creation Mana Control ] The window reminded it of a status screen in an old role-ying game, a thought which made it question where such knowledge came from, but said question soon fled its mind as it had more pressing issues at hand, such as the bear which just woke up and was now staring at the strange, glowing blue prismatic crystal floating in its cave. The bear felt no threat from the crystal, and it didn''t look or smell like food. It also didn''t make any sound, yet gave off a strange presence which felt slightly intimidating. The bear curiously stepped closer to the crystal, which instinctively swing its intangible mana feelers at the bear while slightly drifting backwards. The mana feelers couldn''t touch the physical body of the bear, simply passing right through it. But the did cause the bear to feel a pain like electricity passed through its snout. Now feeling threatened, the bear roared at the crystal, only for it to strike its snout again when it got closer, causing the bear to flinch back once again. The bear, just like any other creature, was afraid of the unknown. It quickly learned that moving close to the crystal caused it to hurt, and it seemed to be inedible. Wary of the crystal, it moved away from it and lied down while watching it. The crystal waved its feelers at the bear threateningly, unaware that thetter could not perceive them. Once it was satisfied and a strange stalemate seemed to be established, it explored thendscape around it curiously. As its feelers reached into the ground, they seemed to merge and be one with it as a new window appeared in its mind. [ Connection established. Do you wish to establish a new dungeon? Yes / No ] Half driven by instinct, it selected [Yes] in its mind and its perception of the world immediately began to spin as it felt itself merging with the cave around it. [ New dungeon has been established. + 100 exp + New skill: Dungeon Control + New skill: Dungeon Facility Construction + New skill: Basic Dungeon Construction + New skill: Trap Construction + New skill: Internal Resource Storage + New skill: Mining ] A new screen reced the old one with new skills it acquired by forming a dungeon. Its vision also stabilized, but now, instead of being an all-round panoramic viewpoint from the crystal, it now had an omnipresent sight of everything in the dungeon. Unfortunately, it still couldn''t see outside beyond the small window to the outside world. It quickly opened its status and inspected the updated information. [ Species: Dungeon Core (Dungeon Master: None) Name: unnamed Mana: 100/100 Exp: 100 Level: 1(+) Abilities: Dungeon Creation Mana Control Dungeon Control Dungeon Facility Construction Biomass Converter 100 mana Breeder 50 mana, 20 biomass Basic Dungeon Construction Scan 10 mana/m3 Blueprint Creation 0 blueprints Blueprint Manufacturing 0 blueprints Trap Construction Bait 5 mana, 5 biomass Spike Trap 20 mana, 10 stone Pitfall Trap 10 mana, none Internal Resource Storage (0/50) Physical Material none Liquid Material none Mining Basic Material Identification Resources: None Monsters: None ] The status panel had a massive change from how it was moments before. It took a long time inspecting each item, trying to understand them, but nothing was properly exined. It was able to however, rely on knowledge that it didn''t know the origin of to specte. ''So I''m a dungeon core, and by establishing a dungeon, I became the dungeon itself. Kind of like bing the town hall in a RTS kingdom building game, except I''m the entire kingdom. I can feel myself, my blood flowing through the walls or whatever passes as my lifeforce.'' ''I can control everything, but it''s sluggish, and I will need to find ways to speed up my progress. Build some vigers or something.'' ''It appears I have enough experience to level up, but let me get familiar with everything first. Using mana, I can do detailing and finer control of parts of me, but it can''t touch anything that''s not "me", such as that damned bear. How dare it enter my home!'' ''Aside from that, everything else is basically straightforward and just needs some experimenting, but how am I supposed to get monsters? I don''t appear to be able to summon them. Is this one of those games where you need to lure them in to take up residence in the dungeon? Like I would let that happen!! Filthy things!'' ''I suspect I need to make them. The Breeder seems oddly suspicious of helping with this, but that name is too ambiguous! Is it a breeder the male or female side of breeding?'' It had the image of a group of horny humans, goblins, and beasts impregnating the dungeon''s walls and floors and was so aghast it wanted to throw up, although the only actual change was its mana bing chaotic. ''I am male! 100 percent, definitely male! I. AM. MALE!'' As trying to convince itself, no, himself, he religiously chanted to himself over and over again until he felt better. There was still the option he was wrong, but he refused to even consider it, for fear of admitting to the possibility. He still had no resources to build anything so he extended his tendrils and began eating at the wall at the rear of the cave. The process was slow, and consumed about 10 mana per cubic meter. Thankfully, it wasn''t too slow, digging through a cubic meter of stone and dirt wall in about a minute, but he would be out of mana in ten minutes and have to wait for it to recover. One cubic meter of digging gave him 8.904 stone and 2.096 units of dirt, which he directly stored internally within his core. Not only did he establish that 10 units was 1 cubic meter, but he also got to stop and inspect his mana regeneration speed, which was a steady 1 point/minute. ''This is just pitiful,'' He grievously said in his core. The bear was highly alert and ready to attack as it saw the rear of its cave suddenly being dug deeper. The dungeon core didn''t miss this, and maintained vignce against it the entire time. He was actually extremely nervous the entire time, as now he had merged with the dungeon, he no longer had the mana feelersing out of his core to whip the bear. Unwilling to remain so vulnerable, he quickly dug a pitfall trap between the bear and himself. At least, as quickly as a newbie dungeon could dungeon. The surface didn''t look any different from before, but there was now a hollow beneath the ground with a hinged lid. Anything that stepped on it, would quickly find themselves falling down into the cavity below, unable to climb back up the polished stone walls. The dungeon wasn''t limited to the size of the trap either, it could erge, shrink, change, or alter it in any way it preferred. It could also lock the trapdoor lid, or manually release it upon desire. Of course, all these things cost mana to make happen, and would also use materials if he was changing theposition. The bear was considerablyrge, and the basic pitfall trap was only two meters good only good enough for trapping goblins. The He-Dungeon spent almost 30 mana, triple the base cost, expanding it to be 2 meters wide and long, and 4 meters deep. There was no way the bastard-trespasser bear was escaping from this. He discovered that his force of mind can be exerted on others if he tried. However, it didn''t seem to cause them any harm or make them feel pressure, just feel him. He exerted his presence on the bear who stood up with a low grown and began walking toward the dungeon core. What it did not expect was the ground to suddenly drop out from under it and cause it to fall into a pitfall trap. This was the bear''s cave, it wasn''t a particrly smart bear, but it knew that there shouldn''t have been such a thing here. ''Sess!'' He-dungeon called out and did a mental victory spin. He watched as the bear struggled to get out but waspletely unable to, giving him much relief. He closed the lid and trapped the bear in darkness, ignoring the beast doing its best to scratch at him, or at his walls to be precise. Now in safety, he began digging out the back of the cave, gradually producing a room like enclosure. He very quickly filled up his Internal Resource Storage, a mere 50 units. He emptied it out in the corner of the room, which appeared out of thin air as 50 giant brick like blocks. He was annoyed that they took up arge amount of room, rendering the area dug basically moot. He spread them out throughout his dungeon to give himself room for more digging, when he came up with the idea that he could just use a pitfall trap to store them. Making a pitfall trap didn''t mine the stone and dirt, but ate it instead. He quickly used all of his mana to dig arge pitfall trap near the back of the cave and store all of the spare stone and dirt bricks inside of it. Now that he had nothing to do for the next hour and 40 minutes while his mana recovered, he went back to where the bear was and opened the trap door. The bear was terrified in the hole, while the dungeon gave it a re of gloating condensation, not that the bear knew this. ''Now do you know who''s boss?'' The dungeon exerted his presence over the bear. The bear was unwilling to give up. Now that the trapdoor was open again, it began wing at the walls again and roaring in anger. The dungeon now had plenty of materials and after a ten-minute standoff with the bear, invested his newly regenerated mana into making a spike trap on the inside wall of the pitfall trap. It only took a minute toplete and the he-dungeon immediate used it against the bear. Approximitely 20 stone spears shot out from the wall and impaled the bear, which only let out several whimpers before falling limp on the spears. [ Forest Bear killed! + 20 exp ] Whilst ted to have killed what he perceived as an intruder inside of himself, he was irritated that reloading a spike trap cost 5 mana, as mana was the spring used tounch the spikes. Considering he had nothing else to do for the time being, he decided it was time to use experience points to increase his level. [ 100 exp used to level up. Lv. 1 -> Lv. 2 umted skill experience bonus: Mining -> Internal Resource Storage -> Mana Control -> ] [ Species: Dungeon Core (Dungeon Master: None) Name: unnamed Mana: 4/200 Exp: 20 Level: 2 Abilities: Dungeon Creation Mana Control Dungeon Control Dungeon Facility Construction Biomass Converter 100 mana Breeder 50 mana, 20 biomass Basic Dungeon Construction Scan 10 mana/m3 Blueprint Creation 0 blueprints Blueprint Manufacturing 0 blueprints Trap Construction Bait 5 mana, 5 biomass Spike Trap 20 mana, 10 stone Pitfall Trap 10 mana, none Internal Resource Storage (32.510/100) Physical Material Stone (24.420), Dirt (8.090) Liquid Material none Mining Basic Material Identification Resources: Stone 176.224 Dirt 28.902 Biomass 10.014 Monsters: None ] Chapter 2: Bandits and Elves Chapter 2: Bandits and Elves The unnamed dungeon was ted about the bonus skill experience he received, which increased several of the skills he had used the most. Naturally, he was also a bit depressed that he didn''t wait longer, as he surely could have increased even more of them. He was extremely bored during the periods of waiting for his mana to recover, and was disappointed that increasing his level didn''t increase his mana recovery speed. Once his mana was mostly full, it was time to test out the biomass converter, which appeared to be made out of some kind of mana constituting ck flesh that wasn''t really flesh. It cost mana to operate, in which ck tentacle and ck knife tentacles would cut up the biological creature and pull it in for further processing into a base, organic material. Coming up with an excellent idea that only a dungeon could, he created another pitfall trap in the existing one, this time it was lying on its side in the wall. As a pitfall trap, it was a failure, but it allowed his to move the biomass converter inside of it, which he could then manually open the door and allow it to process whatever dead animal or other creature is inside of it. A supreme, grand design the he-dungeon flexed his third vertex over. After moving everything into ce, he watched in pride as the biomass converter extended its flexible yet sturdy ck tentacles to carve up the bear. The sound of hacking flesh and grinding faintly rumbled in the small cave. It was a very efficient machine and finished processing the bear in about ten minutes, the entire thing converted into 15 units of biomass, giant bricks of pink fleshy substance. Unfortunately, it couldn''t clean up all of the blood left in the base of the pitfall, so it was quite a few inducing appearance. He had some knowledge on organic matter, so he knew it could spoil, but he believed biomass shouldst longer than a festering body due tock of bacteria. That wouldn''t stop more from infesting it though, so he made sure to store the biomass inside of his Internal Resource Storage. This should allow it to keep for the longest period of time. With his former prey gone, he had to do what dungeons do, lure in prey. With biomass in his storage now, he created some bait, which turned out to be a pile of fruits and raw meat. His only source of dissatisfaction was that it was messily left on the ground, it would be much betterid out on a tter, possibly some sauce or dressing to go with it. This was meant to lure prey in after all. His dungeon-y senses knew how to dungeon far better than the skill it seemed. He was also dissatisfied with the price to product ratio of the dungeon skills. 5 units of biomass was half a cubic meter, or five of those giant bricks, yet this amount of food didn''t even amount to one of them in mass. He couldn''t leave the food like this, so he created a stone tter with some swirling patterns engraved in it and used his dungeon senses to slide it under the food pile, directly after the pitfall trap. [Stone tter(Swirl) Blueprint has been added.] ''They want to steal my food? This is five units of biomass! They aren''t worthy!'' ~~~~~ The following two days passed by rather uneventfully. The food wasid out on disy, but the prey lured in weren''t anything great. There were four rabbits, which only gave 2 exp each and were incredibly difficult to kill with a spike trap, one deer, and what looked like a ck jungle panther. The final one stalked into the cave the night before and was so agile it would have jumped straight out of the pitfall if the lid was closed any slower. The experience with the rabbits had led to an upgrade in the overall pitfall design, not with spear traps on both sides of it, while the biomass converter was moved to another side. With double the spears, there was double the chance to hit small targets, and double the damage torge ones. The genius design became even more genius. The dungeon had expanded considerably, with several room-like caverns behind the basic entry tunnel. Threerge rooms in a triangle formation, each filled with lots of pitfall traps. Most of them were filled with resource bricks, but some were replications in the pitfall + spear trap. It had scanned the first one and auto built them again. There were more spear traps on some of the walls and even the ceiling, to catch anybody searching for pitfall traps unaware. [ Skill Level Up: Mining -> + New Subskill: Mineral Detection ] ''Ohh, so that''s what they are called, subskills what about traps and such? Subrecipe?'' The young dungeon overlord felt the subskill start working immediately. It could feel the surrounding earth near its dungeon like it had a sonar. All that currently fed back from the subskill was stone and dirt, but it would be much easier to find metals and other treasured materials buried in the ground with this skill. Just then, the he-dungeon felt severalrge entities enter itself. Focusing its attention on the entrance, it saw three humans enter. Two were males, one with a torch and an iron sword while the other held just a sword. They were equipped with worn leather armor and had rough appearances like bandits. At least, that was how the dungeon imagined them as. The third person was a woman in torn clothes, exposing decent patches of skin, including her left breast. She had long blonde hair, but that had blotches of mud in it and was full of twigs. She was bruised and beaten up, but definitely aplete beauty. The dungeon quickly noticed something else off about that woman. She had elongated, pointed ears that poked out from the mess of her hair. She also had what looked like an iron cor around her neck. ''An elf! This world has elves!! Wait, why am I thinking that?'' The dungeon thought to himself before an overwhelming sense of possessiveness overcame him. ''I must have her!'' "azosvvt opkq" The two humans pushed the female elf into the dungeon in front of them with some garbled words the dungeon couldn''t understand. It did however, feel a strong hostility against them the moment they entered inside itself, so understanding them was highly irrelevant for it. The elf stumbled forward almost lifelessly. She walked further into the dungeon, ignoring the delicious looking food tter altogether. She was extremely nervous, oftening to a stop before the two behind her pushed her forward again and cursed at her. She didn''t say anything back, simply walking forward as if walking toward her death. What she didn''t know, was that despite its hostility, the dungeon was feeling a strong sense of possessiveness toward the elf. The two men behind were also unaware, merely lighting up the path in front of them on constant alert for monsters or traps. There were no monsters in the dungeon but the genius dungeon had dungeoned countless spear traps everywhere, turning the entire ce into a death trap. Just as the trio entered the first room at the back, the floor dropped out just behind the female elf. One of the men managed to jump back just in time, but the other wasn''t so lucky. He dropped directly into the hole with a shout and a curse before a faint ''shua'' sounded and 40 stone spears shot out from the wall. This human clearly wasn''t to be underestimated though, he responded with lightning reflexes and swung his sword at the stone spears which shot out from the wall in front of him, breaking most of them before they could cause any damage. He was still unaware of the ones which came from behind though. His armor softened the blow from most of them, but plenty still struck in unguarded areas. The dungeon was expecting him to die from that, but despite being stabbed considerably deeply in many locations, he was still alive, cursing and capable of moving. The second man went to retreat quickly, but the dungeon had already released three traps around where he was. He tried to dodge away further and break several spears with his sword, but he couldn''t hope to defend himself from three directions at once. The dungeon retracted the still intact side of spears and quickly finished off the first man, while the second was already dead from an unlucky spear which pierced his temple. It didn''t matter how sturdy his body may have been, that strike was fatal. [ Morris (Bandit ) killed! + 290 exp Eden (Sword Apprentice ) killed! + 240 exp ] ''Ohhh! One of them didn''t just look like a bandit, they WERE a bandit! I can also level up again, but I''ll make sure to wait longer this time for a bigger bonus!'' The dungeon made a victory dance, or a victory spin, as it looked at the two corpses. All that was left left was the dirty elf maiden who was curled up on the ground shaking in fear. ''Well, she''s mine now. But how do I talk so I can tell her what to do?'' Chapter 3: An Elfs Tale Chapter 3: An Elf''s Tale The Abyssal Forest was one of the many forbidden zones on this continent. It was home to some of the most powerful and dangerous monsters, the peak reaching Fifth Step Monster Lords. Each controlled arge swath of territory in the forest and ruled over it with iron fists. Despite all the danger that came with it a forbidden zone, the outskirts were quite safe, and the Monster Lords didn''t pay much attention to them either. The strongest beast or monster would generally only be of the Second Step, and due to theck of dungeons, no high level rankers passed by. In this world, everything and everyone were governed by sses, subsses, and levels. Everyone had them, could change sses when certain requirements were met, but only those who pursued levels, challenging dungeons and danger zones were called rankers. Therina grew up in a small elven vige on the east side of the Dark Forest. The forest vige was hidden away from the world behind a low grade illusion array, keeping away random beasts and adventurers. The elves were self sufficient for the most part, with some trade between other hidden elven or beastman viges nearby for things they didn''t produce locally. It was a rtively peaceful life, although there were always those who wished to be rankers leaving the vige to pursue strength. Therina wasn''t one of them, merely a young woman in her 40s hoping to one day find a husband and have a family in this small world of hers. This peaceful life was shattered however when a group of mercenaries assaulted her vige. The illusion array which kept them safe was useless, the band of humans clearly already aware of knowledge of where their vige was located. There was only one reason this would happen. One of the elves who left the vige in pursuit of levels had sold them out, or it had been tortured out of them. Outside of the dungeon-cities, where order ruled, the strong preyed on the weak. One either had strength to protect their wealth, didn''t have wealth, or hid it away from those with greed. This vige was exposed and taken by a surprise assault as fire arrows burst through the trees and quickly spread fire through the vige. The mercenaries numbered about 50 people, majority humans with a couple beastkin and dwarves mixed in. With the exception of four Second Step rankers, the rest were low levelled First Step adventurers aspiring to reach the ranks of rankers. They relied on quantity rather than quality. The elven vige had a poption of around 300, but only 50 of them werebatants, equal numbers with the raiders, even their average levels were slightly higher despite a lessbat oriented lifestyle, due to their nature of being a long lived race. However, most of theirbat relied on trappings and ambushes against animals and monsters. They were not only less equipped than the mercenaries, they were taking by surprise. The scouts outside the vige were killed by the Second Step rankers without being able to sound an rm, and the vige quickly descended into anarchy shortly afterwards. ~~~~~ Therina Sel''Ether was only a Thatcher, a basic production ss which had nobat proficiency. Her vige was covered in mes, ck smoke polluting the area and making it difficult to breath. She saw the bodies of half her vige fallen on the ground, cut up and bloodied in a brutal massacre. Long gone was the grace of the elves, reced by the brutality of what a cold iron de could do to a body of flesh and bone. The screams of her fellow vigers could be heard in the background. Weeping, bludgeoning sounds and guttural human words in themonnguage. The mercenaries subdued the entire vige, killing the elderly and resistors, those who held no value to them. The rest were chained, iron cors attached to their neck in shame and ced off to the side, a very crest all that remained to cement their servitude to others. Therina knew she should have fought back, even though her death would be the only result, but her fear of dying stayed her hand, allowing herself to be chained. The humans among the mercenaries were extremely lustful, the weeping and blood stained crotch of more than several elves revealed the evil deeds theymitted. Therina was of average looks among the elves, but the base standard was high, and humans would sleep with even half breed demonkin. She curled herself up among the captured elves, trying to shrink her presence into something indistinguishable. She had even rubbed dirt from the ground over her face and hair. He clothes already torn from when she was captured. It was apparently not enough, as two of the mercenaries apparently had taken a liking to her. "You, ''et up." One of the human mercenariesmanded with his hand on the hilt of his sword. Therina shook in fear, slowly getting up while constantly dodging the gaze of the man with her eyes. She hid her body exposed through her torn clothes as best she could by wrapping her arms around herself. "Perfect, I can zee za ma''ins of beauty there." The other human grabbed her arm with his thickly callused hands, breathing in lust at the touch, and dragged her off away from the other captives, not one of which speaking up due to fear. Therina was forcefully escorted out of the northern region of the vige where nobody would bother them. She knew what they wanted, and it brought a crippling fear to hear as she began to silently cry and beg for saving, but her fate was already sealed. She would be but another who had been defiled. Once away from the vige, one of them pinned her up against a tree, forcing his body which reeked of sweat and blood against her while greedily taking in her scent. He even licked her elongated ear, sending a cold shiver of fear through her body. "Oi'', Ed. Check ''at out," The other human who was about to join in looked through the trees at the cliff which guarded the rear of the vige from the deeper parts of the Abyssal Forest. "Huh? What?! It ''etter be good, yar spoil''in the mood." The human assaulted Therina was irritated, but still looked over toward where the first mercenary was pointing. Therina fearfully nced at it too, and saw a cave in the cliff face which she knew was the den of a forest bear. It was just an ordinary animal, and the elves didn''t consume a lot of meat, so they hadn''t bothered hunting it. It didn''t attack the vige anyway, so there was no danger. "Jus'' a cave, what o'' it?" "My Basic Trap Detection ze trigger''in. There are traps just inzide za entrance." "What are ye'' say''in? Zis a dungeon?" "Haz to be. A low levelled von as vell. I zink ve hit gold." "We shoul'' repor'' it to the boss." "Are ve nuts!? Don'' ve know how vuch a core is vorth!?" "So we shoul''?" "Aye, let''s go look. If ve can, ve''ll take it ourselves, vell it and zlit the profit." "Wat of the traps?" "Ve have an elf, ze isn''t vorth mudpared to a core! Uze her as bait for traps. We can go vet more if ze vies." With a n in motion, the two humans had nothing but greed in their eyes as they dragged to terrified elf towards the cave. Therina had no idea the cave had turned into a dungeon and based on what she knew, the humans were right. It would have to be a very new, low levelled dungeon. The dungeon core was ripe for the picking, and its value was easily ten times that of her small elven vige. Even without a trap detection skill, she could see holes all over the ground, walls and ceiling, indicating that it was riddled with basic spear traps. "''Et in, try not tar die." The human who was about to **** her before shoved her into the cave, drawing a torch out of his storage bag and lighting it while holding a sword in his other hand. The other human just held a sword while they cautiously followed behind her, ensure that any trap which sprung on her wouldn''t affect them. She also served as a meat shield for any ambushes by goblins, rats, or other low level monsters the dungeon had summoned. The cave stunk of blood and death, but it was mostly faded. There was a strange stone tter with fruit and meat on it that looked so suspicious, no sentient being would ever fall for it. Dungeon produced food was notorious around the world as it smelled fantastic and could make one salivate in hunger, but it all tasted like shit. No matter what it looked like, it was all made out of the same biomass, which was nd and unptable. Therina walked a light footed as she could, avoiding the ominous holes in the ground which spears would shoot out from. She shook all over and felt weak from the threat of death looming over her, like she would copse and pass out any minute. Her stats were all less than ten except for vitality which was at 12, so these traps could easily take her life. Near the end of the entrance tunnel, which led to what looked like several roomlike excavations shrouded in darkness, each approximately 30 square meters, the dungeon seemed to suddenlye to life. No monsters appeared, but the floor behind her, which the two humans were standing on, suddenly gave way to a basic pitfall trap. Therina and the two humans had been so focused on all the holes of spear traps, the pitfall trap had remained hidden like a single tree in a forest. The mercenaries cursed, one of which managed to jump back before the pitfall lidpletely dropped open, while the other dropped into the trap. Therina was so terrified that her legs finally gave up below her and she copsed on the ground, shaking and with a lump of fear in her throat so thick it refused to let her make a peep. She felt tears on her face as the sound of spear traps released one after another, along with the sound of flesh being punctured and bones cracked open. Eventually, all the sounds died down and the spear traps slowly retracted, the cave being filled with an overwhelming scent of fresh blood. She finally worked up the courage to look behind her. The pitfall had closed, hiding its contents, while one of the mercenaries was no lying on the ground like a broken rag doll now covered in blood. The blood and brain matter than hade out a hole in the top of his head revealed where the fatal blow had been. The humans with ravaged their vige and raped their people had died, just like that. "P-p-please, don''t k-k-kill me," Therina fearfully stuttered in elvish, praying that the dungeon would spare her. She wanted to retreat, but spear traps around the entrance had released and remained fully extended, barring the entrance of the tunnel with criss-crossing stone spears. One would have to break the spears to enter or leave, which she was barely capable of even if she picked up the fallen mercenaries sword. The dungeon would kill her before she could work her way through it anyway. A heavy thump startled a yelp out of her as arge brick of stone dropped on the ground next to her. She felt the presence of the dungeons consciousness focusing on her but had no idea what it wanted or even meant by the block of stone. ''Does it want me to pick it up? That is clearly too heavy for me. I may be able to push it a little bit, but that is about it'' The elf nervously reached out and touch therge stone block, when another one appeared not far away, slightly deeper in the dungeon. She thought she knew what the dungeon was conveying and crawled to that stone block, as her legs were still too wobbly to stand. When she reached that stone block, another one appeared even further in. She followed the trail into the rooms at the back of the cave, finally managing to somewhat stand steadily as she entered the room on the left. As she did, the stone blocks disappeared and stone bars grew from the ground and sealed off the room. The bars weren''t overly strong, but Therina would have difficulty breaking them, while their intent was extremely clear. The room was very dark, with little light filtering in from the entrance. Being an elf, she had somewhat better night vision than humans, although not as good as dwarves or other races more ustomed to the dark. Therina watches as a stone prison bed like structure was built in one corner of the room, while a chair, which appeared equally ufortable, was built in the opposite. She lied down on the stone bed, ignoring the difort and all her emotions exploded as she began crying and shaking. The emotional toll of everything that happened, of having her life destroyed, was too great and overwhelmed her mind as she eventually fell asleep. ~~~~~ Therina woke up feeling like everything that happened was a dream, but reality came crashing down on her when she woke up in a stone cave instead of her warm andforting home. She wasn''t sure how long she slept for, but it didn''t seem like that long. At least her mind was no longer in immediate panic mode. At least it wasn''t until she saw the new contraption in her prison in which she froze in fear. On the other side of the room from the bed was a person sized device made from ck, sleek flesh. It was almost like a recliner chair, except for the various tentacle and appendages which grew from it. It was a device notorious among all races and deemed illegal by allwful societies in control of dungeons. The breeder. It was a device used to impregnate females and impregnate them, using their wombs to breed unique monsters. It was cheap and didn''t cost any dungeon experience to use, and it could be used to create high level monsters rather than using arge amount of mana, and even dungeon experience, to summon them. Any dungeon lord would see the cost benefit of using one. Whilst it was deemed illegal, there were always some under the table deals going on in which people sold their wombs for money. But there was another reason why it was illegal. Creating monsters ced a burden on the body, in which if the burden was too high, it would affect their health and even fertility, while trying to breed something far beyond the body''s ability to support, would kill the host. One would have to be a high level ranker to support a high level dungeon monster birth, but no such ranker would sell their body, so evil dungeon lords would use "expendable" females to breed higher level monsters than they could summon, or unique monsters which couldn''t be summoned. Chapter 4: Mine, Body and Soul Chapter 4: Mine, Body and Soul The he-dungeon was pleasantly surprised that the elf listened to hismands and entered her new room. She was his now, so he naturally provided her a room of her own. He wanted to provide a morefortable room, but this is the best he could currently do. ''Hah! All I have to do is point and click, and my units will go to that designated point!'' He celebrated with a happy spin. He also barred it off, to express that this was her new home. He didn''t need to worry about her finding his crystal either, as he had taken safety precautions earlier. He couldn''t seal off the entrance to the outside world, as it left him feeling suffocating and he even had a panic attack when he tried. However, he discovered he could hid his core in a pitfall trap. It was shameful to have to hid his illustrious body, but safety was important. The elf had said some things, which was in a voice very pleasant to listen to, but he couldn''t understand the meaning of the words she was speaking at all. The more he looked, the more beautiful he found her. Even dirty, he was fixated her beautiful waist length golden hair and vivid green eyes. He face was the representation of beauty, her body not overly curvy, but enough to elicit a response of dire. He watched as she broke down crying on the stone bed until she fell asleep. Looking at her torn clothes exposing her body, the dirt, and the bandits who use her as bait, he judged she was captured by them. He wondered if there was an elf vige nearby, or she was an adventurer who was in the wrong ce at the wrong time. Unfortunately he couldn''t inspect her status as he didn''t have an investigation skill, but he judged she wasn''t very strong to be captured by two people not even level 10. Most likely, she was a civilian of some kind. Still, it didn''t matter to the dungeon, she was now his civilian, his no. 1 employee, although he had nothing to pay her with. She was his property now anyway, so payment was unnecessary in the first ce. While she slept, he controlled thin tendril of his mana to investigate her. This was a trick he learned over thest day, which he could use his mana to map the mana pathways of a beast, or in this case elf, to build a rudimentary understanding of them. He didn''t really understand the purpose of it, but it helped train his mana control skill, and also helped him feel a sense of familiarity with them, although they were usually dead and had their mana drying up like a bucket with a hole in the bottom of it. As the mana tendrils felt around the sleeping elf and entered her mana pathways, he felt and intricatework of mana constantly flowing in various weaves, almost like blood vessels throughout the body. Except those pathways were not just extremelyplex, but also somewhat narrow and frail. This was particrly focused around her heart and mind. It was much more alive than any of the other animals he felt. He could also ce his own mana into her system, but there was resistance when he did so, as if her body was rejecting it. He stirred and moved her mana around a bit as well, but it was more exploratory, and also unharmful, than having any specific purpose. [ Skill Level Up: Mana Control -> ] He did victory spin as gave himself a mental pat on his rear facet. He also needed his new elf to work for him, so he went ahead and created the only facility he hadn''t built yet, a breeder. He needed monsters, and this was the only way to get them. It cost 50 mana and 20 biomass, but that was a minor expenditurepared to his current material stock. The facility almost seemed to grow out of the ground, but that was mostly for stability. He could feel every muscle and sense of the device, which was a new experience for him. It felt both familiar, yet alsopletely alien. While waiting for the elf to wake up, he digested the bandit in the pitfall trap, digesting all the flesh into 8 units of biomass, leaving behind clothing, leather armor, a sword and a now extinguished torch. The other bandit was still lying down in the entrance, the dungeon not knowing how to get rid of him just yet. It didn''t want to create another biomass converter just for one body. Once the elf was up and did her job, he would have her throw the body into the pitfall trap. ~~~~~ ''She woke up!'' The dungeon eagerly shouted to itself, intently watching the beautiful elf instinctively try to cover her exposed breast as she woke up. She had been asleep for nearly two hours, and seemed to be much less emotional than before. She looked around the room and froze when she saw the breeder. ''Good it appears she knows what to do,'' The dungeon was happy with its new subject. Despite waiting however, the elf refused to move by herself to the breeder, merely bringing her knees to her chest and sitting back against the wall. Even the dungeon could tell she was just moping now. ''Very well, I will directly tell you what to do,'' The dungeon reverted to it''s "point and click" method and dropped a stone resource block directly next to the breeder. The elf visibly shook and tried to look away, but the dungeon pressed his consciousness toward her and while she couldn''t understand what he was saying, she knew what he wanted. It was extremely obvious. Finally, the elf weakly stumbled to the breeder. She ced one hand on it nervously and felt all over the ck skin like structure of it, before turning around and timidly sitting back into it. The dungeon felt every bit of contact and was extremely excited over it. It was an erotic kind of stims, having the elf touch him all over like that, and whilst being dirty, she had very supple and soft skin. She was shaking nervously, but the dungeon was kind to his subjects. He controlled the tentacles to wrap around her wrists and ankles, holding them in ce. They were still flexible and had a spring like tension so she could still move. She could possibly break free of them if she truly tried anyway, as they weren''t all the powerful structurally. He had more tentacles wrap around and feel her soft body. One massaged her stomach, creeping up her shirt, tunic, or whatever it used to be, and reached for her breasts. The elf squirmed and chirped some pleasant to hear words, so he stopped momentarily and loosened her restraints when she tried to sit up. She didn''t leave the device, but nervously, and extremely slowly, took off her shirt, followed by her skirt and underwear. Bras apparently didn''t exist, at least, not among elves, but she still had cloth underwear. The elf now exposed herself to the dungeon in all her beauty. She somewhat covered her privates with her arms, but it was more instinctive than anything else. Perhaps she shaved her body hair or elves didn''t grow it, but she waspletely hairless all over her body. The restraints came back and she was back lying in the reclining chair like facility. The breeder shifted and changed with the dungeons will, as it was a part of the dungeons body after all. Even the tentacles shifted shapes to be more suitable for their tasks. A tentacle caressed her cheek forfort while another fondled her apple sized breasts, teasing her cherry red nipples which were fully erect. It even simted a suction in the tip of the tentacle and stimted her teets with that, causing a pleasant hum from the elf who had her eyes tightly shut. Two more tentacles massaged her legs, all the way from her ankles to her thighs, helping relieve her taut muscles and release built up stress. Some small feelers also massaged her back and rear which she was lying on. The final tentacle startedst, slowly rubbing up and down her crotch, teasing her clitoris in gentle but firm vertical and circr movement. This tentacle had a special penile tip, and was also the one which would release the dungeon''s seed. The elf was now in a fantasy as all her sensitive areas were being stimted. She couldn''t help but gradually begin to moan and move her hips in synch with the tentacles massaging. The dungeon was also able to feel her soft skin all against him, and his touch all over her, and waspletely enamoured by her. Yes, he was extremely horny. His penis-tentacle was slimy with nectar from the elf''s hidden garden. He slid the tip of it down her slit until it reached the entrance of her vagina. The elf tensed at this touch and moaned less, but didn''t shy away. She lost herself in pleasure and allowed whatever happened, to happen. Her vaginal lips spread open as the penis tip slid inside her. She yelped and tensed, gripping the penis tip with a mp like grip inside of her. It wasn''t enough to stop it though, as the penis slid insider her bit by bit, slowly reaching deeper. The elf maiden hissed in pain and called out a few oriole like words, but the dungeon couldn''t understand them. It understood she was in pain though, and halted the process of entering her and focused on massaging, stimting and soothing her nerves. The elf stared at the tentacle beside her face with a meaningful stare before slowly closing her eyes and resting her head against it. Her vagina was still releasing fluid, but her vaginal walls mped on the penis extremely tightly. The dungeon felt a burst of ecstasy from the sensation and almost felt like releasing his seed then and there. He managed to hold off and spread the elf''s legs apart slightly further before slowing pistoning the tentacle penis. With each thrust, the penis would slide slightly further into the elf, filling up her vagina which desperately clung to his penis in a way he was unsure whether it was trying to stop him, or never let him go. The elf moaned in pleasure, getting louder and louder over time. The dungeon found a spot within her vagina which when stimted, would cause her entire vagina to contract, and the elf herself to release a long moan in pleasure. He made sure to rub the spot every time he thrust into her. Before the elf realised, the tentacle penis had reached all the way inside of her vagina, filling her up and her vagina rhythmically contracted around it. She begun moving her hips along with the thrusts to maximize her pleasure, quickly reaching the point of climax. The dungeon was also about to release its seed, but the elf came first. Her entire body quivered, her grip on the restraints squeezed, and she turned her head and bit into the tentacle there as if to muffle a long, loud moan. Her vaginal walls violently contracted around the penis as if trying to wring it out, something the dungeon fulfilled as it also had a moment of ecstasy and released arge amount of white goop into her vagina and womb. [ Insemination begun. Please select seed to imnt: 3x Miners Burden (1) 1h incubation 2x Shroom Gnome Burden (1) 1h incubation 1x Forest Goblin Burden (3) 2h incubation 1x Stonerat Burden (4) 2h incubation 2x Forest Goblin Burden (5) 3h incubation ] ''It''s here! My basic vigers for mining resources are finally here!'' The dungeon core practically lit up in excitement. Now that he had released his seed, his lust decreased dramatically and he could think straight. He immediately selected the 3x Miners and gradually rxed the tentacles holding the elf maiden. [ 3x Miners selected Incubation 59:58 ] She weaklyid there in the breeder while lightly panting, thick white dungeon seed mixed with some blood leaked out of her vagina, which was still undting from pleasure. Chapter 5: Monster Birth Chapter 5: Monster Birth Therina could feel something growing inside of her. It was frightening to say the least. She had given her body to the dungeon, fearing death was her oue from the breeding process. She was a prisoner to her captor, forced to y to its whims. She was thankful it was gentle, well, at first. It soothed her and stimted her erogenous areas before moving onto the deed, not just ramming it inside of her. It was fearful at first, but she soon found herself drowned in pleasure as her body heated up and began demanding sexual satisfaction. She lost herself in this feeling, forgetting all her pains and grief. She had still been a virgin, and didn''t realize sex could feel this incredible. Still, whatever was growing inside of her was a cause for concern. Sheid down and curled up in the breeder, which was countless times morefortable than the stone bed. Her body was still vibrating from the pleasure of climaxing, and she craved that sensation of being drowned in pleasure and forgetting all her pain again, but she was still clearheaded enough to worry that the dungeon may simply use her body until it breaks. Therina was also beginning to feel quite hungry and thirsty, which was going to be an issue soon. For now, she just curled up in the breeder naked, wishing to forget everything. Suddenly she jolted away as she felt something reaching into and spreading through her body, a feeling even more intimate than sex. She had no idea what it was, but it produced a warm feeling which gave spread throughout her body and even made her feel stronger. She could push against it if she tried, but she simply allowed it to continue. "Status," Therina softly said, gazing at the mental image which appeared in her mind. [ Species: Tree Elf Name: Therina Sel''Ether ss: Thatcher Age: 40 Mana: 57/57 Exp: 224/754 Level: 2 Str: 4 Dex: 8 End: 5 Vit: 13 Int: 9 Mnd: 7 Lck: 6 Skills: Nature Touched (Racial) +20% Dex, End, Vit when in forested regions. Forest wildlife is less hostile to you. Weaving 3-Fold t 1 mana/min 5-Fold t 2 mana/min 9-Fold Thatch 3 mana/min Wood Weaving 10 mana/min Flower Arrangement Nature Alignment 15 mana Mana Alignment 30 mana Archery Twin Shot 5 mana Rapid Fire 5 mana/shot Trap Setting Concealment ] ''My mana!!! My mana has increased by nearly 20 points! I haven''t levelled up or gotten any titles, so how in Gaia did that happen?!'' Therina was utterly shocked when looking at her stats. The shock was so great, she even forgot to pay attention to her slightly swelling stomach. ~~~~~ The he-dungeon had time to wait until his vigers were born, so he begun exploring his elf''s body with mana tendrils. He extended them into her manawork and filled up her body. He was slowly getting familiar with her body. He used his tendrils to y with her mana, stirring it around and increasing the cirction. Thework itself was quite sturdy, yet at the same time paradoxically frail, so he had to be careful with what he did. As he stimted her mana, he felt her pathways seemingly bing slightly wider, an interesting thing to feel none the less. It was fun for him, and he felt much closer to the elf when he was doing it. He even held and caressed her with a tentacle while doing it, the intimate feeling of him against her feeling even sparking a little lust from him. ~~~~~ The elf looked down at her stomach which was now twice as big in worry and fear. It was time to "give birth", as she could feel it. The tentancles caressed her as if to sooth her worries, helping her into a position where she could give birth to his "vigers". She felt a pressure from inside her stomach, trying to push itself out and grimaced in pain. A tentacle pressed over her mouth, allowing her to bite onto it, but the feeling of her tongue was oddly stimting to it. Other tentacles held her legs open in an M position, a position the dungeon felt was best for giving birth. She cried out lightly in her oriole like voice, and pushed out a beetle like creature covered in incubation slime. I was a little smaller than a fist, and the infant of a miner. The elf''s stomach had shrunk a bit, but it wasn''t over. She pushed out two more infant miners, one after another, before lying her head back and weakly panting. Her stomach was t again, the wless smooth skin as before her impregnation. The only evidence of her giving birth, the three infant miners and a copious amount of incubation fluid and seminal goop covering herher regions and inner thighs. The dungeon held a connection with the three infant miners. They were a part of it, but also their own individuals. They could feel the dungeon and had to obey his will, but he couldn''t control them like puppets, they still had their own individual minds. Another fantastic aspect, which ted the dungeon, was that the creatures would not only act as his hands, but also his eyes. He could see what they could see, andmand them from their viewpoint. The three miners needed sustenance, which the dungeon fulfilled by creating several tters of food out of biomass. The new creatures ravished the food and even had seconds as their bodies rapidly swelled until they were half a meter tall and nearly a meter long. They had thick exoskeletons which served as protection for their fleshy bodies while digging, and also against enemy attacks. They had long sharp des around their mouth made out of the same carapace, but stronger than most standard metals. This is used for cutting up and grinding any dirt and minerals as they mine. They could also be used as weapons, but the miners weren''t very fast, and would only be effective against dumb monsters who fought head on. The elf watched the miners with fearful apprehensiveness, especially their digging des. She need not fear though, the he-dungeon would never hurt his own belonging. Hemanded one of the miners to exit the cave and investigate the surroundings. He couldn''t look outside of the cave or explore out there, but it could. He needed to know what was around him, so he could be better prepared. The stone bars sealing the entrance of the room broke as the miner cut through them with no effort, before it crawled out of the entrance of the cave, casually pushing the body of the second dead bandit into the pitfall trap for processing. Outside was a lush forest, currentlyte afternoon by the looks of it. A faint few birds could be heard, but most prominent was the smell of smoke and blood that was carried on the wind. The scout-miner patrolled around the forest area, eventually reaching a vige from where the scent of smoke and fire originated. The dungeon stopped it from entering the vige and made it observe from outside. The houses were all made out of wood, and integrated into the forestndscape with a sense of beauty, but most of those house had burned down, leaving behind burnt husks of ash and smoke. Some were still on fire. Arge group of bandits were milling about, looting the burnt down houses for any money or remaining valuables. Off to one side, there were carts loaded up with boxes and sacks of goods, while a procession of chained up elves was beside it. He desperately wanted to secure a couple more beautiful elves, but he didn''t dare challenge the bandits with just a single miner. Especially the couple which broke down several houses as if they were made of twigs. They were much stronger than the stragglers who ran into his dungeon with the elf. There were also mages among the bandits, casting earth and water magic to extinguish the fires now that the battle was over. They couldn''t loot a still burning house, after all. It appears this was her vige, just five minutes away from his cave. Now though, it was thoroughly destroyed. ''How dare they!'' He mentally raged. He had the perfect nearby vige to feed off of and help him grow, but now, it had been taken away by someone else. He watched from the bushes as several of the stronger bandits rounded everyone up where they had loaded up the goods. Securing all their goods, they began heading away from the vige to the south-east, several bandits with whips or clubs hitting the elves who stumbled or tried to escape despite their shackles. They apparently didn''t notice theck of two of their members and an elf, but with all the dead bodies around, mostly elves but some bandits too, it seemed normal to be short a few people. They appeared to have made such a profit on this endeavour, nobody cared for the dead. Once he was sure the coast was clear, he had the miner sneak into the town and look for any survivors. It searched house after house, but all he found were more corpses. It did find fabrics, various foods and grains, and a bunch of other misceneous items, none of which it could carry back. If there were any survivors in this vige, they were very good at hiding. Chapter 6: Ashes and Dust Chapter 6: Ashes and Dust Therina watched the miners as they left the room and started digging through the wall. Shey on the breeder, still naked, as it was the mostfortable spot in this prison of stone. Thankfully, the cave was quite warm, even if the stone itself was cold. She was defiled, a tainted elf that had been used by a dungeon to breed. She had allowed it, and worst of all, found pleasure in it. The mess between her legs constantly reminded her of it. She wanted to clean herself, but there was no water and no clean cloths. The incubation had taken a lot out of her, and she was feeling weak. She hadn''t eaten or drunk anything all day, and it was beginning to take its toll as her throat was parched and stomach ached. She got up and ced her clothes back on despite how filthy she was. Her tunic couldn''t even be called that anymore, arge tear exposing one of her modest breasts. "I''m hungry and thirsty," She spoke to the dungeon in elvish, it making its presence known that it heard her. After no response other than its presence being made known, she tried asking again, even in the guttural human tongue, but still nothing. Therina hesitated, before asking again, this time using hand motions to indicate eating and drinking. The dungeon clearly understood this one, as a small table was constructed next to the stone chair. A stone tter with a swirl design appeared on top of it along with an assortment of fruits and meat. Even though the meat was uncooked, it smelled delicious. Therina flinched away at the site of the notorious dungeon food. "No! That stuff is terrible! It''s disgusting!" The dungeon clearly didn''t understand what she meant, but when she made gagging and vomiting gestures and pointed at the food, it abruptly vanished. ~~~~~ ''Ungrateful elf!'' The he-dungeon abruptly raged, its core crystal shaking in anger. ''I made you such delicious food, and you dare call it disgusting?! You are lucky you are my thing, so I will give you a chance to apologise for your rudeness.'' He reabsorbed the biomass the food was made of. She also apparently needed water, but the dungeon had none, and no way of procuring it himself at the moment. Calming down, he knew he couldn''t let his elf die on him. She was very useful, valuable, and most importantly, extremely beautiful. There was a well in the elf vige, and likely a river nearby too, so he should be able to dig toward there for a water source, but it is slow progress. The miners don''t take any mana to dig and expand his dungeon, but they aren''t very fast. Each one is a little less than half as fast as when he digs with mana. But it all umtes together, and with him working in conjunction with the miners, his mining speed has already doubled, half of which requires no downtime waiting for mana to regenerate. He wondered if having them level up would increase their level. His only current option is to have the elf leave the dungeon and procure water and whatever food it is she eats. He can''t let her go unsupervised though, in case she decides to run away, ores under danger. The scout miner returned and he let it into the elf''s room. He used it to nudge the elf, who squeaked in shock at the touch. ''Go with the miner. Take this bucket and fill it up with water at your vige, get food ande back'' The dungeon said while trying to speak to his elf. He also created a simple stone bucket with a handle. The handle was attached with a stone pin, allowing it to swivel forfort in carrying, although it was still ugly by the dungeon''s opinion, therefore he didn''t turn it into a blueprint. It took a while for the elf to understand, but eventually she understood to follow the miner. She carried the stone bucket while curiously examining it and followed the miner outside. ~~~~~ Therina was free! At least, she wanted to think that. She was apanied by a terrifying beetle like monster which she even gave birth to. ''Do I count as its mother?'' She thought in fear. The dungeon seemed to want her to carry a primitive stone bucket and follow the beetle outside the dungeon. She wasn''t sure exactly what it wanted her to do, but the scent of freedom was incredibly tempting. If she could, she will run off as soon as she got a chance. But first, she needed to get food and water. She was too hungry to move properly, and the monster beside her was incredibly frightening. Those jagged sword like teeth with grew from its mouth felt like things of horrors to her. When she arrived at her vige, all she found was a smouldering wreckage of what used to be her life. She no longer had a home, and the nearby hidden viges who traded grains and other necessities they didn''t locally produce would quickly cut off contact with the area once they found the vige, for fear of being followed back and implicating their own. The destruction of a vige to the nearby ones was a giant warning sign of potential danger. They would increase their guard, and reduce interactions with the outside world to a minimum for a while. They likely wouldn''t even take her in if she managed to contact them, for fear she will bring along or be tracked by whoever destroyed her vige. The stone bucket she carried was truly poor. It was functional, but that was it. She struggled to look at the dead and mutted bodies of those she once called friend and family littering the vige. She wanted to bury them under their own tree, so they may return to the embrace of the forest, but there were nearly 200 corpses, and she didn''t have the time or energy for it. Her guard didn''t seem willing to allow it either. She wandered through the deathly quiet vige toward the well in the center, making sure no bodies had been thrown in and tainted the water before drawing arge bucket of water. She didn''t use the stone bucket, leaving it on the ground and instead used the wooden one hooked on the well''s line. It wasrger, held together by two bands of iron, yet lighter than the solid stone bucket the dungeon made. With a bucket full and drawn, Therina cupped the water in her hands and washed her face before drinking severalrge mouthfuls. She carried the new bucket toward where her house used to stand, now a half burned husk. Inside had been looted of anything of value. She never had the habit of hiding coin or treasures under the floor or anything, as the elven vige was peaceful with no theft, so everything of value was gone. She did find some clothes that hadn''t been burned. She turned to face away from her guard, stripped off all her clothes, and used a clean cloth and the bucket of water to clean herself. She also found some somewhat intact block of scented ashlime soap to clean her body and hair. Now much cleaner, she got dressed in clean, unripped clothes. She then found a sack, filled it with wooden containers of containing various foods, clothes, and other daily items. Carrying the sack over her shoulder, she left the vige under the escort of her guard beetle and returned to the dungeon. She wanted to escape, but the fear of what may await her in the world was greater than her current condition. She has heard many stories about the depravity and evil of humans, which she did not dare to verify what is real and what is just a story. ~~~~~ The elf was well behaved. The dungeon watched as she stripped and cleaned herself, using what looked like a cheap ash based soap to scrub the dirt and grime from her body and hair. Now much cleaner, she became even more beautiful. The dungeon felt he could stare into her vivid green eyes, like forests themselves, for hours. Actually, he had done that already, but he could do it countless times. When she returned to her room. She brought a number of bits and pieces with her. He was kind enough that he dug out shelves along the wall for her to ce things in. ''Hmph, what are you surprised for? Did you think I wouldn''t take care of my things?'' Just you wait, I''ll give you an even grander room in the future!'' The dungeon said in pride as he watched her look over the shelves wide eyed. She took out a candle and lit it with a strange flint and steel contraption, lighting up her room in a soft warm glow. The dungeon wasn''t sure on what the world was like, but he felt it was rather backwards on technology, given that there was magic in the world, it would be used as a substitute for many processes, leaving people tock the drive to improve their state of life with science and technology. He wasn''t even sure himself as to why that was or wasn''t considered normal. It was merely a subjective thought on what he had observed. She had brought back a full bucket of water too, which he stored in his internal storage to prevent the water getting dirty or stale, and merely gave it out to the irate elf whenever she demanded it. She filed her belongings along the shelves, which was mostly food, as if settling into her life belonging to the dungeon. He was naturally happy to see her being so pleasant, and made sure to fulfil any requests she made. Given that he understood what she meant. Chapter 7: First Contact Chapter 7: First Contact The dungeon began digging more and more, one piece at a time. His miners were excellent for helping him dig faster, although he did need to feed them to keep them alive. They didn''t consume much biomass though, and he was getting more from animals wondering in than they were eating. He dug out arge cavity behind the three rooms. It took an entire day and was sized 20 meters wide, 30 long, and ten high. He also dug out a new stone variant called ardonite as he dug deeper, which had a slightly bluish-grey texture and he thought looked kind of nice, but he had no idea what it could be used in. He made a mental not to remember to experiment with itter. During the process, his mining skill increased to which was a pleasant surprise. He found leveling up the skill to be rtively easy, but the distance between levels appeared to be increasing. His mining speed got slightly faster as well with every level, but he was still held back by his mana regeneration speed. He also sent the elf off on several trips with two buckets, to collect and bring back water, which he stored in his internal storage, sessfully increasing it to from continuous usage and double his maximum storage amount to 200 units. Liquids were stored in the same units as solids, 1 cubic meter equalling 10 units, and also due to them being liquids, 1,000 litres. If he were to store just water in his internal storage, he could store a massive 20,000 litres. When he had spare time, he would use his mana tendrils to explore the elf''s manawork and understand her better, but he still had zero understanding of anything she said. Perhaps if he kept trying, he would learn a trantion skill. Her manawork channels were much wider due to the dungeon''s meddling and intimacy while exploring her body. Her mana circted faster and more powerfully, but there seemed to be a limit, as her channels felt strained. Fearing causing damage, he stopped stirring her mana and began massaging them, filling her with his own mana he could control. She had already grown ustomed to the intimate sharing between the dungeon and herself, and her gave no resistance to his mana, treating it as her own. As he was doing so this particr time, he focused his mana in her mind and suddenly his sight was ovepped with another. Just like how he could see through the eyes of the miners, or vigers as he liked to call them. He could now see through the eyes of the elf, even hearing what she heard. "Ohhh, what''s this?" The dungeon said while examining the elf closer, especially how his mana curled up in her mind and shared an intimate contact with hers. He could retract it if he wanted, and she could likely push it out, as the bodies own mana reigned dominant against foreign mana, although it appeared it could still be used to cause damage if one really tried. Unexpectedly, the elf maiden shot to her feet and looked around in surprise, calling out into the darkness with a twittering voice. She only used her candles sparingly, as they appeared to be a valuablemodity and only used when necessary. "Elf, are you trying to talk to me again?" "ahosaijhohga as ihhg s" the elf tittered in response while looking around her room, clearly responding to the dungeons voice. "As nice as your voice is to listen to, I can''t understand what you are saying! Speak English!" "asbdueir English aslk ohifa" "So, you can understand me, right?" "An" The elf said before realizing the dungeon couldn''t understand her and nodded her head briefly. "Excellent, this makes things much easier. Now I don''t need to point and click, I can just tell you what to do. Ahh, voicemands are the best~" The elf looked puzzled but soon made some mboyant gestures and pointed at the breeder in her room. "Yes, it is about time youplete your duty. Hurry up and make me new vigers." "ASDfi oajfe as ofjfe" The elf was evidently taken aback and started yelling at the dungeon and shaking her head. He simply dropped a stone block next to the breeder and simply said, "Move." The elf looked at the breeder with enmity before she bit her lip and stood up, slowly taking off her clothing and folding them at the end of the stone bed. She walked over and sat back into the breederpletely nude. The dungeon controlled the tentacles to massage and rx her muscles while simultaneously fondling her erogenous zones. He curled around and squeezed her breasts, another tentacle through her hair and wrapping around her long pointed ears. It turns out her ears were quite a bit erogenous for her, but also ticklish, as the touch of his tentacles both made her face flush and squirm at the same time. Her legs were tied up by more tentacles in a wide M shape. The penis tentacle rubbing up and down her vagina, which began excreting its oily fluid much quicker thanst time, as if expecting the rod on it tip to pierce into her depth. The dungeon was getting very excited and pushed the penis into her vagina, which stretched out between her thighs as the penis tipped tentacle forced it was into her vagina. Her vaginal walls tightened and gripped the faintly familiar rod shaped organ entering her. She wasn''t a virgin this time, so without the hymen, she was filled with waves of ecstasy immediately. The dungeon controlled his p-tentacle to piston in and out of her vaginal depths. He mentally moaned at the tightness wrapping around him, the elf also moaning in her own fast approaching climax. Instead of simply pushing onwards until he came, the dungeon was curious. The elf''s body was like butter in his tentacles as he slowly made long, deep thrusts. He slowly extracted the p-tentacle, now covered in the natural lubricant her vagina produced, and thrust it back in, this time a little lower. The tip of his penis pushed open and slid inside the button sized anus of the unsuspecting elf. Her eyes instantly shot wide open in shock, and her anus tightened around the p-tentacle dangerously tightly as she tweeted like a panicked bird "aaasgo paope!!!" He couldn''t understand her, but he knew she was definitely not happy. She fought against her bonds and ever shook her hips to get it out of her back door, but her efforts were inevitably in vain, even causing it to slide a bit deeper inside. "Stop struggling, idiot elf. What are you so panicked about? It is just a bit of side pleasure. Close your eyes, I take care of my things." Although though she didn''t seem to be soothed, she stopped struggling and tightly forced her eyes shut. Even her anus begun to rx slightly, albeit still unbelievably tight. A new p-tentacle extended from the breeder and wet itself on her vaginal fluids before pushing its way deep inside andpletely filling her up. It pistoned slowly, causing the elf to start moaning and further rx her muscles, allowing him to begin softly pushing and pulling the p-tentacle with its tip in her anus. The ass prator slid a little deeper under the natural lube still covering it, but was met with fierce resistance, and could only slide in and out of the shallow depth. It was able to slide further inside with a couple or stronger thrusts which caused the elf to tweet in surprise and contract the muscles in her anus and vagina. The powerful constrictions around himself cause the dungeon to reach his climax very quickly, pushing as deep as he can and releasing thick white seed deep into her womb and ass simultaneously. [ Insemination begun. Please select seed to imnt: 3x Miners Burden (1) 1h incubation 2x Shroom Gnomes Burden (1) 1h incubation 1x Forest Goblin Burden (3) 2h incubation 1x Stonerat Burden (4) 2h incubation 2x Forest Goblin Burden (5) 3h incubation ] This time, instead of choosing 2x Miners, he chose 2x Shroom Gnomes. It was a different type of basic monster he was interested in discovering what it was. [ 2x Shroom Gnomes selected Incubation 59:58 ] The elf apparently didn''t reach her climax, but she still felt a strange sense of fullness as the dungeon filled her up. She moaned in pleasure and rxed in the breeder as the two p-tentacles slid out of her, allowing white goop to flow out of her two holes. She felt incredibly uneasy as some goop flowed out of her asshole and raised a voice inint, but the dungeon couldn''t understand what her problem was. ''Good work, it will be over in an hour. Let me ease you,'' he soothed and massaged her, intimately filling her manawork with his mana tendrils. He carefully felt all through herwork, which had grown in size and flow considerably after several sessions while he was waiting for his mana to refill. The ''walls'' of the channels were still felt frail, so he simply massaged them while wrapping them inside his mana to prevent any idental damage. He wasn''t sure what would happen if they broke, but he felt like it would be bad, and wasn''t about to test it on his loyal elf. The elf in question hummed a tune to herself in sorrow as she pulled her long golden hair over her shoulder,bing it with fingers and tting it in fancy designs while asionally checking on and rubbing around her gradually swelling stomach. ''Elf, why are you sad? Do I not look after you?'' He asked, only resulting in the elf softly shaking her head with a forced smile, which just confused him. ''Stop being sad. Come, teach me your words.'' "asfe tifl ope" He had no idea what she said, but he could guess based on her bodynguage and expression. ''It is simple. You understand what I am saying, which is enough. I will ask you certain words, and you say it in yournguage.'' As their conversation in attempted trantion continued, the elf finally reached the end of the incubation period and nervously gripped onto a tentacle with each hand, while another came across her face, allowing her to bite into it. She groaned in pain and bit deeply into the ck tentacle, while giving birth to the new monsters, one at a time. The entire process was over in ten minutes, but it left the young elf woman sore and exhausted, as she weekly rested while panting. [ Skill Level Up: Dungeon Facility Construction -> + New Facility: Storage Crate + New Facility: st Furnace ] The dungeon core gave a celebratory spin and hop as an important skill levelled up after a lot of usage and unlocked a storage crate and st furnace facility. Although he found it difficult to understand why a crate was described as a ''facility''. Creating a new crate cost 1 unit of any physical material, and an increasing amount of mana depending on how much storage it had, starting at 10 mana. He wasn''t sure on any other specifics at the moment, and would need to experiment first. A st furnace costs 20 units of stone and 100 mana to make, although he felt like a smeltery made of stone wasn''t the greatest of ideas. He worried that either the stone would crack or melt under high heat, or have a low maximum temperature. While he was contemting the two new The elf soon got up and brought over the bucket from her burnt down vige as well as a cloth rage. "Water." She demanded while pointing inside the bucket. After fulfilling her request, she soaked and wrung out the cloth rag before using it to wipe the messy mix of her own fluid and dungeon seed off of her vagina and inner thighs. She then used a bit of beggar''s soap to sanitize and do a final clean before getting dressed again. "Outside. Toilet!" She demanded next. The elf had pleased the dungeon greatly, so he was more than willing to remove the bars of her room. He also didn''t send an escort with her as he felt no issues with trusting her, whether this was wise was left undetermined. He already viewed her as his, and that his dungeon was her home. Even if she ran away, he could see through her eyes, and still talk to her. ~~~~~ Therina was shocked and frightened when the dungeon had spoken to her in her mind. It appeared that the warm embrace she felt was the dungeon somehow entering inside her body, and now a piece seemed to be attached to her permanently. This allowed the dungeon to speak inside her mind as it willed, but apparently couldn''t read her thoughts, as this form ofmunication was unidirectional. "If you are the dungeon, get rid of this evil thing from my prison!" She demanded while indicating towards the breeder. Her purity had been lost in a way she would never forget, and she was barely keeping her mind together. ''Yes, it is about time youplete your duty. Hurry up and make me new vigers,'' the dungeon''s voice rang in her head, a distinctly masculine voice. "That is not what I said! I will not allow that thing to defile my body again!" She resolutely shouted, but her confidence rapidly copsed when a giant block of stone threateningly dropped on the ground next to it. It was some terrifying form of persuasion he called "pointing and clicking", whatever that meant. He had a bunch of foreign concepts in his speech which she assumed only a dungeon would understand. ''It can''t understand me'' Therina thought to herself in depression. With no more confidence to defy the dungeon, she took off her clothes and sat into the evilest device a dungeon could make, the breeder. The breeding session, as she referred to it, was arge mix of pleasures she felt utmost guilt in admitting felt good. There was none of the pain of losing her virginity again, the broken hymen healed from her mana and natural regeneration. However, the penis tentacle was intimidatinglyrge, so there was a bit of pain as it spread her wide open as it prated inside her. After a while though, the euphoria filled her mind and everything was white, allowing her to escape from her pains into a world of lust. She desperately clung to this feeling in which she could escape from reality, and was also her greatest guilt. Things abruptly changed however, when the penis slid out of her and thrust into her ass. It didn''t tease or loosen it up first, instead catching her when she was unaware and struck the bullseye like a bolt of lightning. She instinctively clenched hard. She was dumbstruck, not even reacting to the burning pain at the start. She very quickly started struggling against her bond to pull the thing out, even trying to wriggle out of it, but the evil thing even slipped in further. "Out! Get it out! Such a filthy, vile thing!" Any fear of the dungeon had vanished in this moment as she shouted in outrage. "Stop struggling, idiot elf. What are you so panicked about? It is just a bit of side pleasure. Close your eyes, I take care of my things." The dungeon''s voice responded in her head, rendering her speechless. ''It called me an idiot? And its thing? A bit of side pleasure?'' Therina thought to herself in shock, unsure whether to question its sanity or be even further outraged. Perhaps both. She forced herself to calm down and forcibly shut her eyes, following the dungeon''smands for now. Struggling wasn''t going to make this breeding session go any quicker. Another penis tentacle invaded her vagina again, the other one still inside her ass. Her front and rear doors were stretched to their maximum, the tentacles moving at different speeds which gave a strange sense of pleasure. The ones ying with her ears and c-cup breasts only adding to the stimtion. The tentacle in her ass couldn''t move much due to the tightness, but when it did, it gave her a shiver of pleasure she determined to never reveal felt enjoyable, not even under pain of death. After the session was over, she felt the dungeons seed seeping out of both her entrances. The goop sliding out of her ass however felt particrly bad, as if she was soiling herself. To keep her mind off of it, she grabbed the hair she used to take much pride in and began tting it while humming an elven song. There was a trace of deep sadness in the song, not from the origin of it, but from her loss of her home, family, friends, and life as she knew it. The dungeon was evil, no, it had no concept of evil and good. At least, not one she could understand. It seemed to view thingspletely differently from the rest of the world and was ipatible with her thought process. She was unhappy with the dungeon, but for some reason could not find it in herself to hate it. Humans were different however, she truly hated them with every fibre of her being. It didn''t matter to her whether there were good humans, or they hadn''t participated in raping, piging, and murdering her vige, she hated them all. It spoke to her after that, demanding she not be sad, a phrase she almost found depressinglyughable. It then proposed the idea of her teaching it elvish, so it could understand what she said. Therina was actually very keen on this idea. This way, she could properlymunicate with the dungeon and hopefully teach it sense. Although she was weak, so she wouldn''t be too pushy. During the teaching and learning process. The dungeon filler her with its mana, just like the feeling a warm andforting embrace that told her everything will be all right. It brought a gentle and mesmerising smile to her face, one which she thought was already lost to her. Even though it didn''t seem to increase her maximum mana any more than the 128 points it capped at, she desperately cherished this feeling. Regardless, this was in fact a monstrous amount for someone who was only . Afterwards, she gently asked for some water in the bucket, which she used with a toilet rag to clean herself off, washing herself a second time with soap. She then asked to go outside to go to the toilet, which the dungeon surprisingly removed the bars on her prison and allowed her to walk out without supervision. Therina walked to a nearby tree, pullet up her skirt, undid her cloth undergarment, and pushed out all the excess dungeon seed while also urinating. After cleaning herself with the toilet rag, she washed it out in the bucket and poured out all the water dirty with her and the dungeons filth. The dungeon wouldn''t take back dirty water, which she already discovered even before it could talk to her. She looked around deeper into the forest, the bird chirping and underbrush rustling. Even without the elven vige she called home, life carried on regardless. She gave a sad smile toward a bird she saw in the nearby tree, flirting with a potential mate. The forest, and freedom from the dungeon, was directly in front of her. There was no guard beside her to stop her fleeing. However She still decided to turn back and return to the dungeon. It was a terrible ce, but it was also the only sense of stability in her current life. ''I will teach it elvish first. Maybe then, I will be able to talk to it and make things better. He does view me as his, after all.'' Chapter 8: Level Up Chapter 8: Level Up Unlike the miners, the two shroom gnomes took an entire night to grow to their adult forms. They were humanoid monsters that stood half a meter tall, with greenish-grey skin and a mushroom like growth on their head. They had powerful arms and hands for manipting objects, but they were strangely dumb. Whilst they had hands to work with, they were too dumb to use them forplicated tasks. The dungeon held some faith that levelling them up would mitigate this issue, but that was just spection at this point. He finished digging therge stone room behind his current dungeonyout and carved four intricate pirs in the corner, a task that took several hours due to low level mana control. He made a basic stone storage crate, which was a standard 90 centimeter cuboid box. This would have had a storage space of 0.73m3, but mana was used to create an expanded space inside of it. Some form of fractal mana engraving was inscribed on the inner walls of the crate, which he had zero understanding of. More mana, meant more of this engraving inside the crate, but the cost increased exponentially. The standard 10 mana created a storage area of 5m3, while 50 mana was 15m3, 100 mana was 18m3, and his maximum 200 mana was 21.7m3. Even worse was the fact that the size couldn''t be changed after the storage crate was made. It could be destroyed, reabsorbed, and recreated, but there was no pouring mana in over a long time to keep increasing each crate''s storage size. There were some benefits and cons to the crate. Benefits were such as how crates could be stacked on top of one another, as he didn''t need to physically open them to ess their stored content or to store materials. Meanwhile, the expanded space inside them was chaotic and destructive, so he could only store base materials in them, any created product would be destroyed and returned to their base materials. An exception to this was corpses, and by extension, living things. He had his elf take a rabbit corpse from the pitfall trap at the entrance and throw it inside a crate, as it was a creature not a part of him, and as such he couldn''t simply transport it inside. The young elf woman carried a candle whileining the room was too dark as she threw the rabbit corpse into the stone storage crate. She watched with an aghast face as the rabbit was torn up, shredded, it bones ground to power, blood spilling everywhere, as it turned into a disintegrated pile of flesh and blood. It was living matter, but it definitely wasn''t biomass. Biomass converters were still required. Over the next day, he created several more storage crate out of stone, even carving intricate Aztec designs on them and improving the basic structure of them by adding legs and a frame around the faces. It was a waste of mana, but it made him feel much morefortable about their basic structures. While waiting for his mana to recover, he continued learning the elf''snguage, even going back to learning the characters in thenguage and their pronunciation. He used a portion of the wall in her room to write out the elvish word with the English pronunciation above it, and English meaning next to it. The wall was perfectly smoothed out, and all the writing was tiny, so one had to get very close to it to read it. He had the processing power of a dungeon core, which was basically a superputer, so he was learning thenguage extremely fast. His monsters didn''t take any mana, only food, which he had plenty of biomass to make. He expanded his mineral collection from mining, to also harvesting some wood in the nearby forest, but he kept that to a minimal. The thought of his dungeon surrounded by tree stumps and a forest that was no more was appalling. His OCD for his dungeon looking beautiful and stylish refused to allow it to happen. He also reworked the entrance corridor, smoothing out the floor and then carving an intersecting diagonal stone bricks pathway into the floor. He built several bluish-grey pirs into the wall out of ardonite at even spacings, covering them in intricate Aztec carvings. The path didn''t extend from wall to wall though, as there was also running gardens along the wall full of dirt, but the he-dungeon currently had nothing to grow in them, nor could he with the heavyck of sunlight. He hadn''t discovered any useful aspects of the stone other than the nice colour it had. He also built andscape banner along the wall about a meter tall. It ran along the center of the wall, and had fancy patterns cut into it, and carvings of demons, more ardonite iid in the pictures for some color contrast. This design was then extended to the two rooms out back, the original further back middle room now turned into the giant room that was now 20 x 40 x 10 meters and also held all the storage crates. The elf''s room however did not get the floor turned into the nicer design and none of the carvings on the wall banner contained demons, instead flowers and trees due to an unusually adamant refusal by the elf. She had said the floor was ufortable to walk on without shoes, and the beautiful carvings of demons he made were described in something he hadn''t learned yet, but was highly unpleasant if her face was any indication. Although she did get her chair, table and bed forcefully redesigned, as were her shelves in the wall. One of the greatest benefits of the designs he made however, was that it perfectly hid the holes of his spear traps. He had to make some manual adjustments for them, but now, all the spears shot out of cracks and holes in the designs. They were impossible to see without cing oneself in mortal danger. Due to using Scan, Blueprint Creations, and Blueprint Manufacturing on nearly all the new designs, it cost more mana, but the creation process was more symmetrical and automated, it also made his Basic Blueprint Construction increase to , although he didn''t learn another subskill. He just assumed the maximum number of blueprints got increased, not that he was willing to test that out. Trap Construction also finally levelled up, earning him a new trap called "Arrow Trap". His monsters took over the role of killing animals and monsters which regrly entered the dungeon and fell into his pitfall traps, and he nned on training his elf eventually too. A pleasant surprise was that the killer would get 90 percent of the experience from the kill, while the dungeon received the remaining 10 percent. He was correct in that higher levels would improve the monsters'' abilities. The miners dug a little faster, and the shroom gnomes were a little better with their hands. Deeming he had gained enough experience with skills for arge amount of bonus experience, he finally chose to use 260 exp to level up. [ 200 exp used to level up. Lv. 2 -> Lv. 3 umted skill experience bonus: Mana Control -> + New Subskill: Mana Infusion Dungeon Control -> Dungeon Facility Construction -> + New Facility: Storage Tank + New Facility: Rotary Device Basic Dungeon Construction -> Trap Construction -> + New Trap: Weak Poison Gas Internal Resource Storage -> Mining -> + New Subskill: Auto-mine + New Title: Level Suppressor ] [ Species: Dungeon Core (Dungeon Master: None) Name: unnamed Mana: 330/330 Exp: 612(+) Level: 3 Abilities: Dungeon Creation Mana Control Mana Infusion Dungeon Control Dungeon Facility Construction Biomass Converter 100 mana Breeder 50 mana, 20 biomass Storage Crate 10+ mana, 10 physical material st Furnace 100 mana, 20 stone Storage Tank 20+ mana, 20 physical material Rotary Mana Engine 40 mana, 10 stone, 1 iron Basic Dungeon Construction Scan 10 mana/m3 Blueprint Creation 5 blueprints Blueprint Manufacturing 5 blueprints Trap Construction Bait 5 mana, 5 biomass Spike Trap 20 mana, 10 stone Pitfall Trap 10 mana, none Arrow Trap 20 mana, 10 stone (5 on reload) Weak Poison Gas 50 mana, 1 stone, 1 biomass (expendable) Internal Resource Storage (200/400) Physical Material Stone (29.000), Biomass (62.541), Ardonite (24.435) Liquid Material Water (84.024) Mining Basic Material Identification Mineral Detection Auto-mine Resources: Biomass 162.541 Stone 81,450 Ardonite 9,125 Dirt 27,449 y 12,942 Wood 42.884 Water 84.024 Monsters: 3x Miners ( ) 2x Shroom Gnomes ( ) Titles: Level Suppressor ] The dungeon celebrated therge immediate growth of his skills. He felt that all the waiting was more than worth it in the end. All his skills improved by leaps and bounds, and he even earned a title in the process [ Level Suppressor: One who restrains themselves and trains their skills in order to increase their foundation. Conditions: Increase restrained potential in all skills and stats before leveling up; Increase all skills and stats by 30% or more on average on level up. Effects: All stats +10% Bonus experience earned +15% ] He received several other new items as well. After his mana fully recovered, he built a storage tank next to his current storage crates. It was a basic water tank like shape, and came with the space expansion mana fractal design the same as the storage crates. The design was actually a little different though. The special expansion was less potent than the former, but it was a bit more stable and also included an insting factor in it which protected the container. He could theoretically fill up a storage crate with water, but he couldn''t fill it up with anything corrosive or damaging to the container itself. Pouring his maximum of 330 mana into the storage tank, his increased the internal size from it''s basic 10m3 to a staggering 140m3, otherwise known as 1,400 units, or 140,000L. He couldn''t make a rotary mana engine until he located iron, but it seemed to be a basic motor which rotated while using mana as fuel. The dungeon was incredibly excited about this, and it sparked a lot of idea in way he could use it. The weak poison gas was more of the gas itself than an actual trap. It used mana in an odd way to cause the biomass to rapidly degrade and turn into a toxic gas. It was only a weak poison, which infected the blood with biotoxic elements via being inhaled into the lungs, but it would cause damage even if it didn''t kill an adventurer. Auto-mine and mana infusion were the final major new items. Auto-mine enabled him to select an area and automatically mine it. The benefit of this was it would keep mining at the same speed as his mana regeneration, while at the same time he would constantly be out of mana until it finished or he cancelled it. Mana infusion was exciting but didn''t have any specific instructions. It merely allowed him to infuse his mana into objects or materials. He tested it on stone and ardonite first, which seemed to make them a bit stronger, but that was it. ~~~~~ "I want. Leave," The elf demanded the following day after getting the dungeon''s attention. "You what?" The dungeon asked in her mind in anger, its voice threatening. "go to. Vige," She responded timidly. "Why?" "Bury. Dead. Funeral." The elf was nervous and sad, even the dungeon could tell now. She gripped her long golden hair in a tight grip and bit her lip. She kept eying the open door to her room as if contemting simply running away. "Please, help. I. Truly, Yours." "No." She shook briefly and just said, "Please." "Your request is simply impossible, elf." "I. Do. Anything Bodies rotting." "You are misunderstanding elf, you are already mine. Why are you trying to bargain with giving me something I already own?" "No" "Do not enter a rebellious stage, elf, I do not wish to have to kill you." As if firming her resolve, she bit hard enough to draw blood on her lip as she forced herself to say, "Then. Help or Kill." The dungeon mentally sighed upon seeing this. It would truly be a shame to have to kill her, but he wasn''t without reason. He treated his things kindly, and would normally do what he could to fulfil whatever request she had, but this time was different. He had sent his shroom gnomes to her old vige yesterday evening in hope of looting anything valuable. The stench of blood and death had attracted a horde of approximately 30 wild goblins, along with some other direwolves patrolling the area for food. The goblins were mostly armed with stone hammers and blunt axes, but several of them seemed to have iron weapons too. They were better equipped than him, and grossly outnumbered his forces. With the other monsters lurking in the area too, it was simply too dangerous for both the elf and him. She was forcing his hand though. He still needed her for creating monsters, so killing her was his final and least attraction option. "You said that you will do anything?" The elf seemed to think of something and flushed before saying. "No! Can''t put. In there. Again! Still hurts" "So, you lied, and did not actually mean anything?" She visibly faltered at this question and finally answered after an ufortable silence, "Fine I agree." "Good. So, what is your name?" "aj" She said is surprise, the meaning not something he had learned yet. "Is it not strange that I do not know what my thing is called?" "Name. Therina." "Good, Therina. First, we need to make some monsters." "So you do want. Put in there" "What are you rambling about? Since when do I need to ask my thing how I use it?" Chapter 9: Resolve Chapter 9: Resolve Therina wasn''t happy, but she still did whatever it told her to do and climbed onto the breeder naked. The dungeon wasn''t in a rush and went through its usual procedures of rxing her body and stimting the erogenous zones in preparation for doing the sticking its p-tentacle inside and injecting his seed into her. "Therina, what level are you?" "Two," The elf softly said while humming in pleasure with her eyes closed. "You are surprisingly weak." "Elves level slow. Require, higher experience." "What is your ss?" "pojnd" "What is that?" "Crafting. Making baskets. Knitting. Making clothes." "So you can''t fight?" "Can. But, no weapon. Need bow, mine burnt." "Do you know the current situation of your vige?" "Everyone, dead. Captured and enved. Vige burnt down." "A few days ago, yes. But since then, it has attracted arge group of goblins which have moved into the vige. Direwolves and several other monsters are also lurking in the area." "What!" Therina called out in shock, her eyes shooting wide open and body tensing up. "Why did you think I won''t let you go? I look after my things, I will not send them to their death." Therina felt some form offort in his words, but something about it still seemed not quite right. "So. Do what." "How determined are you to go back to the vige? It''s safe enough in the dungeon due to all the traps, but once you go outside, you will no longer be safe, especially considering you can''t fight with your bare hands." "Determined." "Very well. Then you must be aware of the n going forward. The goblins don''t appear to be very strong individually, but are dangerous as a group. The miners and shroom gnomes can naturally fight, but they are notbat oriented monsters. We will need to make some whose purpose is to fight." "Agree." "I don''t think you fully understand. In order to breed a monster, your body must carry the burden. You have only had to make those with a burden factor of 1 previously. To create a single forest goblin has a burden factor of 3, and a stonerat has one of 4. "If the burden is too high, it will harm your health, or in the worst case, die as the monster absorbs more than you can provide and takes your lifeforce to fill in the difference. You are only , so a burden of 2 is possibly all that you can handle at the moment without it harming your health." "So. Suggest, what," Therina said somewhat nervously. She was obviously afraid of death, as her copsing resolve showed. "There are two options. We can breed stronger monsters, at the potential harm to yourself. Or you can learn to fight, increase your level, then makebat monsters." "Fight. I can." "No, you are inflexible, bing useless as soon as you lose your bow. Will you learn to fight then, or trade your health while remaining in a safe environment?" "I learn." "Good." The dungeon took the elf by surprise as he pushed the penis tentacle inside her now saturated vagina. Although her mind was distracted by the conversation, her body was still naturally reacting to the stimulus it was receiving. Therina moaned from the sudden pleasure as the p-tentacle forced its way all the way to her inner depths in one thrust, rubbing and invigorating her sensitive spots on the vagina''s inner walls. She squirmed and moaned more as it began pulling and pushing against the constricting tightness of her vaginal walls, taking long thrusts which kissed the entrance to her womb each time. "I said train," She said between moans as she pulled one of her hands out of the restraint and grabbed onto the tentacle prating her, although her efforts to stop it were quite weak. "And train you I shall. But I still need more viger units. You still have a job to do." Therina was relived that it wasn''t a monster which would drain her lifeforce and allowed herself to be lost in pleasure. Whilst breeding, the dungeon wanted to understand everything that was happening in her, so he extended his mana tendrils into her and filled up her mana pathways. He watched how her mana seemed to boil, twisting and turning in rhythmic waves. It moved in ways far too profound for him to understand, but he could tell there was more than just mana at work here. It seemed to be energy, which refracted into different forces such as mana, lifeforce, and several other things. Filling up her mana pathways along with the constant pleasure caused Therina to have her stongest climax yet, moaning and grabbing onto any tentacles she could reach. Her body squirmed and she pressed her body down on the p-tentacle as if to force it as deep inside of her as it would go. The dungeon was also pushed over the brink by this and released his seed deep inside her womb. [ Insemination begun. Please select seed to imnt: 3x Miners Burden (1) 1h incubation 2x Shroom Gnomes Burden (1) 1h incubation 1x Forest Goblin Burden (3) 2h incubation 1x Stonerat Burden (4) 2h incubation 2x Forest Goblin Burden (5) 3h incubation ] Despite levelling up his Dungeon Facility Construction skill, the options hadn''t increased sincest time, so it was likely that the avable options was dependant on Therina rather than the dungeon. It also solidified the fact that the higher burden factor options would in fact harm her health, or even consume her body. [ 3x Miners selected Incubation 59:58 ] He wondered if there was a way to strengthen her to be able to support higher burdens or create stronger monsters. He needed to know exactly how the insemination process worked, but could only study her from her mana pathways for now. A small portion of the energy in her pathwork flowed and concentrated in her lower abdomen, forming a seed like bulb. It consistently drew a stream of energy into itself, which it fed off and grew from. There didn''t seem to be any issue with feeding off her energy, although if it was her earlier, narrow channels, it would have been more draining. He held some concern on wear and tear on her physical body though, but he couldn''t inspect her body to check it. He could only focus on her manawork and nourish and strengthen it as he explored and understood herself and manaworks themselves. Therina was extremely embarrassed by the outburst of her climax her entire face and ears turned red. She covered her face with her hands in shame and ignored the dungeon seed still flowing out of her vagina. The warm embrace along with sex had been such an incredible experience itpletely overwhelmed her body and mind, as if he was holding her inside his arms while prating her. Even after it was over, she was desperate to feel it again. She felt it was dangerous to be addicted to the dungeon and the pleasurable feelings it gave her, whilst another voice in the back of her mind told her it was all she had now, and to attach herself to it for both safety and pleasure. She tenderly rubbed her hand over swelling stomach almost instinctively, no longer terrified of the monsters breeding inside of her. Not longter, she went intobor under the soothing and massaging of the dungeon''s tentacles and pushed out three new infant miners. ~~~~~ The dungeon was fascinated by all the ways a person''s energy would shift, change and refract itself, causing changes to the body, or the body causing changes to it. Either way, they were intricately linked. Even with his supeputer like information processing power, it waspletely esoteric with no distinct patterns or rules. He used his mana tendrils to make and ebb and wave stir in Therina''s manawork simr to when she climaxed, and while it didn''t cause the same result, she did mention she felt waves of pleasure and her body felt slightly exhausted from it. "Take this," The dungeon said into her mind and had a shroom gnome snap off one of the spears in the spear traps. Therina had rested for some time after the breeding session to allow her to recover her strength from giving birth to the three new monsters. The dungeon arranged the two shroom gnomes to serve as her guard and fighting force, although they are a bit dumb. They each broke off a stone spear for themselves to use as weapons, while Therina equipped the leather armor and an iron sword the two bandits left behind upon their death. She washed the leather armor of as much blood as she could, but there was still some left alongside several holes from the spear traps. She nervously held the sword and followed behind the two gnomes, each only a third as tall as she was. Two more monsters were there to serve as additional protection, both of which were miners. Its sharp des on their faces could dig through rocks, let along other monsters, and would serve as far better meat shields than the gnomes. "Why are you frightened?" The dungeon asked into her mind. "Death. Frightening," she replied after a brief pause. "Cowards always die. Steel your resolve, Therina, there is only one way to get stronger, and that fear must be ovee by yourself." " I understand." ~~~~~ The force of one elf and four monsters ventured out of the dungeon and into the forest, giant trees looming everywhere and bright sunlight filtering in through the canopy. Therina squinted her eyes against the sun as she was still ustomed to the low light level inside the dungeon. "It''s bright," She said to herself with some sorrow as she felt that she had no ce in the world anymore and that it was even rejecting her. The dungeon spoke instructions into her mind on things to pay attention to and when the monsters detected anything in the surroundings. She constantly used Concealment to supress her presence and hide amongst trees and bushes. She didn''t fully understand why she was doing this, but the dungeon instructed her to. "The more you used your skills, the faster they will level up and more proficient you will be able to use them," It had told her, along with ensuring she constantly managed her mana levels, neither of which she could refute. The first monster she was up against was a direwolf scout, a monster guarding an area a pack of direwolves had imed for themselves. She climbed up a tree following the dungeon''s instructions as the two miners guarded the area and the shroom gnomes picked up rocks and threw them at the direwolf scout. Well, they threw the rocks, but their aim was so bad it would be unfair to say they threw them "at" the direwolf. It was enough to attract its attention though, as it growled and immediately pounced toward the shroom gnomes. The two gnomes held therge spears defensively and begun to retreat back toward the tree where Therina was lying in wait in. They held the spears poorly and barely fended off the wolf''s attacks thanks to constant orders from the dungeon almost micromanaging them. Therina watched from an overhanging branch as one of the gnomes was bitten on the arm, the wolf''s teeth digging deep into its flesh, before it was flung off to the side. The direwolf turned to the second gnome who was still retreating and lunged at it. It attacked back with the stone spear, swinging it like a club instead of stabbing due to its low intelligence, especially towardsbat. The wolf flinched back from the blow, growling and howling to call itspanions now that it felt a threat, several wolves howling in response in the distance. It allowed the shroom gnome to finally retreat back under the tree the elf was lying in wait in. "It has called for reinforcements, you need to be quick, kill it and retreat toward the dungeon immediately. You cannot defeat an entire pack." Therina was incredibly nervous as cold sweat formed on her hands holding the sword. Steeling her resolve, she leapt down from the tree holding the sword in a two-handed downward thrust. Her heart beat like a frightened rabbit as she stabbed it at the direwolf from overhead. A shroom gnome held it as if its life depended on it, but the wolf''s keen instincts sensed the danger. It threw off the gnome and retreated, although not quite fast enough. Therina''s sword nced across the wolf''s neck, drawing a long gash, while also stabbing through its leg and into the ground. The direwolf held none of the fear that the elf did, its life constantly filled with life and death battles. Even though it was bleeding out in the neck and one leg temporarily pinned to the ground, it growled and struggled to get free, spitting saliva at the elf threateningly. Therina followed the dungeon''s advice and grabbed the spear the shroom gnome had dropped. She thrust it at the wolf, but it caught it in it mouth and tore it from her grip, inadvertently pulling her within melee distance of it. She panicked and trust with her hand, knocking its head to the side but still allowing it to bite into her shoulder, piercing through the leather armor and drawing blood with a crushing pain. One of the miners charged forth, albeit not very fast, intending to impale the direwolf. It was forced to release Therina and defend itself from the beetle three-quarters the size of itself. "Hurry up!" The dungeon shouted in her mind. She quickly dashed to where the fallen spear was and picked it up again. She had very low strength, but she was very dextrous. She thrust the spear directly into its mouth and back of the throat. Its tip was very sharp even though it was only stone, directly tearing flesh and almost fracturing bone too. Therina didn''t have enough strength to pierce out the back of the wolf''s neck, but she did twist and damage the surrounding flesh under the guidance of the dungeon. The wolf tried to growl but only sputtered blood, the spear keep it from closing its mouth or throat as blood constantly poured out of the wound. It very quickly died, drowning in its own blood. [ Direwolf killed! + 83 exp ] Therina then pulled out the iron sword pinning the wolf to the ground and retreated back toward the dungeon while nursing an injured shoulder. She could already hear the rustling of bushes and arge number of feet running on the grounding in her direction. The monsters retreated at the same time, but the miners were simply too slow. One of them remained behind to stall the wolves, and the dungeon realized just how useless their carapace was as an armor. None of the direwolves were dumb enough to run headlong into its sword like diggers, instead kiting around it and attacking from the sides and back. Their ws and teeth cutting into the carapace and ripping them off like de shelling a prawn. It barely slowed the wolves down by half a minute before it died and its connection to the dungeon was severed. Chapter 10: Slaying Wolves Chapter 10: ying Wolves Back in the dungeon sporting injuries to varying degrees, Therina and the two shroom gnomes defended from the back of the entry tunnel. There were enough traps between them and any wolves the pack shouldn''t even be able to get them. The dungeon noted they were strong, but not so much that they could ignore the plethora of traps waiting for them. The second miner was also caught up upon by the direwolf pack and quickly died, much like the first one. It was too slow and simply couldn''t make it back to the dungeon in time. The dungeon spread his mana tendril through Therina''s body and inspected what was happening inside. Her energy was currently turbulent, a slow flow was leaving it near her shoulders, seemingly having trouble leaving faster due to the resilience of the improved manawork. "How is your shoulder?" It asked the elf in her head. "Very painful, but I can manage." "Good, the wolves will be here any second, do your best." Almost as if by prophesy, the wolves appeared the very next moment. They charged into the dungeon in files of two, several at the front dropping into pitfall traps while the rest simply jumped over them. Therina held the iron sword in front of her preparing to meet them head on, although her quivering body revealed the fear she was feeling at the moment. Five wolves were trapped in pitfall traps after being caught by surprise, seven more jumped over them and filled up the entrance passage. At this moment, all the spear traps were simultaneously triggered, turning the entry passage into a pin cushion of stone spears. [ Direwolf killed! + 83 exp Direwolf killed! + 61 exp ] Two wolves instantly died and while the other five managed to protect their vital points by instinct, they were still gravely injured and would die of blood loss soon enough if left alone. "The remaining wolves are nearly dead and can barely move, kill them all." The dungeon instructed Therina as he used 110 mana to retract the stone spears of 22 spear traps. The five near death wolves growled as the young elf woman raised her sword and walked toward them. "What are you doing?" "What. Killing. As you said." "I mean, elves are supposed to be dextrous and graceful, aren''t they? You are holding that sword like it was a log. Swords are meant to cut, slice, pierce. It''s not a mace." The elf was visibly embarrassed at these words and tried to hold the sword with more poise, but it was very clear that she was a newbie to swords. The dungeon felt there was some redeemability as at least she was trying now. The wolves were on theirst legs and refused to retreat, they struggle toward Therina with their fangs bareds. She quickly thrust the sword into the neck of one wolf which lunged forward and tried to bite her leg. Blood spurted out of the wolf and over the elf as it whimpered and copsed on the ground. [ Direwolf in by Elf! + 8 exp ] The he-dungeon received its 10 percent cut from the experience due to a monster being killed in the dungeon, while Therina received the other 90 percent. Feeling a little more confident, she cautiously stepped in toward the next wolf which couldn''t move at all and thrust the sword through the side of its head. It was stopped by the skull though, and she had to attack again, this time through the throat. [ Direwolf in by Elf! + 10 exp ] The final three direwolves weren''t about to just ept their deaths, they growled and tried to fight back, one even biting Therina on the leg but wasn''t able to pierce through the leather shin guard. She unhesitatingly killed them one after another. [ Direwolf in by Elf! + 8 exp Direwolf in by Elf! + 6 exp Direwolf in by Elf! + 8 exp ] "Don''t getfortable yet, there are five more, uninjured too, trapped in the pitfall traps. I will open the pitfall traps, and you must stop them escaping while the shroom gnome kills them." The shroom gnome which didn''t have a crippled arm stood in front of one of the pitfall traps with a stone spear ready. A miner stood next to it along with Therina and another miner on the other side of the trap, all to prevent the direwolf from escaping. The dungeon gave the Therina a countdown in her head and upon reaching ''zero'', dropped the trapdoor lid open, revealing the trapped direwolf. The wolf, upon seeing the exit open up immediately tried to jump out, but was met with a stone spear stabbing it in the shoulder. It growled aggressively and dropped back to the bottom of the trap before attempting to jump out again, this time away from the gnome with a spear. Therina met the wolf with a swing of the sword, ncing across its face and cutting open its nose. The miner also stabbed at the direwolf, leaving arge cut across its waist. The wolf knew that staying in the trap would be the death of it, so it didn''t hesitate to keep trying to escape, eventually it had lost too much blood to continue on and copse in the hole, its life rapidly draining. The dungeon extended its mana tendrils into the direwolf, it no longer having the ability to offer up any resistance. It observed as the wolf finally died. [ Direwolf in by Shroom Gnome! + 10 exp ] The energy in its manawork began draining just like other animals he had observed. What puzzled him though, was that it wasn''t draining out of thework, not that he could observe at least. There was clearly a draining effect, yet no outlet. He searched and searched, but came up with no answers. The final four wolves fell in simr ways, himting another 38 exp and the shroom gnome increasing to and even nearly from therge amount of exp. With the battle over, and several injuries, the n to take back the vige had been dyed. He had Therina return to her room and strip her shirt so he could inspect her wound better, and what was happening with her manawork. Once her shirt was off, he spared a few stares at her bare breasts, but soon focused in her bloody shoulder which had several puncture wounds from the direwolf''s teeth. "You will need to disinfect that shortly, do you have alcohol?" "No wine." "Not the kind of alcohol I meant, but I just hope soap and water will hopefully do enough. How does your shoulder feel?" "Hurts, bone broken. Maybe." "Do you understand your vige will have to wait while you recover?" "Unhappy. Yes." The dungeon inspected inside the wound as he had her remove the dried blood with a clean cloth. The wound was clotting, but he was unsure how her manawork yed a role in the recovery. Whether the leak in her manawork was her body''s way of increasing her natural recovery speed, which it was struggling with due to it being reinforced by him, or whether the wound allowed her energy to uncontrobly flow out. The dungeon had her lie down so he could spend time inspecting her. He extended his tendrils into her manawork and felt around near her shoulder where the leak was. He wanted to know what was happening after it leaked out, so he truly focused on the escaping mana and tried to allow his tendrils to follow it. It took several attempts, but he manage to force the hole in herwork open wider and have one of his mana tendrils push out from it. Along with the hole widening, it meant the outflow of her energy was also faster. Thankfully, it was nothing concerning like a true leak of energy, but the point where the injury was, allowing her energy to leave thework and infuse itself into her wounds. None of it was leaking from her body, except for maybe some trace elements, and appeared to be helping her wound heal faster. "Therina, can you feel your energy in your manawork?" "My. What." "Your manawork, where you mana, lifeforce, and everything else flows, all based off a base energy." "I don''t know. Is what. No." "Sigh, how does this feel?" He artificially stirred up her energy and increased the outflow speed of it into her wound. "Shoulder, stings. Is what." "Not the pain in your shoulder, the flow of energy entering it." "No. Can''t feel." "Sigh, we will have to work on that. It is helping, or maybe even the driving force, of your shoulder healing. Due to your strengthenedwork, it is having a hard time doing it by itself, so I am giving it a boost. If this happens in the future, it will be best if you can do it yourself. But you need to be able to feel it to even think of manipting it." "Understood." The dungeon continued its work on her shoulder. It increased the speed even more, which caused the elf young woman toin about feeling woozy and her mana draining, what was understandable. At the same time though, he could see the wounds on her shoulder closing at a visible speed, but it would still take a while before they were 100 percent. "Elf, your technique is horrible," He said to Therina, causing her the clench her fist in frustration. "But I look after my things, I will make you strong." "I levelled up," She bit her teeth and said. "Good, but that isn''t what I meant. Don''t get dependant on levels more than your skills and ability. I have a training method for your sword technique first. Also" "What also." "I told you to constantly keep Concealment active, why isn''t it right now?" Therina was dumbfounded at what he said and hastily activated her Concealment skill, causing her presence to dim and seemingly blend in with the stone bed. She naturally couldn''t escape the eye of the dungeon while he had his mana inside of her though, but he was fascinated how activating concealment caused her entire manawork to slow down slightly, even refracting itself to seem a little bit transparent. Chapter 11: New Ideas Chapter 11: New Ideas "Good, keep that active at all times, even in your sleep. Next, you will begin sword training." Therina inspected her shoulder in surprise and poked it with a long, slender finger several times in disbelief. She had never expected it be healing so fast. It simply seemed unnatural to her. Taking her attention away from it, the dungeon made arge stone b in the entrance passage where it was brighter. It was the same height as her, but with rectangr holes 3" wide and 1" tall, each numbered in wood. He also created several stone swords with simr weight distribution ratios as the iron sword. Unsure as to what she was supposed to do, she asked the dungeon. "Take one of the stone swords. This is thrusting practice. You must thrust straight through the openings with both power and speed. Start by going numerically from 1 to 9. Once you are proficient, we will work with different attack patterns and shing." "How Long. Train." "Until you can no longer hold a sword. Don''t forget to maintain concealment at all times. This kind of training never ends." The young elf woman picked up one of the many stone swords. What surprised the dungeon, was that as soon as she held it, it was no longer recognized as his, so he wouldn''t be able to manipte it, or even reabsorb it into himself. It was now apletely foreign entity. Therina stabbed the sword toward the first hole but missed by a small margin, the sword sending the vibration directly up and into her arm, causing it to hurt deep in the bones. Despite that, she continued trying her best under the dungeons coaching. While one portion of the dungeon was focused on training Therina like a diator coach, it was also continuing its excavation process which never seemed to end. It had lost a and miner, but it had gained three more ones, so it''s monster mining speed hadn''t slowed down. He used the Mineral Detection subskill and scanned the area surrounding his dungeon. With the higher level in Mining, the detection range was much greater and more detailed than before. He spotted a fuzzy gxy like sea of grey motes of light in his detection range. If he dug directly toward it, he should reach there in just under two days. The subskill also told him what it was. It was a mineral he desperately wanted Iron. ~~~~~ Two days passed in which the dungeon drove Therina to the bone in sword drills. She was forced to keep thrusting her sword over and over again, even when her hands were bloody as the skin tore from all the times she missed the holes. Despite the damage she did to herself each day, he would properly tend to her hands and still healing shoulder each afternoon, trying to make her feel her own manawork herself, much to no avail. He was learning new things about her manawork everyday though, and also had to help it close the holes it opened to increase the healing speed. Rather than strengthening the channel walls though, he went back to expanding them and increasing its maximum capacity and flow speed. He also opened up temporary holes in thework from time to time to allow his tendrils to extend out and examine her body too, a new trick he learned which apparently make the young elf woman feel some difort. He also reached the iron ore vein deep underneath his dungeon. He was now mining and collectingrge amounts of iron ore. The iron ore was then being refined in st furnaces to create the final, pig iron product. The only issue was that while wood could be used as fuel, he had to constantly spend mana to push air into the furnace and achieve the desired temperature. It''s lucky everything was considered a part of him, and he could control it with a bit of mana, but everything costing him mana limited the number of things he could do overall. He merely left the miners to dig iron ore while he did the refining process. Using his entire mana pool would allow him to refine 1 unit of iron, which was only a miniscule amount in the grand scheme of things. It also caused his dungeon to heat up a lot, much to Therina''sint. He took one miner away from mining iron ore to begin tunnelling a heat vent from the ceiling of a small room the furnace was in, all the way to the cliff face outside. The miners could crawl on any surface, so digging upwards from the ceiling wasn''t an issue. Now with some iron stock after several rounds of refining, he built a rotary mana engine, which was a course cylindrical machine with a circr iron rod sticking out of one end. Its internal workings consisted of a mana tank, which had runes and magic circles engraved on the inside in iron. An insted spiralling mana passage for the mana in the storage tank to flow though, and a basic iron drive shaft which would draw energy from the spiralling mana to spin. There were then several vents to provide an exit for and release any leftover mana. The magic inscriptions in the storage tank and insted mana passage werepletely different from the space expansion fractal pattern, which greatly aroused the dungeon''s interest. He also made arge ardonite wheel to serve as a grindstone. The stone itself was quite coarse, and also increased its strength by infusing it with mana. He wasn''t satisfied with just iron though. He knew what an alloy was and how to make it. The most important difference between iron and steel was the carbon content. Refining the ore in the st furnace with charcoal created a high carbon content pig iron. What he needed to do was reduce that ratio of carbon. He was relieved to learn that moving the pig iron inside himself or a chest didn''t break it down and form itself inrge blocks. It was sturdy enough to maintain its form of small ingots, which were much easier for melting down again to use than a giant block. Once all the iron was fully melted, he took it out and allowed it to begin solidifying before cing it on a t piece of stone and having his shroom gnome hammer it with arge iron mallet. The crippled shroom gnome had been killed for exp and recycled back into biomass, while Therina had produced two more for the dungeon, giving him a total of three currently. This process of heating the iron and hammering it was repeated until the dungeon estimated it should be close enough to steel. He was amused that he could create steel, but not pure iron, which he wascking several materials to create a proper oxidization process for. He could make wrought iron though, which was iron with a very low carbon content, and technically still "iron". He created several ingots of steel, dark silver, almost ck products which looked quite unrefined. With his small refinery room, he continued to test several alloys in the steel creating process, including adding ardonite into the steel, and then trying adding ground up teeth from the wolves. The former created a coarse steel product which was a semi-failure due to the ardonite not being able to fuse with the steel proper, while thetter turned into aplete failure. Perhaps there was a way to refine monster materials to create various products, but this was not it. He then repeated the process and created two more ingots, but this time splitting some of his mana off and using Mana Infusion during the refining process. The results were worlds apart from before, andpletely out of expectation. Rather than just strengthening a material. His mana infused within the metal. Thebination of steel and ardonite fused perfectly with his mana as a buffer. The mana even altered the metal and created a faint blue tint in the steel. It was much stronger than normal steel, and he could even channel his mana through it unlike normal metals. He determined this to be a mana conductivity trait. [ New alloy created. Testing against existing records Record already exists. Award for discovering existing alloy: Manasteel. + 100 exp ] The second trial, which was ground up direwolf teeth used up a muchrger amount of mana to fuse the bone into the steel. It created steel that was a little paler and fine bone grains through it created a very rough texture. He wasn''t sure of the characteristics of the metal and had no proper way to test it, but it seemed like it would make an excellent grinding wheel with enough of it. [ New alloy created. Testing against existing records Record doesn''t exist. Evaluating alloy Please choose a name for the new alloy: ] [ Award for discovering existing alloy: Wolfbone Steel. + 250 exp ] He decided to create Therina several weapons out of manasteel, and some simple steel maces and small shields for the gnomes to serve as both her guard and meat shields. It wasn''t worth spending all the extra mana and time on weapons for vigers who are likely to die and have them stolen. He refined several ingots of manasteel before forging them into de. The first was a longsword with an elegant de. A shroom gnome did the hammering to save him on mana. They hammered out a long de, heating, tempering, and folding the manasteel until it was in the shape of a sword. Sparks flew everywhere as the de was then grinded and polished on the ardonite grindwheel, which the rotary mana engine made turn at nearly 1,000rpm at full power. It turned into a single edged de sharp enough it could cut through one of the direwolves with little resistance. A cheap wooden hilt and short t-shaped crossguard was ced on the de, creating a finished product. The dungeon also made a matching wooden scabbard, which it engraved with some floral patterns and infused its mana inside of to strengthen it. It also made a two curved hunting knifes to use if the sword was ever lost, space was too constrained, or for skinning and handling the materials of monsters. Therina could wield one or two at once depending on her preference, but the main reason behind their creation was the dismantling of monsters. Finally, he also made a handful of small throwing knives out of standard steel. These could be essed quicker than a bow, and he didn''t have to worry about them getting lost. ~~~~~ Therina continued her training in the dungeon despite all the broken stone swords on the ground and bloody scabs on her hands. Every night, the dungeon helped heal her hands and body back to new. Even her hands would return to their soft, tender skin by the next morning. ''How does it do it? It controls my energy, or mana, through some manawork in my body,'' Therina thought to herself helplessly as she looked down at her bloody hands and discarded another broken stone sword. ''What is this manawork? Why have I never heard of it before? Surely there are others who discovered such a thing before, is it known as something else?'' She constantly tried to feel this manawork and her flow of mana when the dungeon was healing her wounds, but all she felt was warm along with an itchy sensation. She did feel like she may be able to feel something spreading into the wounds, but it was a fleeting feeling, like trying to capture a mirage. Grabbing a new sword, she began thrusting it towards the holes in the stone b, starting from hole no. 1 and going chronologically. Each thrust must be in the correct angle and rotation of the de. It was easy to do it if you went slow, but the dungeon grilled her that if she went too slow and didn''t push herself, she would never improve. "Therina, I have made new weapons for you and ced them in your room. Use the knives to dismantle all the wolves." Hearing the dungeons voice in her head out of nowhere was amon urrence these days and she had already be ustomed to it. She even found his voice incredibly pleasant and was ted upon hearing it. He kept her safe, helped her get stronger, heal, and most importantly, feel incredibly good during their "sessions". She entered her room and found a new longsword, two long curved daggers, and a handful of throwing knives. She inspected the longsword first. It was mostly basic, but still nice with its floral design on it. When she pulled the de out of the scabbard though, she was truly stunned. The de was like steel, but almost seemed to be glowing blue. As soon as she held it, she could feel a connection with the sword. She could put mana into the sword and strengthen it. It didn''t make the de sharper, but it would prevent it chipping as easily. The two daggers were of the same design. They were for dismantling monsters, something she had never done before but had witnessed others do it. In an emergency however, they could be used as weapons, which was why there were two of them. "How does. Don''t know," She said to the dungeon. This was her way ofmunicating with it. It didn''t understand most of the elvishnguage yet, so she used distinct words to get her meaning across andmunicate with it. That being said, we was truly shocked by how fast it was learning thenguage in the first ce. "Nonsense. Nobody ever learned to do something by saying they didn''t know how to. If you do a bad job, do it better next time. Simple." Therina helplesslyughed to herself. She understood the dungeons personality much better after spending a lot of time with it, but there were still parts of it she found alien. She also held affection toward it, which she wasn''t sure was a result of whatever it did inside of her, her own gratitude for the ways it had helped her, or something else entirely. She simply didn''t know, but her emotional attachment to the dungeon was getting stronger every day. Chapter 12: Im 40 Years Old, Level 3 Chapter 12: I''m 40 Years Old, Level 3 Therina was terrible as skinning the wolves, removing the teeth, separating meat from bone Just about every aspect. She apologized to the dungeon, but it didn''t care and simply told her to focus on improving. Its bigger concern was how it was going to make a tanning solution to cure the leather hide. The wolves should have been skinned while their bodies were still warm and the hides were spoiled, but at least he got some meat and she got to practice dismantling. What was worth it, and would solve a great deal of Therina''sints, was arge amount of fat which could be boiled down to a burnable oil. There were better, more natural options avable, but this was currently the best avable. Therina was the hands of the job when she wasn''t practicing her thrusts. She carried all the fat and ced it into arge cast iron pot the dungeon made, which was then filled with water and set to boil. This process would take an entire day at least, so it was left to be, with a shroom gnome asionally throwing more wood on the fire. "How is the weight of the sword?" The dungeon asked in the elf''s mind, unable to test himself. "Off bnce." "How much?" "Like. Mace." He felt like raging at thatment and mentally shook in anger. "Can use. Still." "How is it you cannot feel you manawork and actively release and block mana, but you can release it into the sword." "Don''t understand." "I have been observing. You being able to release mana to empower the sword has nothing to do with the sword itself. It is you that is opening up yourwork and allowing your mana to flow outwards." "Don''t know. Just, can." The dungeon pondered over this and wondered whether perhaps it was a sixth sense she didn''t have, but the system which controlled the world installed a piece into her which allowed her to do it instinctively when holding a weapon which could receive mana. He tried having her touch the mana engine, but she couldn''t power that even though it was basically the same principle. He even refurbished it by recing the iron with manasteel, and whilst it improved its spinning speed by 50 percent, the young elf woman still couldn''t power it. His other thought was that rather than something automatically helping her empower weapons or equipment, there was something which stopped her releasing her mana in ways "not allowed". "Its time for you to head out toward the vige and kill some goblins. We will focus on mana againter." "Understood." Therina was nervous, but she had been practicing with the sword for several days until thrusting had been ingrained into her muscles and bones. She had even earned the Swordsmanship skill and risen it to in such a short period of time too. The constant training had also earned her an extra point in both dexterity and endurance, a helpful addition to her low stats. She went into her room and equipped the old leather armor. She then took out a belt from her belongings, wrapping it around her waist over her tunic before tying the scabbards of the long sword and two curved daggers to it. She drank several cups of water and filled up a leather pouch with more for the trip. She carried several herbs with her as well as goblins can asionally use poison, despite their low levels. Three shroom gnomes followed her out of the dungeon and began stealthily moving toward where the elf vige once stood. She had to be reminded often, but she was constantly applying Concealment to herself on a day to day basis. The dungeon would even wake her up when she was sleeping by dropping cold water on her face, forcing her to activate concealment before she could sleep again. Killing all the wolves had also put her very close to levelling up. Elves were a naturally long lived species, and almost as if to bnce them out with other species, they required much more experience to level up. The world was both fair and unfair in many ways. ~~~~~ The elven vige was very close to the dungeon, it was a surprise the goblins hadn''t discovered it as of yet, but they were still preupied over scavenging the vige. The had even eaten many corpses, which deeply pained Therina when she saw the scattered bones, some with meat still on them. The other corpses lying around were ghastly pale, but hadn''t begun dposing yet thanks to their elven vitality and higher levels. The direwolves were simr, as higher levelled monsters had stronger materials which wouldn''t spoil for even longer. Their fat would also create an oil three or four times higher in quality than that of standard animal fat. Therina hid herself using the burnt buildings or anything else for cover. The dungeon could see through her eyes as well as the three shroom gnomes, so it gave her updated information on any goblins she couldn''t directly see. The original number of 30 had seemingly increased to 40 over the past several days, another goblin group seemed to have challenged this one and lost, the survivors joining the original group and not only recing the lost numbers, but also bolstering them. She silently drew her manasteel sword, whose center of gravity was ufortably half way up the de. "The goblin sentry will approach the corner of the building in 5 4 3" Trusting in the dungeon, she stepped out from around the corner and attacked in one fluid motion. The sword was infused with a small amount of mana, drawn back and thrust forward in perfect form. The goblin sentry didn''t even have time to sound an rm as the sword stabbed it through the eye like a bolt of lightning, the de not encountering any resistance until it met the back of its skull, which even that was pierced through with little effort. [ Goblin killed! + 45 exp ] She only needed 30 more experience until she levelled up, which she quickly did upon finding another goblin and catching it by surprise. [ Goblin killed! + 45 exp ] [ Experience threshold met. Level Up! Lv. 2 -> Lv. 3 umted skill experience bonus: Weaving -> + New Subskill: Thread: Auto-Spin Archery -> Flower Arrangement -> + New Subkill: Defense Alignment Concealment -> Swordsmanship -> All Stats(Non-Luck): +1 ss bonus: Dex +2, Int +1 Mana: 128 -> 191 + New Title: Child of Mana ] [ Species: Tree Elf Name: Therina Sel''Ether ss: Thatcher Age: 40 Mana: 191/191 Exp: 15/956 Level: 3 Str: 5 Dex: 12 End: 7 Vit: 14 Int: 11 Mnd: 8 Lck: 6 Skills: Nature Touched (Racial) +20% Dex, End, Vit when in forested regions. Forest wildlife is less hostile to you. Weaving 3-Fold t 1 mana/min 5-Fold t 2 mana/min 9-Fold Thatch 3 mana/min Wood Weaving 10 mana/min Thread: Auto-Spin 2 mana/min Flower Arrangement Nature Alignment 15 mana Mana Alignment 30 mana Defense Alignment 40 mana Archery Twin Shot 5 mana Rapid Fire 5 mana/shot Trap Setting Concealment Swordsmanship Titles: Child of Mana ] [ Child of Mana: One who is said to not just be gifted with mana, but was someone born naturally attuned to it. Conditions: Be born with mana far exceeding the standard of one''s own race. Effects: Mana increase upon level up +20% Mana recovery speed +15% ] Therina was stunned. Not at the bonus skill experience, she hadn''t levelled up for nearly ten years, so she had umted a lot. What astonished her were two things. Firstly, her mana increased by a huge amount for going up a single level. When she went from to , her mana pool had increased from 22, to 34, only 12 points difference. This level up had it increase by 63 points. Second was the title. It was incredible and shocking at the same time. Especially considering it was supposed to be a title given at birth. She wasn''t gifted with a huge mana pool for her level, not until recently at least. ''Could it be an error in the world? One doesn''t need to specifically be "born" with it in order to earn the title, or is it something else? Such as levelling up counts as being "reborn" which fulfils the criteria.'' Therina mimicked how the dungeon considers these things while pondering the answer. She believed it was thetter, else she should have gotten the title long ago. Of course, it could just be a gift attached to her bonus experience to consume anything leftover from the potential she had umted. Throwing her questions to the back of her mind forter, she continued moving around the vige ambushing goblins along with the three shroom gnomes. They managed to assassinate ten goblins before they were discovered, screeching goblin cries alerting the tribe of their presence. Therina hid amongst the vige houses, doing her best to not pay attention to the dead bodies everywhere. The goblins knew she was here, but they didn''t know where exactly she was. The still had nearly thirty goblins, included two much stronger than the rest with iron swords, and a goblin shaman who looked like the leader of the tribe. If its crooked staff was anything to go by, it could also use magic. Most goblin shamans knew spells which would make their allies stronger and enemies weaker, while also often being able to cast entry level elemental spells. Chapter 13: The First Quest is Always Goblin Subjugation Chapter 13: The First Quest is Always Goblin Subjugation The goblin shaman split his forces into four different groups. It was smarter than the rest and had some understanding of tactics. Four groups of six goblins prowled through the vige, not doing anything to hid their presence as they searched for the intruders. Therina ambushed one of the groups along with the three shroom gnomes once they were far enough away from the other goblin search parties. Two goblins died from the iron maces splitting their skull open, but another survived by instinctively attacking back with a wooden club and luckily managing to redirect the blow to the side. Therina attacked at the same time, thrusting her sword in a quick, pinpoint attack. The goblin raised its club to hit the sword, but she had already stabbed it through the eye before it could defend itself. With three goblins dead at the very start, and now being outnumbered 4:3, the remaining goblins fled while screaming to raise the rm. Therina pulled off a razer sharp steel throwing knife from her waistband and flicked it at one goblin, striking it in the back of the leg and causing it to stumble, while killing another goblin with a thrust of her sword. She then dashed to the fallen goblin and stabbed it in the back of the head before it could get up and flee. [ Goblin killed! + 45 exp Goblin killed! + 31 exp Goblin killed! + 45 exp ] The shroom gnomes were a bit shorter than the goblins, but that didn''t prevent them from ganging up on the final goblin and bashing it to death with their iron maces. They were much more effective with these weapons thanpared to when they were using stone spears. No need to think, just bash. This group of goblins had been killed and Therina had recovered the throwing knife, but another goblin search party appeared at this moment and ambused them. Therina flinched back but thrust her sword out in reflex. The goblin managed to guard its body with a round wooden shield and caught the de, which stabbed through and into its hand, but not killing it. "Don''t just rely on your sword, you have your entire body. Kick the goblin back and recover your sword. You have almost lost your sword as it is stuck in the shield, pull a dagger out with your spare hand to defend yourself" The dungeon spoke in her mind and reminded her of things to focus on. She pulled out a dagger with one hand, catching a goblins club on it and dampening the blow, but still took a decent hit to her ribs which made her wince. She raised a leg and kicked back the goblin which had released the shield from its crippled hand. She bashed another goblin with the shield stuck on the sword, knocking the enemy back and loosening the shield enough for her to flick it off. The three shroom gnomes were fighting dumbly, even with the dungeon macro''ing their fighting style. It was basically bash and be bashed until one fell. They still held off three goblins, one getting a lucky strike in and crippling its arm, while all three were beginning to suffer more injuries. "You need to be quick, more will be here shortly." Therina charged at the goblins attacking the shroom gnomes and swiftly killed then while their attention was on their current opponent, although she suffered several blows from clubs, one on an unprotected section of her arm which hurt enough she couldn''t use it properly. She suspected the bone may have fractured judging on the level of pain and was thankful she could at least hold onto the dagger still. [ Goblin killed! + 45 exp Goblin killed! + 31 exp Goblin killed! + 45 exp ] With the shroom gnomes freed up, she could bring her attention to the remaining goblins. She quickly dispated one, while the gnomes outnumbered and brought down the other two, their green blood dripping off the sinister maces. [ Goblin killed! + 45 exp ] Therina quickly fled the area with the shroom gnomes before any other goblin search party could ambush them. They headed to a half burnt down house which still had four walls and hid inside. "Focus on the feeling when I heal you. Try increase the recovery speed of your arm." Even though it was a futile effort, she still attempted to once again feel her mana so she could heal her arm faster, but she was unsessful. Once she was sure the surroundings were safe, she led the three shroom gnomes once more around the town, ambushing another goblin search party. Thest search party they met each other by surprise and she had to fight the entire party head on. She took a ncing blow to the head and one of the shroom gnomes died after a wooden club broke its neck, but she had finally eliminated all of the sparce goblins. All the remained was the goblin shaman in the center of the vige along with its personal guard, two goblins with iron swords, and another two with wooden bucklers and clubs. "The rest of the vige should be safe for now. Search through the homes and try to find a working bow and some arrows. This way you will be able to ambush them from a distance. That shaman could spell trouble for you." "What. No. Stealing bad." "Don''t be nave. They are dead, or enved, while you are alive. The strong live while the weak be food. What they left behind will make your stronger." Therina still showed some reluctance, but she eventually submitted and raided the houses in search for a bow. The dungeon noticed many things it wanted her to go back and retrieveter, but didn''t say anything for now. She eventually found a wooden bow and some arrows after searching several houses. The goblin shaman and its guards saw her a couple of times moving around the town, but they didn''t move from their defensive position in the town center. Despite losing most of its tribe, the shaman was determined to fight until the end. Therina strung the bow and knocked an arrows. She hid in the shadow of a building and drew back the string, aiming at the side of the goblin shaman''s head. Her arm send sharp waves of pain up it, but she grit her teeth and released the arrow, flinching at thest second and causing the arrow to miss, missing the shaman altogether but at least managing to hit one of the guards in the hip. The goblins erupted in a ruckus, the goblin shaman pointing in her direction with its staff and having the guards charge at her. It then swung its staff around in a circle and made a guttural chant. A faint green ring shone around the goblins feet as their speed increased by 20 percent. It then began casting another spell, forming a fireball over its head. She used her Rapid Fire skill to quickly pull out more arrows and fire them one after another. 5 mana per shot would have been a lot of mana which would have drained her in ten shots and left her in a state of mana down, slow to respond and highly vulnerable to attacks. She could now release 30 arrows and still have room to spare. The goblins with the bucklers charged at the front, defending against as many arrows as they could, while a sword wielding goblin followed behind them, and the final one with an arrow in its hip limped even further back. Therina''s aim was terrible due to her injured arm, but she still grit her teeth to continue firing arrows. The shield goblins stopped most of them, but several go through their defense. One goblin died while the other became heavily injured. The sword goblin at the back was an easy target too and received a stray arrow through its neck. [ Goblin killed! + 58 exp Goblin killed! + 71 exp ] Arge fireball came hurtling through the sky like a catapult before the goblins reached the elf, causing her to abandon her attack and hurl herself to the side. The goblin shaman then cast a debuff spell which made Therina feel weak and fatigued, her injured arm falling limp by her side. The shroom gnomes received the same debuff, their knees slightly bucking in weakness. There was only one goblin shield bearer and iron sword wielder between Therina and the shaman, and the shield bearer was already injured. She did her best to ignore the shield bearer and slipped around it to attack the sword wielder while the shroom gnomes attacked the former. She stabbed out with her sword, but it didn''t have the strength or speed it did before, allowing the sword goblin to knock her sword to the side and swing its own at her. Therina clenched her teeth and tilted her body so the swordnded on a thick part of her armor, which stopped the sword, but injured her shoulder. She shes her sword in retaliation and cut the side of the goblin''s neck, but not deep enough to be fatal. The goblin, while still being smarter than the others of its tribe, was still dumb. It merely swung its sword at her again, expecting it to kill her without considering how. Therina stepped back and allowed the sword to pass in front of her before stepping back in and thrusting her sword with all the strength and speed she could muster. The faintly glowing manasteel de stabbed straight through the goblins neck, ncing off the spine but still doing fatal damage as it burst out the back of its neck [ Goblin killed! + 65 exp ] The three shroom gnomes killed the injured shield warrior as Therina sprinted toward the goblin shaman who was still casting magic. It cast another fireball at her and she used gracefully dodged to the side right before it would hit her. "Excellent! Truly an excellent move!" The dungeon cheered andplimented in her mind. The goblin shaman didn''t have enough time to cast another spell, so it attacked with its staff, which Therina merely parried with her sword before thrusting with her sword at its throat. The goblin shaman was a higher level than the rest, and as such its body was stronger and more resilient than the other goblins, but the weapon was razor sharp, and Therina''s well practiced thrust cut straight through the weakest point of its throat. [ Goblin Shaman killed! + 148 exp ] [ Experience threshold met. Level Up! Lv. 3 -> Lv. 4 umted skill experience bonus: Swordsmanship -> + New Skill: Iron Will All Stats(Non-Luck): +1 ss bonus: Dex +2, Int +1 Mana: 191 -> 261 ] [ Species: Tree Elf Name: Therina Sel''Ether ss: Thatcher Age: 40 Mana: 97/261 Exp: 1/1,210 Level: 4 Str: 6 Dex: 15 End: 8 Vit: 15 Int: 13 Mnd: 9 Lck: 6 Skills: Nature Touched (Racial) +20% Dex, End, Vit when in forested regions. Forest wildlife is less hostile to you. Weaving 3-Fold t 1 mana/min 5-Fold t 2 mana/min 9-Fold Thatch 3 mana/min Wood Weaving 10 mana/min Thread: Auto-Spin 2 mana/min Flower Arrangement Nature Alignment 15 mana Mana Alignment 30 mana Defense Alignment 40 mana Archery Twin Shot 5 mana Rapid Fire 5 mana/shot Trap Setting Concealment Swordsmanship Iron Will Titles: Child of Mana ] ~~~~~ Therina looked over the vige square. What was once a conglomeration of activity, the a warzone against human mercenaries, then a goblin tribe establishing a nest, was now covered in gravemounds. Elves had a custom in which their bodies were buried beneath the ground and a tree sapling was nted over them. They would then be returned to nature as the trees grew. Other races may consider this superstition, but the elves had a very firm belief in existing with nature like this. The trees which grew in this way were different from the others in the forest, their leaves would turn red in autumn and shed, a phenomenon called Nature''s Respect, in which the fallen elves would make their presence known through the trees in which their souls resided. The vige square was now filled with the depression of death, but from that, grew the vitality and hope of new life. Therina bowed in respect to the grave mounds before turning and returning toward the dungeon. Chapter 14: (Side B) Class Transfer Chapter 14: (Side B) ss Transfer Alex Brown was a typical American sophomore with a course study focusing on the arts and music as he wasn''t overly gifted in the sciences. He stood several inches shy of six feet, a lean physique without much muscle, dull green eyes and mid length mousy-brown hair. He wasn''t particrly attractive, but definitely wasn''t ugly. He attended a high school in a considerably sized country town located in Wisconsin. It wasn''t a small town, boasting a poption of nearly 40,000 people, but neither was it popted to the level of being considered a city. Alex was a bit of an introvert, he didn''t go out much, and didn''t really fit in with any of the cliques of friends which formed in the school. Because of this, he wasn''t particrly bullied, but he didn''t have any friends at school and was left out of most social activities. He kept his head down in sses while not trying to pay attention, but he heard people gossiping about the recent pallet fire they had, who ended up sleeping with who that night, and so forth. Apparently, one of the girls in his ss had a pregnancy scare recently too after one such night. She was quite pretty too and he had a crush on her for the past six months, so he considered it would be a shame for her to suddenly be pregnant, not that the thought of her sleeping with someone else made him feel any better. America was increasingly bing more aware of themselves as the news was filled with debates and rallies on gender awareness, systemic racism and oppression of minorities. Alex didn''t really get all this. Whilst his school was multicultural, including quite a few African-Americans, Asians, and a sparse collection of Indians and several other minor ethnicities, it was predominantly white. Despite this, there was no judging others, and any conflicts that urred never had anything to do with race. Although racistments had been thrown in the heat of the conflict, but this wasn''t due to some inherent racist trait of any individual, just people who couldn''t think of any better insults. There was one freshmen who simply didn''t fit in with others, and was generally unpleasant to be around. Despite that, Alex admired his ability to still be outspoken and try engage with others. All the political and social justice movements seemed to have no rtion with his life, almost as if it was happening in a different country. He didn''t agree with most of them, but there were still plenty of people, even at his school, which jumped on the bandwagon of social justice. He was afraid to speak out in school for fear of being judged by his opinions because of this. While he was quiet and avoided others at school, he was very active on the inte at home. He enjoyed reading manga, even the terrible ones, web serials, and also yed World of Warcraft despite how old the game was. He was the guild leader of a guild which was just average in the game, but full of friends who challenged bosses, raids and events all the time. It was the highlight of his life. ~~~~~ "Zac, how is your arm feeling?" Jake, the football team quarterback, asked his friend and teammate who had injured his arm over the weekend at the pallet fire gathering they held. "As if it was never injured in the first ce. I will be ready for practice after school." "Great! I''m d to hear it." Just as Jake patted Zac on the shoulder and was about to return to his seat before the start of ss, a beautiful woman with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes wrapped her arms around him and pressed her body tight against him, squishing her melon sized breasts against his sturdy chest. "Haha, Jessica, care to sit next to me?" Jake said with a helpless smile. "Of course!" Jessica gleefully responded, pulling him down into a seat before upying the seat next to them. The two of them where the Romeo and Juliet of the school, football quarterback and head cheerleader. They had been dating for the past six months since the beginning of the term, and their me was still strong. Jake was taller than everyone else at 6''1", a body full ofpact muscles, the star football quarterback, and kind to everything. Jessica was debated as one of the most beautiful girls in school, and countless boys fantasised about her despite the fact she was already in a rtionship. She was one of the taller girls at 5''5", and seemed to be friendly with everyone. Around them sat another two people from their clique. Timothy Morgon, who had curly blond hair which he styled and put wax in. He was the kind who maintained a tan year round, wore sea shell nes and surf brand clothes. This is despite them being nowhere near the ocean, but nobody judged him based off that. He usually hung out with the footballers, but was someone who would often float around jumping out of different groups while socialising. Then there was Leon Koch, a student who transferred from Germany when his family moved over here 3 years ago. Despite that, he only had a slight German ent when he talked. He liked to y tennis and ser, and was quite judgemental of others, often calling them dumb. Despite that, he got along quite well with the footballers. There were several other groups of friends who sat together in the ssroom, from a random girls clique, two arts students, two music enthusiasts, hip hop kids, performing arts divas and a couple of individuals who were separate from their general friends group but chatted with one another instead. There were three African Americans and two Asians also in the ss, each with their own likes and passions. The teacher for Honors English, Ms. Greenwood, entered the ss and ced her books on the desk at the front of the ss. "Okay, students, you all know the routine, it''s time to check attendance." Ms. Greenwood was in her early 30s and dressed professionally. She never smiled, but was very attentive towards any student''s needs. Seeing all the students in the ss were still talking to one another with exception of a few, she smacked the folder with the ss register in it on the teacher''s desk. "Ahem! Everyone please be quiet! I am now taking attendance." She had expected to have to tell them a few times, but for some reason the ssroom immediately shut up. ''No, their mouths are still moving. But why aren''t they saying anything, or I can''t hear them?'' She thought to herself in the split moment before the floor of the ssroom was covered in a giantplex magic circle which emitted a bright blue line wherever its line passed. Everyone noticed this and half of the room jumped out of their chairs in panic. The other half froze like a deer in the headlights as the shock. Some seemed to be shouting, but their voices simply didn''te out. The entire room lit up with a bright blue light before the walls, floor, ceiling and even furniture flew into the infinite distance and were reced by a giant blue vertical corridor of light, much like travelling through a worm hole in some science fiction movie. The students and teacher didn''t feel like they were moving at all, but everything else around them were the things moving. A distant sight of a circr stone room with arge group of hooded people and medieval knights. The room flew at them before enveloping the ss and making the wormhole vanish. Jake and Zac, the football yers, managed to barelynd on their feet, but the rest of the ss tumbled onto the floor in embarrassing positions. Alex was a bit worse than the others, as he had originally been lying down with his face in his arms on the desk, he hadn''t heard anything as all sound was cut off and didn''t see the light until his desk and chair flew off into the infinite distance. He was extremely panicked and didn''t know how to react, so once hended in the stone room, immediately falling face first on the stone ground. Nobody was in the mood tough at him however, as they all had trembling legs and were hyperventting. A couple of the girls even started crying. The same magic circle which pulled them from their ssroom was etched in the ground in a blue luminescent etching. The powder used to form it was definitely extremely expensive, beyond what anybody who were just summoned could imagine. Knights wearingrge crimson and gold armor stood around the summoning circle with their swords drawn and aligned in front of them, the tips of the de resting on the stone ground. They were constantly ready for battle and would raise and swing their sword in a split second if they weremanded or deemed necessary. In front of the ss, the most beautiful woman anyone had ever seen stepped in between the nights as she waved the robed spellcasters to retire from the room. She was nearly six feet tall, with sharp golden eyes and silky silver hair held in ce with two ruby oriental hair pins, long silver locks cascading down her back and over her shoulders. She wore a multiyered red dress which was a bit rustic in materials, but had excellent seam work which made it cling to her well-endowed figure with all the right curves, matching her beauty nheless. "Wee, heroes. I am Princess Zoerina. I understand you must be frightened and confused," the princess said with a temperate smile. An African-American student who was dressed in a hip-hop style with corn roll hair and a cap, Elija, stood up with clenched fists and shouted at the self-proimed princess while pointing at, "What the fuck is this!? Where am I!?" The guards reacted visibly at this provocation and went to raise their swords, but the princess stopped them with a casual raise of her hand. "I understand you are confused, young hero. We have summoned you to our world to save us from a perilous future." The English teacher, Ms. Greenwood stepped forth in front of the students and resolutely confronted the princess of world defying beauty, although her slightly quivering arms she was trying to hold still betrayed her fear. "Ahem, Miss Zoerina, can you please exin the situation to us a little better. I think everyone is still feeling shellshocked." "Of course, however, I doubt this is the ideal ce for such an exnation. If you would all follow me to the throne room, the king and high ministers are waiting to exin everything to you." "Just Princess, give us a moment to calm down." "I would like to say take as long as you need, but I am a bit pressed for time, so please do make it brief." Ms Greenwood nodded to the princess who appeared only a year or two older than her own students butmanded a powerful sense of authority which seemed impossible to go against. Chapter 15: (Side B) Audience Chapter 15: (Side B) Audience The summoned students and teacher had about ten minutes to calm their chaotic emotions, or at least get them under control. Everyone managed to calm down somewhat during that time, but they were still greatly afraid and nervous, barely keeping their legs steady as they left the summoning room under escort of the royal guards. Princess Zoerina led them through halls with architectural arches, columns and banners of a gold dragon on a red background. Everything was maintained by meticulous care to ensure that not even dust remained. Carpet runners in the hallway were as if they were new, despite the knights walking over them in their iron boots, and marble sculptures didn''t have the faintest trace of dirt on them. Glowing orbs of light floated below the ceiling at regr intervals, filling the corridors off a warm, soft glow. They were clearly magical, a sharp reminder that this was definitely another world. The students witnessed some maids in the corridors who would immediately move to the side and stand with their head lowered until the princess had passed and left. What was most puzzling to the onlookers however was their attire. ''Are they wearing, eastern maid uniforms?'' Several of the students who were knowledgeable on eastern anime and other cultural aspects suspiciously questioned the choice of clothing. Eventually, they entered a magnificent throne room as regal as it could be. Giant stone pirs held up a ceiling with relief carvings of dragons far above them. Many floating orbs of light of various colors floated high above them while gradually drifting around, casting warm twisting lights and shadows across the ceiling which made the carvings seem toe alive. The entire floor was covered inrge square tiles which the gloss on produced a dim reflection of the hall. Two lines of more crimson and gold knights lined the room, each standing so still they seemed like statues. At the end of the throne room, a double staircase curved up on the sides to a wide area with a giant ten meter tall throne made from some unrecognizable reddish metal, giant twenty meter tall windows stood around the area, letting in natural light to the grand hall which seemed toe from the throne. There were also several smaller thrones on the sides, likely for the queen and any concubines present. Just the majesty of it all left everyone at a loss of words, ovee by a sense of inferiority to the man who sat on the throne. He appeared in to be in his 50s with streaks of grey through his hair and beard. He was covered in muscles which threatened to crush anyone who opposed him. He carried a giant fantasy battle axe with an axe head nearly as big as a person. Beside him, there were numerous nobles and several people who appeared to be royal mages based on their attire. "All in the presence of his majesty, Wanther XII, kneel!" An attendant stood before the marble balustrade on the tform andmanded in a loud voice. All the knights dropped to one knee in salute while Princess Zoerina bowed her head while standing straight. The students and teacher naturally didn''t bow, although some found themselves wanting to for some reason. The king ignored what would normally be called a treasonous act of disrespect and got up from his throne to walk down the stairs toward the group. "Your majesty!" Several of the nobles raised their voice in protest, but were silenced by a wave of the king''s hand. "These people are heroes unreasonably summoned by us, it is the least we can do," He said in a gentle but firm voice, speaking like a kind uncle. "Heroes, you must still be nervous and frightened. We can only apologize for this, amongst other things which are unfair toward you," The king''s voice resounded throughout the hall as he talked. The king did not bow or show weakness in any way, but his words were kindhearted, which managed to lift the weight some of the students and especially Ms. Greenwood were feeling. The first to respond was Jake, the sophomore quarterback. "Your majesty. Can you please exin what is going on, and why we needed to be pulled from our ssroom?" "Hoho, you don''t need to be too nervous. You are heroes, and such receive special treatment. The reason we had you summoned, was to save our kingdom. To exin, you will first need to understand our world. Royal Mage Carrion,e exin to the new heroes about our world." The royal mage in question, an elderly man who seemed to be healthier than half the students, quickly shuffled down the steps and deeply bowed to the king before exining the world to the summoned heroes. "Young heroes, to begin with, this world is not in fact our original world. This world is known as the Infinite World, which contains innumerable worlds brought together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, but thendscape is so different is may as well be a new world we are moved to." "The worlds and people themselves don''t receive any warning before they are absorbed into the Infinite World, but do receive a beginner protection period of 5 years in which the people within the world create kingdoms to vie for dominance." "Every city is granted a dungeon, and they also randomly spawn within each world which can be captured and used to create new cities. These y a key role which I wille back to." "At this stage, many kingdoms rise and fall, which only increases in scope once the beginner protection period is over. Then, all the worlds and kingdoms within vie for dominance. Each world has their own race, and while some ovep, there are innumerable different types. The Infinite World also encourages unity among races andbating others for their resources, technology and magic knowledge." "Naturally, all of this urred many generations ago for our Maple Dragon Kingdom which we survived, as can be seen by our current free existence. We even fought against and made treaties with many neighboring worlds, and although small scale battles still ur, it is nothing we cannot shoulder." "However, there was one neighbouring kingdom which has been increasingly provocative over the past 20 years. The Neth''rite Demon Kingdom." "The current Demon King, Asmond Ath''ras, has a strong hatred against humans and wants to wipe us out. We have already lost many border regions to demon forces. They are cunning and show no mercy in enving humans." "We are both Level 3 Kingdoms, but theirbat forces exceed ours by simply too much. We fear that in a direct confrontation, humans are destined to lose." Zac and several of the other boys stood forth at this moment to support Jake, while several of the girls raised voices in protest. Jake kept a cool head and stated, "I think I understand the predicament, but that doesn''t exin why you would summon us. We are only students, and most definitely don''t have the ability to fight off an entire country." Wanther XII shook his head with a smile exined in ce of the royal mage, "Carrion said how this world promotes fighting. There is a system which overlooks everything. Everyone has a status window which you can personally view by saying ''status'' in your mind and dispel it by willing it. Why don''t you do that first before we continue on." All the students and also the teacher followed the advice of the king and stared wide eyed as a window of their status page appeared in front of them. Only they could see it though, so the throne room had a humorous group of people turning their heads in surprise as they waved their hands in the air in front of them blindly "Now that is cleared up," Royal Mage Carrion cleared his throat and brought back the attention of the summoned heroes, "Allow me to continue onto the next topic." "Every living person in this world has a status window, which shows your level, stats, job ss and skills. There are also infinite kinds of monsters and other races, but mainly monsters, to fight. The more monsters you fight and kill, the higher your level, stats and skills. That is to say, the more you fight, the stronger you be." "This world however discourages fighting against your own race, so a human will not get any experience from killing another human, but will from killing a demon, elf, gnome and so on. Each race has their own experience requirements on levelling up, which corresponds to their nature." "Elves, with their naturally long lives, take arge amount of experience to level up despite their low fertility. Beastmen, although simr to humans, take a moderate amount of experience to level up due to natural advantages of bloodline traits, but stlll less than demons. Humans on the other hand, have no bloodline traits, except for the royal family, and have a high fertility. We have the lowest experience requirements to level up." "However, there are two restraints on levelling up. These are known as ss Step and Max Level." ss Step was a scaling method of levels. Every 20 levels, one would enter the next ''Step''. to First Step. to Second Step. to Third Step. to Fourth Step. to Fifth Step/Titled Step. to ??. By advancing to the next step, one''s ss would evolve and they would receive a substantial boost in strength. Increasing their level also gave far greater benefits, and they would learn even more powerful skills from their ss, so the general rule was that nobody of a lower Step would be able to defeat them. It wasn''t easy increasing to the next Step though. The individual had to have enough potential built up in their body to unlock even one higher tier ss, let alone several to pick from. Without having an upgraded ss to choose from, or waiting until one earned a better ss to upgrade to, they would never level up no matter how many monsters they killed. Max Level was another concept which was known to all rankers. Not only did one need to build up potential in ones body to enter the next Step, otherwise known as ss Up, they had to have enough room for potential in their body. A body can only hold so much potential, and once it is used up there is no room for any more. Once somebody had reached the maximum threshold of potential their body could handle, they would not be able to gain any more experience. This could be at , , or even . This is what is known as Max Level. It is possible for someone to break through their Max Level limit through life and death battle with an opponent far stronger than them. This would unlock more space for potential in their body, which was an action called Limit Break, but far more people died than won these battles, considering the opponent had to at least be of a higher Step than the challenger. One of the key methods people had for levelling up was dungeons. Every major city had a dungeon, whether inside of it or nearby. These were controlled by the nobles who acted as Dungeon Masters, their noble rank in direct rtion with the dungeon''s level. Wild dungeons also spawned in caves and other area over every world, and somebody capturing a dungeon core would entitle them to a noble ranking within the country, or they could sell the core for an extremely lucrative sum of gold. The dungeons would summon monsters every day with mana, which people would then kill for monster materials and experience, while the dungeon itself would get 10 percent of the total experience for anything or anyone killed inside of it. Dungeons, rankers and countries held a symbiotic rtionship in this way. ~~~~~ "As such, summoned heroes have many benefitspared to the rest of us. Crossing the world barrier imbues you with power the rest of us can only dream of." "While you don''t get to choose your beginning ss, they are generally far better than what the rest of us get. You have higher starting stats, greater stat increases upon levelling up. You will face less bottlenecks when needing to ss Up, have an immeasurable Max Level, and also require 20 percent less experience than the rest of us to level up." Wanther XII rapped the handle of his giant axe on the polished floor tiles, signalling the royal mage to be quiet as he surmised, "This is what makes you heroes, and also why we spent nearly a third of our entire kingdom''s wealth in order to purchase a reagent powerful enough to perform the highest level summoning ritual to reach across the world border." "Your majesty!" Ms. Greenwood finally worked up the courage to protest. "We are civilians, and these are just students! How can you demand them to fight for you, to kill, and be killed." "We can only offer our condolences for your situation, but our will is firm," Wanther XII stated in a voice which left no room for refuting. "This was a path of no return the moment we summoned you." "W-what do you mean? Naturally, I sympathise with your cause, but my students cannot fight your war for you. Please send us back home." "That is not possible." "What?" This time, the question came from Alex, the loner in the ss who had remained silent until now. He had read many fantasy books about being summoned to another world. Some had a means to send the person home, while others didn''t. Alex, for all his previous world fantasising about being summoned to another world, was terrified about fighting in a war and wanted to go home. The king''s words, however, gave him a sinking feeling in his gut. "We cannot send you back." "Why not?" Ms Greenwood asked in shock with her eyes wide open. The king''s steadfast gaze expressed the meaning of his words, but the royal mage Carrion exined, "We do not know how. The summoning ritual is a unidirectional call to another world. There are no records of there being an equivalent banishing ritual. Perhaps it exists somewhere, but I have never even heard mention of such a thing. "So we can never go back?" Jake spoke up is disbelief, but quickly closed his mouth was a worried re from Ms. Greenwood. "Correct," The king fixed his gaze on Jake, who had the appearance of a model hero. "However, we have naturally prepared rewards for all the heroes currently present." "Firstmand, by royal decree. The heroes will be gifted marriage contracts for marrying into a noble house, the noble rank of which will depending on their achievements. We assure you that due to the system, skills, and magic, we have no doubt your partners will satisfy your preferences of beauty and more." "Secondmand, by royal decree. All marriages will have a trial period of six months before marriage. To ensure that no hero is unsatisfied, an initial period of bing ustomed to one another, which can be used to separate rtions should the match be inadequate. The loss of chastity will signify an early termination of the trial period." "Thirdmand, by royal decree. Any hero who does not wish to have a marriage, will be granted a noble title and novice dungeon core, along with full royal backing and funding in developing a new city. This may not be forfeited, but may be held back from should the hero have other desires, awaiting indefinitely until the time in which the hero wishes to ept the title. "Fourth, by royal decree, for the hero with the most outstanding results, I offer the hand of Our own daughter, Zoerina Wander, in the holy ceremony of marriage. There will be no trial period, as We are sure that nobody would not desire Our daughter." Wander XII''s body exploded out in an imposing manner which pressed on everybody''s body and caused them to fall to their knees, or onto the ground ungracefully. The daughter in questioned to be married off, Princess Zoerina, stood there with a gentle smile, but her piercing re showed how she was sizing everybody up, judging any whom she would favor over others. While her hand was to be given out to the most notable hero, she could still aid whomever she favored in order toe out on top. This was a small loophole everyone in the throne room other than the summoned heroes were aware of, and also the king''s way of showing preferential treatment toward his daughter who was a once in a century genius. As the pressure relieved, many of the boys began taking secret looks toward Princess Zoerina, their thoughts and desires hidden deep within their hearts. "This" Ms. Greenwood, who had never been married and was currently single despite being in her 30s and was running out of future prospects, should have liked this promise more than anyone. However, she discarded all that under her responsibility for her students. "My students are not war potential." "They are war potential. One which you have no choice in." "We can still" "If you all go out into the world as you are, most of you will die. We have prepared to train you under the full resources of the Maple Dragon Kingdom to nurture you, and We then expect more than half of you to survive." Ms. Greenwood wanted to refute him, but she knew he was right. They truly were trapped, and had been from the moment they were summoned. Chapter 16: (Side B) Fantasy World Honey Traps are Poisonous! Chapter 16: (Side B) Fantasy World Honey Traps are Poisonous! Stephanie Walker was one of the students in the ss who were summoned to another world, one governed by war and individual power. She had long straight ck hair with a straight cut fringe, eye mascara and some light makeup. She had arge chest for her age, equal in size to Princess Zoerina''s breasts, which waspletely revealed by her stic long sleeve shirt. She also wore a short skirt and solid ck stockings, an appearance that attracted countless guys, but she still remained single to date. Her greatest w was her obsession with maintaining the image of herself and would judge others based on their usefulness. She wouldn''t outright be rude to anyone, but would often reject associating with others or brush them off if she viewed them as useless. She ran her own Instagram ount and had arge following before the summoning, and now, she instinctively wanted to get closer to the princess. Bing close to such a powerful figure would instantly elevate her social position to the upper echelons, irrelevant to the world. Of course, there was the option of marriage, but the princess and her were both women so that wouldn''t work. The king himself was unlikely to be interested in her but had likely sired a few sons, so if she could win their favor, the marriage card was back on the table. If she was going to marry into power, she at least wanted to marry into the top, even the crown prince if possible. Concubines were a thought which she was unappealing to her, but being a legitimate queen immediately outweighed it. "Excuse me," Stephanie spoke up nervously, speaking to both Wanther XII and Princess Zoerina, "how do you know so much about our world?" Zoerina smiled in response and straightforwardly, "Because you are not the only Earthlings who have crossed over into our world. There are those who havee into our world for all number of reasons, each very powerful if given time to grow and that they don''t die along the way." "Did they ever return home?" "None that we know of. Some travelled, many settled down and had families. Others tried to change the kingdom, end very, make new inventions, some useful, many not so much due to the presence of magic and levels." Elija, one of the few ck kids in the ss and someone outspoken about his view of justice, visibly flinched at the mention of the existence of very. He had the intelligence to not say anything out loud against it given his current circumstances. "So, the maids?" Stephanie temperately asked. "Correct. About 300 years ago in our world, a man named Tomiko had died in his original world due to a man falling asleep behind the wheel of a truck and running over him. He was reborn in this world to a Count, which we didn''t discover until he was 15 years old. He spread maid dresses all over the country and it became quite the trend at the time. It has since remained as a professional attire." This new was shocking and dispiriting toward the summoned heroes. It was shocking to learn that other earthlings hade over to this world, and it wasn''t through a summoning either. They were dispirited however, to learn that there are no records of them ever finding a way home. Stephanie was afraid of this new world and all its dangers, but there was a small part of her that was excited. She was a Tamer, a ss which the world, or possibly some god, had decided for her. [ Species: Human (Otherworld Traveller) Name: Stephenie Walker ss: Tamer Age: 17 Mana: 50/50 Exp: 0/80 Level: 1 Str: 7 Dex: 10 End: 6 Vit: 8 Int: 10 Mnd: 10 Lck: 10 Skills: Otherworld Traveller (Racial) Appraisal Temptation Alluring Dance 5 mana/min Taming Submission Cor 10 mana Titles: Otherworld Hero, Otherworld Traveller ] [ Otherworld Hero: One who travelled from another world to be a savior, raising swords of holy light and protecting the poption from danger. Conditions: Crossed over from another world under the prayer of salvation. Effects: Double base stat points on level up Double skill exp ] [ Otherworld Traveller: One who crossed over a world barrier. He who is imbued by the Powers that Be to either fulfil a destiny or defy one. Conditions: Crossed over from another world without passing through the path of reincarnation. Effects: Automatic trantion tonguage of country summoned to or initially entered. 20% less experience required to level up. ] ~~~~~ Royal Mage Carrion cleared his throat and asked the students and Ms. Greenwood, "Heroes, next we will examine your sses and decide the best initial training and diet regime for you. One at a time, starting from you on the left, what are your sses?" An attendant, perhaps a scribe, quickly appeared beside the royal mage and began to take notes on everything said, particrly focusing on the heroes'' sses. Some of the students were reluctant about giving out the details on their sses and stats, but were quickly coerced into sharing the details. Regardless of anybody''s opinions, their fates were currently truly tied to the Maple Dragon Kingdom. Among the students, many people were finding new friendships as everyone was united under amon disaster. Several of the popr kids became even more popr as students flocked around them. Jake, the football quarterback and most idolised boy in school, awakened to the Hero ss and had the highest base stats. Even Princess Zoerina visibly brightened and kept showing kind smiles toward him whenever he looked in her direction. Even his girlfriend, Jessica, was a Holy Maiden, an equally rare and valuable ss which was destined to apany the Hero. Others were impressive things such as rare mage sses, demaster, Assassin, Strategist, Illusionist etc. Alex was the opposite of this. He had a very basic production ss of a Compounder, and even had what appeared to be the lowest base stats out of everyone. Nobody paid attention to him, and he even begun to develop an inferiorityplex which made him even more introverted. He kept his head low and remained silent as everyone interacted with one another. He felt as if everyone was secretly considering him a useless and wished he wasn''t there. "Heroes, arriving at a new world is a tiring ordeal. We will have you show to where you will rest," the king announced and several pce maid immediately stepped forth. "Quarters for you all have been prepared in the western wing of the castle, Our daughter or a minister will be present to address any questions or needs you have." Wanther XII then returned to the upper stage where his throne was and stood before one of the giant pir windows, gazing outside over his kingdom while his minister read him reports and asked for his guidance on policy proposals. "Heroes, please follow me," Princess Zoerina said and lead them out of the throne room along with two lines of maids. They walked through the giant halls of the castle in awe, marvelling at the architecture now that the initial fear of an alien environment had settled down. Alex, hanging out the back of the crowd, looked out any windows they passed and stared at the scenery outside. The giant castle took up an area far greater than any construction he had seen on Earth. It had giant buttresses and stone carvings of monsters along the ceiling, made up from blocks of stone as big as cars. Beyond the castle, on lower ground and covering some hills,y a giant circr city covered in buildings made of a mixture of wood, stone blocks and cement, while nearly all seemed to have unform red tile rooves. He could see people moving about the streets as countless small dots, like a horde of worker ants. "Heroes, this is where all of your room will be. They are all simr, so feel free to choose any one of them," One of the maids politely informed the students and teacher with a curtsy. After choosing a room, each hero was assigned one maid each to help them settle into their rooms and provide anything they required. They were all extremely beautiful and several of the single student secretly buried fantasies of having an illicit rtionship with the one assigned to them. "Greetings, hero, this humble maid is Irene. Please use me to request anything you require," A stunning woman with a ck hair cut straight at her shoulders curtsied to Alex and formally said. Alex stared at her and was at a loss for words. Her maid uniform clung to her upper body, revealing the full shape of herrge breasts and slender stomach before the dress red out. "Eh, yes of course," Alex awkwardly answered whilst avoiding eye contact with the maid. He felt that she must be the most beautiful maid out of all the ones assigned to the students, yet for some reason had ended up by his side. "Hero, I will prepare several sets of clothing for you, both casual and formal. I will also arrange forbat armor and weapons to be provided for you by tomorrow by the castle craftsmen. Do you require any specific armor, weapons or clothing?" "No I don''t know. What do I need?" "I understand. What is your ss and its skills, hero?" "Oh, I am a Compounder, and my skills are Appraisal and Compounding." "So, you are a useless hero." Alex flinched at the harsh words the beautiful maid said without shifting her smiling expression. "Am I useless?" "More or less. You do still hold the advantages of a hero though." "But my ss is a production ss, one in basic alchemy Even if I level up faster, would I truly be stronger?" Alex had yed a lot of games and read even more novels, and he know that production workers weren''t meant for the front lines. There were plenty of stories of those bing the strongest as a cksmith, viger, even a sculptor, but this world did not have conveniences such as the weakest ss being the strongest, or being able to use modern knowledge to overpower a medieval society. "Hero, you do not understand the greatest strength of being a hero." "Eh what is it then?" "It is the ability to change destiny. His highness values this trait very highly and hopes for all of you heroes to be stronger and disy this trait." Alex was somewhatforted by these words, but still nervous and insecure. "Now hero, please strip." "W-what?" "I need to take measurements of your body for the tailors to adjust the clothing to the correct size, so please strip off your clothes." Alex was highly embarrassed and nervous as the maid patiently waited for him to remove his clothes. He gradually took his socks and shoes off, before unbuttoning his shirt and removing his outer clothing. He looked up at the maid, who was still patiently waiting there with the same smile on her face as she eyed up his body, which was scrawny and something he felt embarrassed about. He still had his underwear on, but after seeing the maid still not moving, he slowly and nervously took them off before covering his privates with his hands. Irene the maid didn''t hesitate at all and pulled out a tape measure from some unknown pocket in her maid uniform before approaching Alex. "Arms up," she said casually, cing her hands under his arms and raising them up to the sides in a T-position with a god-like strength. She took the tape measure and wrapped it around his chest, her cold fingers gently brushing against his chest. She then proceeded to measure his arms, legs, inside seam, waist, shoulders, and neck for some reason. The asional touch from the fingers of the beautiful maid caused Alex''s penis to long since be rock hard, although the maid never slowed her pace down, even as it throbbed. At the end, she seemed to reach for his erection, but suddenly halted and changed to measuring it from the side while ensuring she didn''t touch it directly. ''Surely this No, this definitely isn''t necessary, right?'' Alex thought to himself in grief and utmost embarrassment as the maid even wrote down his penis size and estimated girth on the small notepad. He was bright red and simply wish to find a hole to crawl in. "Hero, that is all," the maid said while maintaining her original smile. "I will immediately pass this information along to the tailors, and also have them prepare some beginners armor and a sword and shield. You may not have skills in either of them, but constant use can earn you the skills. Do you require anything to eat while I am making arrangements?" "Eh yes something to eat, please," Alex said nervously as he hurriedly tried to cover himself up again with his hands. "Of course, I will be back momentarily, hero. Until then, please be ustomed to your room and feel free to gather with any of the other heroes. The princess is also checking on the heroes, so even though you are a hero, do ensure you are as polite as possible. This will allow you to have a good impression in the castle." Irene then curtsied and left the room, leaving Alex to scramble to put his clothes on again. He didn''t believe the princess would walk into his room at that moment, but the possibility of it happening, and the consequences of him revealing himself indecently to royalty scare him so much he immediately went limp. ~~~~~ Princess Zoerina had followed Jake Campbell into his room alongside the maid assigned to him. He was the Hero among the heroes, and as such, she naturally attached a great importance to him. "Princess can I help you with something?" Jake asked, unsure why this beautiful woman followed him and the maid into his room. "Oh, it''s nothing of importance, I just want to make sure you get settled in properly. Maid, hand me the tape." The maid didn''t dare speak back and immediately handed the princess a measuring tape. "Now, we need to ensure that you get the best clothes fitting you status, don''t we?" Zoerina eyed Jake with her sharp gaze and smiled, as she closed in on him and practically pressed her body against him as she wrapped the tape measure around his chest. "Tell me, hero, do you think I''m beautiful?" The princess stared directly into Jake''s eyes, her alluring scent practically engulfing his senses. "Ye-yes, of course." "How beautiful?" A hand pressed against his chest and pushed him against the wall as there was less than an inch distance between their two bodies. "Very beautiful" "Just very?" The princess'' smile was almost like that of a child with a new toy as she ran her fingers around his chest and softly tugging on his clothes. "That is" "You don''t need to be so nervous, hero. Did you know that you, as the Hero, has the greatest chance of bing my husband after the demon king is in?" "This Unfortunately, princess, I currently already have a girlfriend." Jake suddenly got his footing back during the conversation and raised his hand, cing them on the princess'' shoulders and pushing her back to arm''s length. At least, he tried to, but her body was like it was cemented in ce and refused to budge. Princess Zoerina giggled and said, "This world is different from yours, hero. Here, it ismon for great people to take on many wives or husbands, sometimes both. I just wish to ensure that my future spouse, bes the greatest he can be." "I am still faithful." "Are you? But the moment I mentioned the possibility of multiple wives, your heart immediately sped up," The princess effortlessly pinned him to the wall while pressing her hand against his chest, "Just feel how hard it is pumping. You like the idea, don''t you?" "It is irrelevant, I cannot betray Jess." "The Holy Maiden, yes? Perhaps you feel that she is better than me?" "It is not a matter of who is better. I won''t betray her." "Well then that truly is a shame," Zoerina''s voice didn''t change, but there was suddenly an icy cold undertone in her speech. "My future husband doesn''t want me, but wants a different woman. Although his heart is full of desire, it is riddled with guilt. This weakness is truly a shame. Do I need to help you conquer this weakness?" "What are you saying?" "That if there wasn''t a Holy Maiden, this weakness would go away, wouldn''t it?" "You!-" Zoerina grabbed Jake by the cor and pulled him down with a strength he couldn''t resist, pressing his face in her heavenly bosom before wrapping her arms around his head and gently saying. "Now, I can''t have my future husband having weaknesses, do you understand?" Zoerina''s scent of flowers, and perhaps a slight amount of sweat, overwhelmed Jake senses even through her crimson dress as he face was smothered by her breasts. He was having strongly conflicted feelings of terror from her overwhelming strength, while also pure pleasure from the alluring scent and the feeling of her breasts pressing against the side of his face. From the mixed emotion, he didn''t try to remove his head, and gently nodded and mumbled, "You cannot harm her." "Of course, I do not want such a thing. But my future husband needs to behave and do as he is told." Her fingersbed through Jake''s hair as he briefly nodded again. "Very good. Also, I recall all the fantasy tales from your world. Did you know, that our royal family has the bloodline of dragons? My bloodline is the thickest since the third emperor, I even have a dragon''s scale on my lower back. Perhaps you wish to see it? Touch it?" "If you do your best, then you will get to feel the greatest pleasures this dragon princess can give you." Zoerina then released Jake and passed the measuring tape to the maid, who was still waiting in the room as if nothing had transpired. She ordered the maid to ensure he got the best clothing and equipment avable before leaving to check on the other heroes. Jake stood there in silence and allowed the maid to take his measurements. He had verbally refused the princesses enticements, but his heart was already guilty. And she knew it too. Chapter 17: Time Flies When Youre Playing Minecraft Chapter 17: Time Flies When You''re ying Minecraft Two months had passed since Therina and the dungeon eliminated the goblins in the ruined elven vige and a lot of things had changed. The dungeon itself was much bigger than what it was previously. After many arguments with Therina on the issue, it had also given itself a name: Styx Whilst the cave entrance remained basic and without adornment, the inside was much brighter. Styx hadpleted a basic oilntern design which relied on abination of animal fat and seed oil, most of which required Therina to help in the beginning until the intellectually challenged shroom gnomes could managed to extract the oil from the seeds and dismantle corpses correctly. Therina still helped when Styxmanded, mostly for training her skills, and had gotten highly proficient in the tasks. The oil was then infused with mana which made them burn longer and also gave the me a soft blue tinge. Onentern full of oil would burn for an entire week, The initial corridor has widened to be twice as wide and high, along with the cave entrance, but it still remained unadorned to avoid making anyone recognize it as a dungeon from a distance. Styx always wanted to lure in more beasts and eventually adventurers, but Therina had exined the dangers lurking in the forest and he decided to be a bit more low key whilst in the early stages of growing. Beyond the corridor, the dungeon then opened up into a huge chamber with giant stone and ardonite pirs in the four corners with Aztec and other ancient type carvings in them. The walls were carved to look like stone blocks and had several other decorations on them. Styx had spent almost an entire week testing different designs, ending up returning to basics and doing a high and low picture rail out of basic steel, while using stone and ardonite to create carvings of demons and hell like scenes, and under the bequest of Therina, more carvings of flowers, trees and nature. The strong contrast between the two actually created a bnce which left Styx extremely pleased, which he then continued without any requests from the elf. Some of the things he was most impressed with, was the use of manasteel to create suns in the carvings, and small starlight like pins of glowing light on parts of the ceiling. Wolfbone steel was also used to rece random stone blocks on the wall. The ground was a great stone bridge approximately 5 meters wide, underneath of which he had managed to locate an underground stream and direct up with a series of custom built wooden water wheels. The water filled underneath the bridge and would slowly flow under the circtory system he designed. This design extended past thisrge room, as the bridge broke off into three directions. The dungeon had be a mass of tunnels and rooms like an ants nest. There were random rooms disconnected from the bridge system, leading to other empty rooms for future designing, and some new districts it was still working on. The three rooms when immediately entering the dungeon, including Therina''s room, were gone. The young elf maiden now had a new room further inside the dungeon which was a collection of several rooms. Therina''s new room was four times the size and had timber slotted floorboards, which was one of Styx''s great aplishments with a rotary mana engine, a manasteel sawde, and several guide rails and supports to form a giant band saw. He could take the wood as a pure resource and store it, but doing so ended up removing all of its grain and natural beauty from the wood, so he had to manually have his minions carry trees in and process them. The floorboards were then treated with an oil resin that was of elvish creation, leaving behind a beautiful timber floor. The structure of the bed was still made out of stone, but it now had a mattress padding over the top of it and a cotton pillow stuffed with feathers. Therina had been so ted with having a proper bed again that Styx had some trouble getting her out of it. The room also had several items of furniture inside of it, all of which were Styx''s designs. There were three book shelves and three shelving units made out of wood, which stored only some things as the elf didn''t have a lot of belongings. There was also arge dresser and chest of drawers for her to store clothes inside of and several hooks to hang things on the wall. The room also had her favourite design of flowers along the wall banner. A small hallway led to a pantry storage area as well as arge kitchen, although it was currently only a bench, cabry drawers, and a wooden table and not even running water. There were also giant rooms filled with stone storage crates. Styx had even managed to manually duplicate the space expansion fractal, and used an erge version in a hiddenyer behind the walls. He could only increase the space in the room by 30 percent however before space became too chaotic to store anything inside of them. The idea gave him inspiration to create a space expansion trap. These were one off, and the room had to be destroyed afterwards, but he looped his mana in a circuit behind the walls of a room along with a trigger. When set off, the mana would rapidly unfold into arge space expansion fractal, turning the space inside the room highly chaotic and inevitably turning anyone or anything into a real life gore filter. In another area was the current training room, which Therina was currently inside of. This room was extremelyrge and had lots of wicknterns, including ones on the ground which much be avoiding to avoid burning or pouring mmable oil over oneself. There were several different training fields in this giant room, including thing wooden posts to stand on, rocky terrain, slopes, and a basic urbanndscape. Each one had wooden pirs with pegs for hand-to-handbat, stone steles with narrows slits for sword practice, archery and magic targets, and others training dummies for spears, bunt weapons. Therina was dancing around on the wooden posts, each one only wide enough for one foot at a time. She held a thin manasteel sword with a wooden hilt and leather grip. It was no longer massively out of bnce and now bnced properly at the crossguard. She thrust the sword into the narrow slits on a stone stele as she jumped between posts, striking like lightning before retreating to another post. She also attacked other stone steles which had slices half an inch thick cut out of them at various angles and depths meant for training sword shes. "Good, now stab points 2, 5 and 7 on the first target, sh points 1 and 5 on the second target, and throw three knives at the first three targets." Therina danced around the posts and followed themand, grazing the second thrust and first sh, but otherwisepleting the challenge perfectly. This training continued in different ways for another hour before the elf was covered in perspiration and sat down at a small rock pool in a side room. She stripped off her clothes and say along the edge with her feet resting in the water. Styx was enamored by her beauty and stared so much he paid less attention to other parts of the dungeon. Her bare breasts heaved up and down as she breathed deep breaths, her body having a slick sheen to it from heavy training. "You are staring again, aren''t you?" Therina asked in her oriole like voice to nowhere in particr. Styx immediately answered in her mind, "is it not natural I would admire my thing?" The elf merely giggled at this with a faint smile on her face, not trying to hide her naked body and even sticking her chest out a little more. "Today is one of those days, yes?" She asked nonchntly as she finally slipped her body into the cold water, soaking in the clear water before grabbing a rose scented grey soap and scrubbing her body. "Correct. I will be having you do external work after you level up again, so I need to raise a basic monster force to defend the dungeon while you are gone." "Which monsters do you wish to breed today?" "Another treant spirit." "Eh, those are quite the burden," Therina mumbled with a sigh as she remembered thest treant spirit she gave birth to. Treant spirits were currently the strongest monster Styx could safely use her womb to create. They weren''t trees, like one would imagine a treant, they were skinny bipedal monsters with bark like greenish-brown skin. They were incredibly agile, could climb on any wall they could get a grip on, and naturally skilled with bows. They also had a base level of after reaching adulthood, which was about two hours after giving birth. Styx''s monsters currently consisted of: [ 16x Miners 12x Shroom Gnomes 6x Stonerats 8x Forest Goblins 3x Forest Assassin 4x Treant Spirit ] Therina had been constantly practicing her skills and hunting in the forest for experience as well as luring monsters back to kill in the dungeon. She had grown much stronger than the weak elf who was helpless as her vige was raided. She was now , only 15 exp from reaching . "Come lie down, I want to examine your manawork again, and also as you level up," Styx said excitably while she was washing her hair with a natural degreasing shampoo made from nt matter, ash and scents of the forest. "Yeah, yeah. Do you really think you are going to be able to understand the level up procedure and the way potential is stored and used?" "Of course! You continue to underestimate my intelligence time and again." "You basically cut me open trying to look for my physical manawork!" "I also healed you again. Not to mention found out some very valuable information." "What about me? That was incredibly painful, you know." "Some brief pain, all for the benefit of knowledge. One cannot conquer their body without knowing it first." Therina shook her head in defeat, washed her sweaty training clothes in a separate bucket of water and hung them up on a rope washing line in the next room over before heading to the nursery, where she aided the dungeon in breeding monsters. She had a towel wrapped around her as she walked through the dungeon, the only sounds being the tap of her feet on the giant stone bridge walkway and distant echoes of miners digging and shroom gnomes hammering at ores being refined. She reached the nursery and left her towel to the side as she mounted the breeder inside. Many tentacles curled up and wrapped around her as Styx said, "Let''s have a look at your manawork after that training." Therina watched his mana tendrils which extended out from the walls and ceiling toward her like the roots of a tree, eventually reaching her and entering her body at countless spots, even her eyes. "No matter how many times I see it, I feel nervous." She said as she closed her eyes, which made no difference as to whether the mana tendrils could enter or not. "But at least you can see, which is already a vast improvement." "Something which you figured out byplete luck. What if something had gone wrong? I could have died!" "It was not that much ofplete luck. You already have a piece of me inside of you, which allows us tomunicate. Some small adjustments to connect to where your eyes are in your manawork before fusing that part of me with you and vo! You can use that part of me as a springboard to view mana directly. It''s genius, is it not?" "Even if you understand it, it was still luck," Therina moaned infort as she felt like her entire body was in Styx''s warm embrace, a feeling she enjoyed far more than she cared to admit. The mana tendrils filled up her manawork as he inspected everything that was going on inside of her. The channels of her manawork were fractured due to having too much mana inside of them. At least, this is what it appeared like. This was highly impressive considering that he had artificially nursed and managed these mana passages to be extremelyrge and sturdy. Styx stipted that this energy which shifted and refracted into different things wasn''t just mana, but the essence of a person. It was their mana, their lifeforce, ki, and also which bred the potential they built up. The manawork itself was metaphysical yet tied to the body in a way he couldn''t understand. What he did know, was that this manawork directly affected the body, and the body in turn affect it. When she trained and practiced her skills, Therina''s manawork would nurture and develop potential within itself, which should be released upon levelling up as he suspected. If practicing the skill only built up potential within the body though, it tugged at another question he has had for some time now. "Therina. Tell me, do you believe your status affects you and gives you skills, or your status is a reflection on what you are capable of?" "You know I don''t know those kinds of details. But sses give skills, don''t they?" "Yes, they give skills upon acquiring them. But these are skills I believe are ingrained into the sses, which teach your body via your manawork how to perform them, like a biological blueprint. The skills given by sses also contain blueprints for sub-skills, whilst you were taught sub-skills for archery. Do you notice that you never earned any sub-skills for the other skills you learned?" "It ismon knowledge that one can only be proficient in the skill provided by their ss." "That is why I tell you to work harder. You can learn these sub-skills from being trained by others with them, so why can''t you learn them on your own, or even make your own. Any new technique you develop will be updated on your stats. What I''m more confused about is why you can''t feel what''s going on inside of you." "Why? What is currently happening in there?" "It''s all cracked and leaking out." "Eh, what!? But I can''t feel anything, isn''t this really bad??" Therina began to panic. She had learned to feel her manawork, even if she couldn''t see it herself, and control it to heal her wounds at the expense of mana, which caused her to learn the skill Mana-Health Conversion, which was the initial reason for Styx to believe that a person status were a reflection on their capability, rather than their status giving them that capability. "It''s fine, this appears to be a natural course of events for your potential being full. This means that doing more training before leveling up will not bring you any greater benefits than current. Once the pressure in your manawork is lowered to below its threshold, it will naturally recover the damage." "Don''t tell me you''ve made me hit Max Level at Please tell me I can still level up," Therina spoke with a stormy expression and tightly gripped onto the tentacles hugging her. "Of course you can. Experience is just a type of potential, of which you are at your threshold. Technically, you are already at full experience. No, you are beyond it. Before I confirm any theories though, let''s have you level up." Three forest goblins and a forest treant dragged in a nearly dead direwolf into the room along with Therina''s sword. They seemed to have difficulty locating her as she constantly had Concealment active, so Styx had to manually control them to ce the direwolf next to the breeder and pass her sword to her. Therina didn''t waste any time and simply stabbed the sword through the side of its neck, severing the main arteries and leaving it to die within seconds. [ Direwolf killed! + 83 exp ] [ Experience threshold met. Level Up! Lv. 7 -> Lv. 8 umted skill experience bonus: Archery -> Trap Setting -> Concealment -> Swordsmanship -> Dagger Arts -> Hidden Weapons -> Iron Will -> Pain Resistance -> Dismantling -> Mana Sight -> Mana-Health Conversion -> All Stats(Non-Luck): +1 ss bonus: Dex +2, Int +1 Mana: 648 -> 758 ] [ Species: Tree Elf Name: Therina Sel''Ether ss: Thatcher Age: 40 Mana: 758/758 Exp: 68/2,797 Level: 8 Str: 13 Dex: 30 End: 14 Vit: 19 Int: 21 Mnd: 14 Lck: 6 Skills: Nature Touched (Racial) +20% Dex, End, Vit when in forested regions. Forest wildlife is less hostile to you. Weaving 3-Fold t 1 mana/min 5-Fold t 2 mana/min 9-Fold Thatch 3 mana/min Wood Weaving 10 mana/min Thread: Auto-Spin 2 mana/min Flower Arrangement Nature Alignment 15 mana Mana Alignment 30 mana Defense Alignment 40 mana Archery Twin Shot 5 mana Rapid Fire 5 mana/shot Swordsmanship Dagger Arts Blunt Weapons Arts Hidden Weapons Trap Setting Concealment Iron Will Pain Resistance Dismantling Taming Detection Mana Sight Mana-Health Conversion Titles: Child of Mana, Mother of Monsters ] [ Mother of Monsters Effects: Reduced burden when birthing monsters Increased options for breeding Increased chances of taming monsters ] Chapter 18: Intricacies of the Level Up Chapter 18: Intricacies of the Level Up "Incredible!" Styx called out both in his own head and Therina''s as he watched her level up process from a metaphorical front row seat. "What is happening?" Therina asked, also curious as to how the level up process happened inside the manawork. Styx stared intently as thest bit of experience was added to her manawork. It caused the arteries to crack and split as excess potential was expelled, but most importantly, a chain reaction seemed to have been triggered by something. The energy boiled and rampaged as it tore thework apart, flooding out and filling every cell of her body, infusing them with the built-up potential along with traces of mana. Her body wasprehensively strengthened by the forces being infused into it, very quicklypleting and leaving her body to recover. The tattered and stretched manawork appeared to not in fact be damaged, at least, not in a way one would imagine a physical body was. It was still full of life as its channels began wriggling and quickly restored themselves. They were slightly bigger than the previously were, but seemed to increase in size considerably from the violent cracking, stretching and healing process. Stocking up more potential greatly increased the size and scope of it as well. Therina''s manawork was back in its original condition, void of stored potential and experience. There was just an erged amount of mana flowing through it along with lifeforce. She was amazed as Styx exined the process to her as it was happening. "But what causes it? The process to start I mean. I could clearly store more experience, and surely that final bit of experience was the same as the rest." "It should be the system that governs this world. A god, godly force, naturalw, or anything else beyond our understanding. But understanding how it works answers a lot of questions." "Like what?" "You exined to me Max Level and Limit Break, did you not?" "I did, but what does it exin?" "Such as the intricacies and reasons behind max level. Essentially, the maximum amount of potential and experience your manawork can store is lower than the threshold required to level up. So, even if experience pushes out all the built-up potential to make room for itself, there still isn''t enough room to reach the threshold for the system to trigger a level up." "The main cause for lower Max Levels, is not building up enough potential at lower levels and having lower manawork expansions on leveling up. At the same time, Limit Break is essentially sending a giant influx of experience into the manawork to overload it and reach the level up threshold without giving it time to drain. "This will cause that person to break through their Max Level and have a massive expansion in the channel sizes of their manawork. It doesn''t solve the fundamental problem, but it will allow them to continue leveling up for a while." "Well that does make sense." "Obviously. I am a genius after all." ''Narcissist,'' Therina thought to herself as she rolled her eyes. She began ying with one of the tentacles, which caused Styx to reciprocate by fondling, squeezing and massaging her body all over, especially in spots he knew she particrly fancied. The elf erotically hummed under her breath and wriggled her body in the tentacles to make them press on spots she was currently favouring. Under the tugging of the tentacles, Therina rolled over onto her hands and knees with her face and breasts pressed against the breeder while her ass was raised into the air. She pressed her hips back against the penis tentacle that was teasing the entrance of her vagina with its tip, causing it to suddenly slip inside. The young elf miss was already quite wet, so it pushed itself in despite the tightness of squeezing arge rod into a small hole. She moaned as the penis tentacle pushed back, stretching her open even wider as it slid into her depths. "Ahhhh~~~ it feels incredibleeee~~ nghhhh~~" Therina called out as she moaned, having be more vocal during their sessions in the most recent month. Her vaginal walls contracted around the penis as if the wring it out like a wet cloth. Styx pulled and pushed against the tightness gripping him, pistoning himself in and out of her from behind. He made sure to rub her erogenous spots inside her vagina as he did so, causing her to moan loader and start telling him where to go. "Haaahhhhh~~ a little to the~~ right there~ nmmmphh!!" Styx watched with great pleasure as what was a narrow slit below her arse was now spread apart as the entrance of her vagina tightly suctioned onto his tentacle like a turtleneck. He felt everything inside of her, the tightness and warmth, every twitch and wave of ecstasy as she bent her waist to rhythmically shift her hips up and down the penis tentacle, milking it for its seed. "Ngggmph," Therina groaned as she clenched and bit onto a tentacle to muffle her voice, even though it was only the two of them. Styx took another penis tentacle, this one a bit smaller, and pushed it against her mouth. She loosened her jaw and allowed it to enter as she sucked on the tentacle with vigor while also using a hand to hold and control it. Her tongue licked and wrapped around the penis as she cooperated with what she considered one of Styx''s filthy habits. She received no pleasure from it, but he did, so she did it regardless. Therina''s vagina began having light convulsions and her moans got louder as she grew closer to a climax. Styx had learned to no change his pacing at these times and kept up the same rhythmic thrusts into the deepest regions of her canal. "AhhhmmmmAhhHHHH!!" Therina''s moans seemed to echo in the room as her back arch and she reached a strong climax. Styx stopped pistoning and focused on small movements, particrly those stimting her sensitive spots in her vagina, to further stimte her. Therina finally finished cumming and her body turned weak with her chest slumped on the breeder, the tentacles being the only thing holding her ass up in the air. Styx was also getting close and continued he eventually gave her one long, hard thrust deep inside before releasing a thick load of his seed into her womb. [ Insemination begun. Please select seed to imnt: 3x Miners Burden (1) 1h incubation 2x Shroom Gnome Burden (1) 1h incubation 1x Forest Goblin Burden (2) 2h incubation 1x Stonerat Burden (3) 2h incubation 2x Forest Goblin Burden (3) 3h incubation 1x Forest Assassin Burden (4) 4h incubation 2x Forest Assassin Burden (6) 6h incubation 1x Treant Spirit Burden (6) 5h incubation 1x Carnivorous Vine Burden (9) 12h incubation 1x Harpy Burden (11) 24h incubation ] Styx saw thetest monster added to the breeding options, a harpy, and immediately wanted to make one, but knew better as it would be harmful to her body. [ 1x Treant Spirit selected Incubation 5:00:01 ] Therinay on the breeder with a flushed face and ears, dungeon seed still seeping out of her vagina and down her inner thighs. She eventually got up before cleaning herself off and tenderly rubbing her stomach while she could feel the monster beginning to grow inside of her. This was no longer a frightening thing to her, instead something she warmly embraced. Her feelings toward the dungeon had long since taken root in her heart while she was still vulnerable, viewing it much like another would their partner or spouse. She put on some light clothes before returning to her room for some food and rest. There was still five hours of the pregnancy period, so she would ensure she had eaten adequately to support the monster inside of her while also doing some light training. "What exactly are the things you want me to do, now that you want me to travel away from the dungeon?" Therina called out to Styx while doing high level yoga exorcises to maintain and enhance her flexibility and core strength. "There are several tasks you are assigned in this journey, each important. I have mentioned various thing previously, but I will rify it more for you," Styx said casually as his gaze was directly glued to her long slender legs during her impressive stretches, even feeling an overwhelming horniness by the view of herck of underwear under her skirt which she didn''t attempt to hide. "Mmmm," the elf hummed to indicate for him to continue. "The first is finding and infiltrating dungeon towns. I not only want you to get experience fighting and killing others, but also do scouting and materials collecting." "I want you to research the knowledge and technology of human dungeon towns, how they utilize magic, dungeon constructs, infrastructure and so forth. I also want you to inspect their products and materials, especially things such as seeds, fungus, or experimental raw materials." "You can loot or earn some money to purchase them, or directly steal them, it does not matter. There is more focus on things which can be turned into new renewable sources or ways of producing mana though." "That is quite a lot. I may not even be able to find all that stuff, let alone bring it all back." "It does not matter. They are just your target goals. There is also one more thing that is desperately needed people." "By people, you mean?" "Just that; people. You are only one person, and I need more for both man power and breeding. ves, refugees, prisoners, it matters not. As long as they are loyal and do as they are told." "So, you want other women," Therina somewhat grumbled under her breath with a hint of jealousy. "Do not forget men too," Styx appended withoutprehending that the elf was feeling oddly possessive of him. "But yes, women are preferred." "Do not worry, I will be watching whatever you see and will inform you of what you need to do. You may even find some of your old vigers for sale on a ve market, but I imagine elves are not cheap." The bond between Styx and Therina was her spiritual support which she hade to rely on. As long as it remained, she never felt alone or weak. It was the most important thing in the world to her. "Of course, once they can understand how great you are, they too will make here their true home," she said almost fanatically. Therina carried on with her tasks, including dismantling a direwolf and several small monsters which wandered in and were killed by the dungeon, while nursing her slowly growing stomach. Several hourster, she returned to the nursery and removed her skirt beforeying down on the breeder. Her stomach was now fully swollen and she quickly went intobor. "Ahhh!!" She cried out in pain before taking deep, rhythmic breathes under the consoling of Styx and slowly pushing out a small dark green baby monster. Therina tenderly picked up the new infantile treant spirit in her arms, ignoring the slimy fluids it was covered in from her vagina. She washed it off in a shallow basin of water before carrying it to another nursery room where she aided the treant spirit with eating some fake food produced with biomass. She oversaw the monster for a while before leaving it to the dungeon''s control once she was satisfied. At the same time, she was directing the mana in her body to recovering and restoring her womb to ensure it remained in the best condition it could. She had another bath and rest, before equipping a new set of leather armor with steel ting protecting vital spots such as the chest, forearms, shins, spine and sides of the neck. It was a little rough looking, but highly practical for her needs. It even had various spots on it for easy storage and ess of throwing knives. There was also arge shoulder bag which contained a week''s worth of long life food, several daily items, and a 10kg pile of manasteel ingots. These ingots were primarily for Therina to sell to a local cksmith for immediate funds, which Styx estimated was his most valuable resource at the moment. She also had her in looking manasteel longsword on her hip, now upgraded to a double edge de, and matching two curved hunting daggers on the back of her belt. Their scabbards had now been redesigned to be tightly wrapped in leather with a whitebone steel locket and chape. It was a basic design, but still looked well-made under Therina''s stitching and leatherwork. She truly looked like a beautiful elven warrior, although she was already burdened by luggage and couldn''t bring her bow or anything else. She walked out of the dungeon full of confidence and toward where she knew the edge of the forest was and human civilization, Styx ever present in her mind. Chapter 19: Departing the Forest Chapter 19: Departing the Forest The forest was filled with the sounds wind rustling leave, birds chirping, insects buzzing, pping of feet sprinting through the underbrush, and distant roars of various monsters. It may be a forbidden area called the Abyssal Forest, but it was filled with vibrant life. It was early summer as Therina finally departed from the dungeon, albeit only a temporary trip. The morning sun filtered through the tree canopy in diagonal pir of light. "Is this truly a forbidden area?" Styx''s voice asked in her mind with curiosity. "Yes, but that doesn''t mean that nobody is allowed to enter. A forbidden area is just a term used for high level danger zones. This is due to the Monster Lords and innumerable powerful monsters in the inner regions. The outskirts of the forest are in fact very safe." "Mmhmm," Styx seemed to hum in agreement in her mind. His voice still sounded a bit unemotional like always, but Therina had learned to identify his moods. It was simr to a sixth sense she had developed. The elf was a natural denizen of the forest, and with the higher level and dexterity, she traversed through the forest like a natural predator. She didn''t go out of her way if there were nearby monsters, but she did heartlessly y any she came across. There wasn''t even a challenge, as she ambushed every single group and ughtered them in a flurry of sword that was sharper and more precise than what her level suggested. This also stopped her from levelling up faster than she could fill herself up with potential, and inevitably having her manawork not grow to its full capability. Although the majority of this issue was mostly turned irrelevant by Styx manually stretching and growing her manawork like she was eating some super expensive high level elixir made from spiritual herbs every level. After an hour of quickly passing through the forest, the trees gave way for rolling hills covered in lush green. It was much hotter too now that the sun shone down directly on the skin. Therina used her hand to shield her eyes from the sun as she squinted and peered into the distance. She couldn''t spot any towns orndmarks from her immediate position, so she instead aligned herself to arge hill in the distance. There appeared to be farmsteads on some hills, but she didn''t wish to interact with them. Just the fact that they were here within range of the Abyssal Forest should a monster wave attack, means that there should be a nearby fortified town they could retreat to. Not to mention their inhabitant''s levels most likely weren''t low. ~~~~~ As the noonday sun hung in the middle of the sky like a blistering fireball, Therina sat down on top of a hill under the shade of several trees and made herself a quick lunch based on what was in her satchel. She had taken off her sword belt to avoid the weapons being in the way of sitting on the ground, but they stillid across herp, readily avable should shee under attack by goblins or some other roaming monsters. Whilst eating in the shade, she watched a fortified dungeon city approximately 10km away. It was huge, spreading out to the hills on the horizon. An enormous 20m tall concrete wall circled the entire city, but most of the house were three or more stories tall, so their y tiled rooves and timber framed tudor style structure could still partially be seen. "Impressive. See if you can find a camera, or something to take pictures with when you are in there." "I will see if I can find something like that, but it is unlikely I will be able to afford it," Therina just helplessly responded. She watched the stream of people entering and leaving the city, many on foot but just as many with carts or on carriages of various sizes. Most of the carts were pulled byrge oxen like beasts withrge horns and thick hides, but there were others which used horses and various fantasy beasts. There were even some which were entirely self propelled by some unknown means. The carts and caravans heading into town were filled with all kinds of goods. Many had crates of food, seeds and grains, but other carries anything from a group''s daily hunted monsters, or dismantled monsters, to medicines or even ves. "Humans" Therina gravely spoke under her breath as she watched the ves being carried inside the town, remembering what happened to her vige. In each giant kingdom of the world, there were countless nationless viges and even towns. Most of these usually were hidden in recluse locations or behind barriers, making them difficult to find and also the reason why they havested so long. These nationless viges were not attached to the kingdom they residing in, and as such, did not have to pay tax to them, but neither were they protected under kingdomw. Due to this, they were the favorite targets for ve traders or those looking to makerge profits from the very industry. "Don''t be so hard on them, you have no issues with humans being ves." Styx said in her mind in a tone that seemed to transmit rolling his eyes. "They deserve it," Therina bluntly replied. Styx didn''t point out her hypocrisy, as he knew it was a biased opinion toward humans based solely on what happened to her and her vige. She would even purchase other elves as ves, actually preferring them over human ves in fact. ~~~~~ Therina slipped into the line of people entering the city, most people not even noticing her due to having Concealment constantly activated. At the entrance of the city, there was a guard station at the city gates. Therina was mostly unaware of the procedure for entering the city, but she could see and hear others on their way in. The first way people would enter would be with a thick identity card, which the owner would ce on a pedestal like device with a magic array engraved in it. The array would light up green upon the card being epted. She had considered secretly stealing somebody else''s identity card at first, but held off due to unknown risks. The pedestal not only checked identity, it could only be properly activated by the owners mana. It would also record theings and goings of certain people, but each record was limited to the city, as there was no broaderwork among the kingdom. The second method of entry, which was used by travellers and traders not bound to the kingdom, was paying an entry fee of anywhere from 2 copper coins to 10 silver coins and being given a temporary permit that they needed to return when they left the city. Each time entering would cost them the same amount, so these people often carried everything they needed into the city and didn''t leave until it was time for them to move to the next city. The guards would give a quick inspection of everyone''s cargo, but this was just to make sure that no illegal goods or smuggling were present. There was such arge amount of traffic passing through the gate though, they couldn''t possibly inspect everything too closely. The line to enter Rhodeus, the dungeon city Therina was lined up at, progressed quickly until it was her turn. "Ma''am, please present your citizen card, or are you a traveller?" One of the city guards screening people asked after seeing her not take the initiative to present her ID. "You have no money," Styx calmly spoke inside of her mind. "Offer to pay with one of the smaller manasteel ingots. It''s expensive for just an entrance fee, but it is eptable for a once off cost." "I am a traveller. I have no money, but I do have things of value. Will this do as an entry fee?" Therena asked while talking in the humannguage she had multiple times referenced as being vulgar and distasteful to Styx in the past. She took out a manasteel ingot and extended it toward the guard for payment. The guard looked her up and down, particrly at her long, elven ears and immediately understood she was someone from a wild vige and had no kingdom currency. This situation wasn''t too abnormal, as there were always people leaving nationless viges and joining the kingdom to take advantage of its dungeon cities. "Understood, you can report to the city hall if you wish to register for citizenship," The guard nodded and gave her a nk temporary identity card while epting the metal ingot and cing it in arge box in the guard station. "What is your name and species?" "Therina Sel''Ether, Tree Elf." Therina then ced the nk card on another pedestal with her hand as her mana signature was imprinted on the card. Once the procedure was done, she nodded to the guard and entered the city. Inside the city was roads of cement and walkways of perfectly t reddish stone bricks. The cobblestone and brick base tudor style houses towered above everything in their stylish grandeur. Carts, carriages and even more self propelling carriages constantly moved along the roads, while people walked across the footpaths. There wererge public carriages too which were essentially buses ording to Styx''s observation. "Ask some people where you can find a cksmith as well asmercial areas. You also need to find a tavern, but there should be plenty of them near the entry points to the city anyway. It''s a prime location for them after all." She scrunched her brow and did her best to avoid any humans, looking for a non human to ask. Now she was away from the city guards, she did little to conceal her disgust toward humans. "Excuse me," Therina asked when she eventually found a beastman, who was far more beast than man. "I''m looking for themercial district, as well as the city hall." The beast man sniffed the air and did what seemed to be a grimacing appearance before avoiding her and refusing to answer her. Seeing no luck with the beastman, she then found someone who had an ethereal look and long green eyshes and hair. She had an odd sense of beauty to her, but clearly wasn''t human, which was enough for Therina who repeated the same query to her. "Hmm?" The ethereal woman said while tilting her head to the warrior appearing elf, a temperate smile on her face. "There are plenty of city halls, usually around or nearbymercial districts. Further up the road there are the guild services along with a city hall. You are obviously new to a dungeon city. Just look at the map in the adventurer, mercenary, or merchant''s guild to find things in the city. You can also follow the traders'' caravans heading toward the merchant districts, but that may take a little longer." "Thank you," Therina bowed her head slightly and thanked the woman before departing. True to what she was told, she found severalrge buildings further down the main road, each at least eight stories tall and with countless decorations which drew the eye. Large signs hung in front of each one, although the mass of people entering and leaving already indicated what kind of ce each was. There were also smallneways around the back of the buildings with a line of carts waiting to deposit their hauls to the guilds in return for money. There were also clear signs telling people that all cargo must be handled at the rear entrance and to no block off the front of the guilds or main road. Therina walked into the adventurer''s guild rather than any of the others. This was a ce for smaller parties and individuals rather than therge mercenary groups. Inside was arge area where adventurers would ept and turn in quests,rge request boards lining the wall on one side. The entire floor was dedicated to the lowest rank adventurers, and each higher floor was for a higher rank than the previous. Arge, highly detailed city map was on another side of the room, so Therina weaved her way through the crowd unnoticed and arrived in front of the map. She had some difficulty reading the cursive, tiny humannguage writing on the map, but quickly located everything she needed to. With nobody realizing she had been there, she stealthily left the guild and began travelling through the streets. Just to be safe, Styx had made a carving on arge stone wall to replicate the map, which he used to follow where she was going, and give directions if she needed it. Chapter 20: This Fantasy World is too Modern Chapter 20: This Fantasy World is too Modern The marketce Therina headed to was arge open square with hundreds of stalls set up. In the surroundings were lots ofmercial shops which were the fronts of trading conglomerates which spanned multiple cities, potentially even beyond the borders into other kingdoms. Thergest guilds were like this, as they were organisations which spanned across the entire world. They still had to pay tax to the kingdom the guild operated in, but they had much more power than any single kingdom. They facilitated the trade of anything and everything, although the prices of items were often more expensive, and their prices for purchasing items less than their local counterparts. They were however, the safest and most trustworthy option for buying and selling things, and they had a reputation to uphold to ensure no client of theirs was ever ripped off. Therina walked into a small smithery in an alley off the marketce, the smell of smoke and oil ripe inside the smaller building. "How can I help ye, miss?" A short, stocky dwarf asked her from behind the counter as he watched her looking over the swords, maces, armor, and various weapons and defensive gear on disy. "You found a cksmith shop run by a dwarf! This is just too perfect!" Styx happily cheered andughed in her mind, causing her to quizzically raise a brow, which the former couldn''t see. Therina walked over to the counter, a polished wood bench kept in pristine condition. "I have some metal to sell, will you buy it?" The dwarf looked her up and down, appraising her armor and weapons with the eyes of an expert. He could tell that it was roughly made by a still inexperienced hand, but efficient in serving its purpose. "Aye, should it be of sufficient quality." Therina opened her shoulder bag and took out one of the manasteel ingots for the dwarf to inspect. "Manasteel it is," the dwarf nodded to himself and brought out several items to test the quality of the metal, from hardness to mana conductivity. "Tis'' pure manasteel too, although of a rather average, just above low, quality. Tis'' sufficient at least. Miss, going by the weight, I can offer ye 16 silver coins for this ''ere ingot." She was about to agree when Styx whispered in her mind to barter on the price. "25 silver coins, it is still a valuable metal." "Perhaps this miss thinks manasteel is more valuable that it is? 6 silver is already a fair price, it is not that much of a valuable item. Are ye from a nationless vige?" Therina didn''t reply and red at the dwarf who only raised his stocky arms in a shrug and sighed. "Manasteel is produced all over the kingdom. Tis one of the most basic metals, used in basically ev''ry magic item. Its greatest value is how much of it is needed and that it takes longer to refine than standard steels due to the mana injected into it." Styx understood that this meant manasteel was worth far less than he anticipated. It was one thing if the dwarf was trying to cheat his elf, but his exnation was very reasonable. For such a highly developed society, especially one based around magic more than science, such a basic material was quitemon. "10 coins per ingot," Therina bluntly said after a quick interlude with Styx. "I would be making a loss, but I like ye, miss. I can give you 7 silver per ingot." "He can do better than that! Offer him first pick on future sales!" "I wille to you first when I have more to sell, but give me 8 per ingot." The dwarf seemed to think about it for a while and was about to try offer a new price, but Therina was losing her patience and ring at the dwarf, causing him to chuckle to himself. "Aye, 8 silver per ingot, but yee to me first in the future as long as it is a smithin'' material." Therina took out the rest of the ingots in the bag, lining up 5 ingots along the bench. The dwarf smith weighed each of the ingots and tested them, and after confirming they were all of the same quality, paid her with 40 silver coins. The onlyparison she had for the value of this amount of money was the prices of the surrounding swords. The cheapest iron dagger was sold for 50 copper coins, while a standard longsword of decent quality cost anywhere from 2 to 15 silver. These were of course all steel, maybe with traces of other metals mixed in. A sword like Therina''s made out of pure manasteel would be valued in gold coins. "Hey, hurry up and give him your name. This is PR, you hear me? PR!" Styx constantly yapped in her mind like a backseat driver, although the elf secretly enjoyed hearing his voice, so it wasn''t exactly unwee. "Dwarf, my name is Therina, I will return when I have more to sell." "Aye, miss, I will wait for then. Ye can call me Gordan." Therina then left and first headed toward one of the city halls in the city. There were close to a million residents in this city, so there were six or seven government offices around the city, all overseen by the city lord and his noble house, Duke Ashburn. She was visibly disgusted in all the crowded humans in the city hall, but held it in under the constant cating of Styx. Once she paid a silver coin andpleted the registration process however, she immediately left. With her own identity card, Theresa was now protected by the kingdom''sws, but was also obliged to follow them herself. However, she had no actual intention of following humanw. At the marketce, she spent several hours browsing through all the stalls, of which she spent 2 silver coins on several bags of different seeds for various food and a couple of low level spiritual herbs. She then went to a bookstore where Styx learned that books are very expensive. Standard introductory books which consisted of about ten to twenty pages cost a minimum price of around 10 silver, while those which had fifty or more pages were calcted in gold. The more advanced the contents were, the higher the price increased even further. Styx really wanted some advanced books on magic and magic arrays, but even the cheapest one in the store was already 10 gold coins, while middle level books were priced around an average 5 to 10 tinum coins. He had Therina buy a single cheap book with introductory information about mana and ways the skills of different sses use it. It was only the first book in what appeared to be a series of ten, but it was enough for Styx to satisfy his curiosity. "Excuse me, madam," A middle aged man with a ve cor entered the shop with a package under his arms addressed the elderly shopkeeper. "Harold, I have been telling you to call me Miralda for years," The shopkeeper sighed to the ve man who was rtively clean and dressed neat. "How have you been?" "Work has been tough, and I can really feel it in my legs these days." "Oh my, you have been delivering my parcels for thest decade, sit down for a bit, will you? I will brew a cup of tea." "Sorry, madam, but you know how it is. Work is always busy, and they drive me like a ve." The man chuckled at his own joke and the olddy''s brow rxed as well. They continued have a brief discussion, on of the highlights of the man''s day, but Therina had already left and was no longer within earshot. "Do you think very is bad?" Styx asked in her mind all of a sudden. "What do you mean? Why is it bad?" Therina responded under her breath, ncing around the wandering shoppers in the market and spotting several ves. "Do you believe that it is wrong to deprive people of their freedom?" "I do not believe so. The weak are at fault for being weak." "Then what about you and your vige? Your hatred for humans?" Therina''s expression darkened, her creased brow bing a w in her otherwise perfect beauty. "" "You know that is hypocritical, right?" "I don''t care. Irregardless, I was weak back then too, which I could only me myself for." "Hmm? But you are still weak." Therina''s steps faltered at thatment and she looked like her anger was truly about to burst out. Even though Styx couldn''t see her expression, he could tell how ufortable she was with this conversation. "What is your point in saying all this?" She practically growled out between clenched teeth. She may hold deep affection toward him, but that didn''t mean she couldn''t get mad. "Nothing in particr. I am fine with you the way you are, after all. I was merely curious on your view towards the matter, given that you barely escaped that fate." It was alreadyte in the evening as the buildings in the city cast the streets in shadow. Therina found an inn called The Wanderers, arge tavern on the ground floor crowded with drunk rankers and travelling merchants enjoying a merry celebration as a bard troupe sang and danced on a stage. "I would like a room for one," Therina stated to the tavern mistress after slipping through the crowd of drunkards and mugs sshing ale. The tavern mistress was a human with long xen hair tied up in a rope braid and freckly face. She didn''t have the prettiest face for a human, but her buxom and low cut top, simr to the barmaids who ran around bringing customers more drinks, was more than enough to get men to keep ogling her. "By yourself, or in a share room?" She asked while eyeing up the elf in front of her. Therina didn''t even try hide the disgust in her voice as she immediately responded, "By myself." The tavern mistress wasn''t offended in the least as she had already seen every kind of customer there was to see. "Not a problem, miss. We have several types of such rooms avable, the cheapest being 60 copper per night, then 1 silver 20 copper, and finally 2 silver per night." "I will take a 60 copper room. I will pay for 5 nights in advance." "Thank you for your patronage, miss. That will be 3 silver altogether." Therina paid the fee and received a rustic iron key with the number 305 engraved on the handle. She then went up to the third floor and found her room, a small but clean four walls and a window, with a single bed and a chest to secure her belongings in, the lock on it matching that of the door. She wasn''t yet ready to sleep for the night, as there were other tasks awaiting her. She merely ensured she had somewhere to sleep for the night and eating some prepared rations for dinner before heading back out into the streets. She didn''t trust her belongings in a human establishment without her being present, so she carried everything along with her. The sun hadpletely set by now, but all the main streets were lit up by magic streemps, thin wooden pirs extending up which had a basic light magic array engraved on their tops. The array was designed to be triggered when the light level dropped below a certain point before activating its ambient mana absorption function and producing several ball of soft light around them. All of the main streets had these balls of light floating above them, each various shades of white, blue and red. It was unknown if this was by design, or a particr mana quality shining through above others. Carriages also had their own light arrays installed in them to see, while wealthier people walked around with magic tools to produce their own light. The assortment of lights was a beauty to behold, and even Therina was stunned by it all, but she quickly dispersed that thought and begun heading to her next destination the ve markets. ~~~~~ Make sure you click on the author''s thoughts to see the full note. Chapter 21: Sometimes, Single Player Isnt Bad Either Chapter 21: Sometimes, Single yer Isn''t Bad Either Lit up by balls of light with more vibrant hues than the standard street lighting, the ve market was bustling with activity. ve were the only product for sale here, and they came in many different kinds. The mostmon were debt ves or captured unregistered people. The former were those who took out loans and couldn''t pay them off, or couldn''t pay their taxes. Thetter were people from wild viges like Therina''s, who had been unfortunate enough to either be conquered or captured while they were outside the vige. Next there were criminal ves, those who were sold to very for their crimes as long as the crime was not one warranting a death sentence. The final lot were those who were sold into very, or sold themselves. These people had the greatest benefits as a ve, such as conditions on whoever bought them, and certain rights they withheld despite beingbelled as property. All ves could be redeemed from very by their masters with the exception of criminal ves, but even then it was extremely rare. A ve who was redeemed and tossed out to survive on their own would more than likely sell themselves back into servitude as many could no longer function independently after living as a ve for so long. The ves in the market weren''t the higher value ves, such as exotic races known for beauty, those highly capable and so forth. They were all sold in auction houses and high profile ve stores. All those that were disyed in the outdoor ve market were cheaper goods. The females were all dressed in thin clothing that only really covered up their breasts and crotch, while the men only had pants. Each one had a ck ve crest tattooed on their chest, aplicated magic array with arcane rules and encrypting methods filling them. Each ve trader had their own encryption on their ve array, much like a password. This prevented anyone tampering with it, or forcefully breaking the seals and inevitably freeing the ve. Many of the arcane designs were for imprinting the ve''spulsion rules, as well as certain otherpulsions, such as using all reasonable means to return to the trader upon the master''s death, amon practice used to deter ve theft. "They look cold, and they''re mostly scrawny," Styxmented in Therina''s mind as he looked at all the chained ves up for sale, or currently being sold at auction tforms. "They are also very expensive." Therina strolled through the ve market unnoticed by those around her. Someone would asionally spot her and ask if she was interested in any of their "products", but she would merely shake her head and state she was inspecting prices. "Look! That ve is only 20 silver coins!" "Need I remind you that we only have approximately 13 silver left? Also, this young human boy is weak, malnourished, and appears to have a crippled leg." "But he is cheap, you could surely haggle the price down even further." "Styx, do you not prefer girls anymore?" "Of course I do! But there aren''t any around all that cheap. A male ve would be better forbor if there is a choice, even though they can''t breed monsters." Therina bobbed her head in agreement and spent a while longer inspecting the various ves and their estimated value before returning back to the inn. She had also looked for any elves, particrly those from her vige, but if they were still up for sale, it wasn''t in the outdoor markets. The young elvish woman removed her outer armor and wore some cotton sleepwear before rxing on the hard packed bed. She did, however, have to adjust her position several times to avoid spots where there was an ufortable lump in the mattress padding. There was a small bedside table with a light array on the top of it, all one had to do was tap it with their hand to turn it off or on. "Therina, I wish to make more monsters," Styx suddenly said in her mind in a serious voice. "I cannot help with that at the moment." Therina was truly helpless in this situation. As much as she cared for Styx, she was at least half a day''s travel away. She could also tell that rather than wanting to create more monsters, he was more interested in the act itself. ''This lecherous dungeon'' She thought to herself with a faint smile. "You can help. Use your hands." Therina''s head nked out as she simply responded, "What?" "I said, use you hands. I can''t touch you, but you can touch yourself, can''t you? I will watch." The elf''s face flushed the most crimson it had been thest month, her ears practically turning pink. "If that''s what you want," She nervously said as she pulled her cotton pants down to her ankles and slipped one leg out. "Hrm hrm, good, start with the fingers of one hand, massage the clitoris." Therina mentally rolled her eyes as she already knew well what to do, and the things she liked. She ran her hand down from her stomach her bare vagina. Styx had mentioned pubic hair to her before, but she informed him that tree elves didn''t grow any, and that went for both genders. With her legs spread wide apart, her fingers were spread out in a V shape as she massaged the sides of her vagina, asionally pinching and rubbing inwards over her downstair lips. "Haahhhh~~" Her vagina began to secrete its natural lubricant from the stimtion. Her middle finger slipped in between her slit, gently circling around the entrance of her vagina as it collected up the fluid and spread it around herher region. She gradually stroked up and down her slit at just the right speed, paying extra attention to softly rubbing and pinching her clitoris, which was especially sensitive and sent waves of pleasure crashing through her body. "Ngghh~ mmahhh~~" Therina release a long moan which she tried to muffle as arced her head back. "Hey! What are you doing!? Keep looking down! If you don''t look at what you are doing, I can''t see it either!" Styx''s voice had broken her out of ecstasy and left Therina feeling a bit downcast, but she looked back down and resumed focusing on what she was doing. Her middle finger had returned back down to her vaginal entrance, softly applying more pressure as it sank its way into the tight entrance leading to her cervix. She began breathing more heavily as she slowly stirred her finger and slowly slid it in and out of her. As this was a service for Styx too, she used her other hand to gently spread her lips open and reveal the tight meat hole mping around her finger as it slid in and out of her entrance which was only getting wetter. "Two use two fingers now," Styx said in a voice filled with intense concentration. Therina extended her ring finger, and making sure it was covered in her natural juices, pushed it inside the tight hole of her vagina, which was now wrapped around two fingers. "Haahhhh~~" Two fingers didn''t fill her up anywhere near what Styx did, but it was enough to begin scratching her inner itches. She hooked her fingers and rubbed them against the inner walls of her vagina. As a Thatcher who works with threads, her fingers were especially dextrous, and the feeling of her nimble fingers reaching all the right ces quickly made her mind turn work. Therina''s entire body quivered as waves of pleasure vibrated through it like tsunamis. She moaned especially loud and curled her toes as her vagina tightly contracted around her fingers. "OaaahhhhHHH~~" She couldn''t control herself. She pushed back against her rhythmically contacting vagina and dug her fingers as deep as they would go, attempting to pierce through the final barrier preventing her from reaching an evenrger orgasm. Sadly, such a pleasure remained just out of reach of her fingers as the ecstasy gradually departed from her body and left her panting heavy, hot breaths. "That was excellent. It appears that even apart, we can be together," Styx''s pleased voice echoed in her mind, like aforting embrace after just reaching a climax. "There is still some money left, get an adult toy to use next time." "Okay," Therina mumbled in deep embarrassment and quickly pulled up her pants before lying face down on the bed. Styx couldn''t tell, but as she was lying down, one hand was extended under her stomach and into her pants. The gently and dextrously pleased herself while imagining his voice in her head, her eyes holding a slightly delirious gaze. ~~~~~ The following day, Therina mostly acted likest night never happened. However, there was an incident in the morning of her sniffing her hand in embarrassment before desperately trying to scrub it clean before leaving the inn. Today, she found arge public carriage running a bus route and paid a 2 copper fee to board it. All of the seats were full, so she had to stand up while the carriage made its way through its route. Many passengers tried to offer her seats, or even sleazily flirt with her, but she snubbed and red at them all, so soon enough nobody wanted to interact with the haughty elf. The carriage had good suspension and there were no major potholes in the roads, so the journey way very smooth and pleasant. Although, Therina did turn hostile and even draw one of her daggers on the bus when it began to get more crowded and her personal space was encroached. Thankfully, that confrontation was somehow resolved. Styx had worried that he was about to lose his best, and only, servant. ~~~~~ In the centre of the city, Therina stood before a giant pantheon like construction, giant stone pirs everywhere and impressive carvings which left Styx figuratively drooling with inspiration. If anything, he merely danced in spins deep inside his dungeon. Throngs of rankers, adventurers, mercenaries, even soldiers belonging to the city and kingdom entered and left. People who called themselves countless different things congregated here to enter the city''s dungeon to earn loot and experience. Therina entered the giant pantheon along with the crowd and found herself in a giant dome roofed chamber covered in relief carvings. Giant creamy white polished tiles covered the floor, only broken by the blue and ck tiles that formed a pattern on the floor. Many preformed parties entered and challenged the dungeon together, while others would introduce themselves around, hoping to bring several others into their party or enter one themselves. There were even pack mules, or at least that is what the people were called. They were those who weren''t very adept at fighting, and would instead hire themselves out to carry everyone''s bags and loot in return for a share of the earnings. Of course, one could hire an actual, four-legged pack mule too. There were no rules against it, but most animals tended to have a flight tendency when ced in danger, which was a one way trip to losing all of their equipment and loot. There were so many people in the pantheon that voices chaotically echoed through the room and irritated Therina''s ears. She gracefully slipped through the crowd and to the dungeon entrance, where arge formation of city guards had a defensive formation around the dungeon. While the city lord controlled the dungeon, summoned monsters could not be controlled by the dungeon, and if they were allowed to grow beyond the number that the dungeon could hold, they would form a Dungeon Break and burst out of the dungeon in a monster wave. This was mostly for contingencies though, as there never seemed to be enough monsters for everyone each day anyway. Therina took out her identity card and pressed it on the verification pedestal with her hand. It tested the card and her mana before shing green in confirmation that there were no issues. As a registered citizen of the kingdom, she could enter any dungeon for a price of 5 copper, while a non-resident of any kind would have to pay ten times that amount. If they didn''t make decent progress or others had already killed all the monsters, they could even make a loss just on the entry fee. With her entry paid, she proceeded beyond the city guards'' fortification and descended down a set of stone stairs wide enough for twenty to stand abreast. Chapter 22: Dungeons Are Designed to be Efficient Chapter 22: Dungeons Are Designed to be Efficient "Is this supposed to be a dungeon?" Styx disdainfully said in Therina''s mind The inside of the dungeon was a massive stone cave system with various carved block like structured jutting out of walls and the sporadic giant pirs between the ground and fifteen-meter ceiling. Stone mushrooms grew in damp crevices and fungus grew over walls and the ceiling. Nonuniform light arrays were inscribed up high on the walls an pirs, shedding a dim light across the entire dungeon. Little care ced into the dungeon ording to Styx''s standards, to which his opinion ended up with "at least the floor is t". "It is. Also, there appears to be a higher mana density in the air. I can feel it prickling my skin." "That means this dungeon is regenerating mana faster than I do! That''spletely unfair! What is the cause behind it?" "It could be rted to the size of the dungeon." "No, size has nothing to do with mana density. There is either a natural mana sink, or a vein of some sort of mana rich material feeding mana into the dungeon. It could also be some form of mana generation." "Is it possible to create mana?" "Not from nothing. But the way the energy in your manawork refracts into mana means it can be derived from life sources. It may be possible to tap into the''s boundless ocean of lifeforce, or some other energy source, to effectively "create" mana.'' "I don''t understand any of that." "Of course you don''t. I like to think of it as educating you." Therina was feeling somewhatplicated at Styx''sst remark, but she understood him well enough to know he wasn''t intending to insult others. She loved him despite those aspects of his, although that was heavily called into question when she learned the origin of the ''point and click method''. "Make sure you collect severalrge bags of the mushrooms and moss too." "Yes. I will collect them on the final day to prevent them from dying before getting back." Sounds of battle seemed to be getting closer as Therina walked through the dungeon under constant effect of her Concealment skill. She walked around one corner and found a party of four young adventurers fighting three kobolds jackal headed monsters who moved and attacked quite quickly. They appeared to have just reached adulthood and received their jobs. One of them tanked damage, while two others served as both vanguard and damage dealers, and the fourth was a female apprentice mage who served at a party leader and asionally sending out fist sizedpressed balls of sharp wind des. Therina was avoiding battles as much as she could to avoid reaching the level up requirement of experience before she saturated her manawork with potential. The party took some minor damage, and the strap of the tank''s shoulder pauldron had been cut and would no longer sit on his shoulder. As the kobold''s died, they didn''t leave corpses. They dissolved into ashes which evaporated in dark pin sized motes of light, leaving behind a fingernail sized mana crystal. Therina also had to collect a decent amount of mana crystals to both sell and bring back for Styx''s research, but she was disinclined to snatch them from a party of fledgling adventurers. Monsters in dungeons could be summoned at the expense of mana and were the traditional method for defending the dungeon by killing any intruders. As they were just mana constructs of the dungeon, anything killed by a summoned monster would provide all their experience to the dungeon too, which was one of the sole factors for dungeon breaks, unleashing a monster wave upon the world. When one of these monsters died in the dungeon, ten percent of the experience given by the monster would go to the dungeon as well, further helping it grow. Summoning arrays could be created as well, which every dungeon in the world relied on to produce the maximum number of monsters. These arrays would absorb and store up ambient mana and summon the monster programmed into the array whenever the stored mana was sufficient. This provided a steady stream of monsters without relying on the dungeon''s own mana. When they died however, they didn''t leave physical bodies or materials behind, breaking back down into mana. What they left instead was a stone of crystalized mana, with monsters built withrger amounts of mana leaving behindrger, purer crystals. This setup has been taken advantage of by civilizations from further back than the oldest history records. Kingdoms take over dungeon cores and build cities around them. Without any traps or unexpected monsters, these dungeons be their most valuable assets as they are used to provide experience to train soldiers in mass, endless mana crystals and other minable materials. They were open to the public as well as any monster killed would return experience to the dungeon core itself which was under direct control of the city lords. Dungeon cores often had ws though, such a certain functions they could not do that others could. They were then graded from A to H depending on the number of ws. There were also S, SS, and SSS special grades outside of the standard ones for cores with rare and unique functions, although that didn''t necessarily mean they were stronger or were without ws. Authentic dungeon core grades could only be assigned by a representative from the world wide conglomerate Dungeon Traders though, as they were the ones who created the criteria and a certificate of grading was the sole guarantee of a dungeon core''s quality. The fact that Styx had a w that made him unable to summon monsters was an endless source of grief to him, which he frequentlyined about. ~~~~~ Therina finished exploring most of the dungeon''s first floor in several hours. The sheer size of it was enormous, but there were maps on certain walls indicating where a person was and nearby safe zones. The entire floor was filled with kobolds, goblins and carnivorous rats, enough to challenge low levelled people, but only gave poor amounts of experience. The stairs down to the next level were back at the beginning. This dungeon had ten floors in total. All the floors were rtively the same with some changes in design and color to help people differentiate, but they were aimed at being as efficient as possible for the purpose of a dungeon belonging to the kingdom. There were also open veins of ore in some of the floors, which people were free to mine for their own usage or selling. The earth had endless amounts of raw ores that the city lord could control the dungeon to mine without having to worry about others mining it too. If he was to stop them from doing so, it would only serve to harm the economy of the city. On the fourth floor, Therina was confronted by an ogre easily twice her height and wielding a giant iron studded wooden club. "Grooarrrr!!" The ogre screamed as it swung its club down on top of her head. Therina was fully alert and in battle mode. She deftly dodged to the side of the club while simultaneously drawing her manasteel sword. The club smashed onto the stone ground with arge collision, blowing dust everywhere but miraculously causing little to no damage to the floor. Seeing her dodge to the side, the ogre swung its free hand down at the elf to club her to death. Ogres were known for their stone like skin and brutish strength, and getting hit by its fist would at least cause heavy damage the Therina. She wasn''t about to let the ogre hit her into the ground though. She slipped under its club-wielding arm and shed her sword across its wrist in one fluid motion. The ogre''s skin wasn''t to be underestimated, as her sword was met with fierce resistance and only cut half as deep as she intended it to. The ogre roared again, this time in pain as it pulled its hand back, still with enough strength to hold the club as the tendons weren''t severed. "Miss elf, it looks like you need some help!" A voice called out from behind her as a group of three men approached her, two sword wielders and an archer. "Stay away," Therina coldly stated with a re before focusing on the ogre. The men had sleezy expressions as they watched her fight the ogre. She danced around the ogre''s attacks and continuously shed and stabbed its vital points. She backflipped over a sweeping attack by the ogre and at the same time, pulled out one of her steel throwing knives. As shended, she flicked her wrist and the throwing knifeunched in a grey streak. The ogre cried out in pain as the throwing knife stabbed deep into its right eye, blinding it and clouding its mind with pain. "GROAARRR!!" The ogre screamed as it entered a berserk state and tried to violently smash the small elf in front of it while disregarding any damage it took. "Do not take your focus away from those three humans," Styx warned in Therina''s mind. She naturally hated humans and was constantly waiting for a chance to attack them. She had actually been leading herself and the ogre closer to them, hoping to slit their throats before they can respond. The ogre just blindly charged at her now and was on the verge of death. The three humans who had been watching had sinister expressions on their faces. Not only was it an easy target to kill steal, they were deeply infatuated with the elf''s beauty and wanted to have their way with her. Therina was just a lone elf, so the archer took the initiative and drew his bow while her attention was on the ogre. He was a Apprentice Huntsman, and used the archery skill Snipe, whichunches an arrow propelled by mana, causing it to fly two to three times faster than a normal arrow. The timing of the attack was immediately after Styx warned Therina, almost as if he jinxed her by saying it. She had in fact been constantly keeping them at the side of her awareness so when she saw and felt the ill intent along with gathering mass of mana behind her, she knew they were attacking. At the same time as the arrow was shot, Therina spun around and raised her sword to block it with the t of the de. Reinforced by her own mana, the de suffered no damage, but she was still thrown off bnce. "Human scum," She said in the beautiful elvishnguage as her expression was covered in frost. Chapter 23: Human Scum Tropes are too Predictable Chapter 23: Human Scum Tropes are too Predictable "Human scum," Therina cursed with an icy expression. She relied on the recoil from blocking the arrow to dodge back away from the ogre''s club and spare hand smashing down toward her, hiding in its blind side. "Hoh? You actually blocked that? Impressive," One of the human swordsmenughed at her. "Jax, I think you are losing skill levels." "Shut up, Hanz, use that lump of useless steel in your hand and go cut her tendons." The two swordsmen split up in multiple directions to nk Therina while the archer knocked another other, not using a skill this time to save his mana. The ogre was blind with rage and couldn''t find Therina, but it did see the two swordsmen charging toward it and switched to attacking them. The two wanted to disable the elf first though, so they made disarming her their priority over killing the half blind, half dead ogre. The first swordsman dodged around the ogre''s crazed attack before attacking on one side, while the second swordsman timed himself to attack at the same time. The archer also released an arrow, trapping Therina in a three-way attack. As the three weren''t trying to kill her, but would and disarm, she still had room for leeway as she dodged back again while deflecting the arrow. She retailiated with a deadly thrust at the neck of one of the swordsmen, but he was and much faster than her. He easily brought up his sword and protected his neck, although her ferocity did leave him feeling a chill on the back of his neck. "Feisty one, aren''t you?" The other swordsman said as he made a follow up attack. "Watch out, the ogre is upon you guys," The archer warned his party members as he continued to cover them with arrows. Therina was at a severe disadvantage against the three, as while less precise with their swords, they had higher strength, speed and real life battle experience. They were also developing fearlessness towards death, even recklessness, that was referred to as the initial reason why all high level rankers were crazy in one way or another. The first swordsman used the Swordsmanship skill, charging cut. Mana flowed through his body as he charged forward in the blink of an eye, instantly upon Therina as his sword came swinging down upon her. Therina reinforced her de with mana and tried to deflect the blow, but the swordsman''s strength was simply too much higher than hers. She made a split second decision and released her sword the moment she felt his strength bearing down on her. She pulled out the hunting knives from the back of her waist as she slipped past the attack and ruthlessly stabbed one of them into his throat, twisting and yanking it out immediately. "Hanz!" The other swordsman called out upon seeing his throat gouged open and blood pouring out. Hanz was in a state of disbelief as he raised his hand in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding. He had confidence in his body''s resilience and most of it was covered in armor too, but he severely underestimated Therina''s precision and savagery in her counterattack. Before he could even reflect on what she did, everything was already over. [ Hanz (Apprentice Swordsman ) killed! + 872 exp ] Therina earned the singlergest amount of experience she had ever earned before. She felt that there was a use for humans after all experience bags. "Shit, Derrik, this woman is savage, let''s bail!" The archer called out as he shot several more arrows and dodged a couple of throwing knives that were thrown back in retaliation with deadly uracy. With little regard for their fallenpanion, the two immediately retreated away from Therina and fled deeper into the dungeon. "Don''t chase them," Styxmanded in her mind, causing her to falter and almost not dodge the ogre''s attack properly. "Why?" She asked in response as she retrieved her fallen sword and quickly finished off the ogre. [ Ogre ) killed! + 207 exp ] The ogre quickly turned into a pile of ash the rapidly evaporated in motes of light, leaving behind a mana crystal half the size of a thumb. The experience along with killing Hanz filled up an entire third of her experience requirement to level up. "Because if you kill them all, nobody will know about you." Therina found herself dumbfounded once again at Styx''s reasoning. "Isn''t it better for people to not know me? If those adventurers file aint to the city guard that I attacked and killed one of them I cannot fight off the guards." "Don''t be so paranoid. Beautiful elf randomly attacked three lecherous adventurers and killed one? They wouldn''t have the guts to report that. Even if they did" "If they did?" "Well, even if they did, the guard might give a brief investigation into you, but nothing woulde of it. In the end, that dead adventurer is just another corpse to feed the dungeon. Your bigger concern should be theming attacking again, but with more people." "Shouldn''t I definitely kill them then!?" "No. You need fame, it will help you in secretly luring people back to my dungeon. The poor elf who lost her entire family and vige to a wild dungeon break, their greed and lust will lead them right into my hands. If they hate you, you can lure them here even easier." "You don''t worry that I will be killed?" "My things are not so weak." Therina helplessly shook her head with a smile before continuing to investigate the dungeon floor. Of course, she didn''t forget to loot any mana stones on the fallen swordsman and his sword, which Styx said was of good quality and his monsters could use. There were plenty of other people on this floor as ogres provided a good amount of experience points and were pretty slow. Due to this, people spent far more time looking for monsters than actually fighting them. ~~~~~ The sun was beginning to set by the time Therina left the dungeon. There had been several other incidents of people attacking her, but she had either robbed them and drove them off or fled if there were too many. A pretty woman, especially an elf, alone in the dungeon attracted a lot of attention, and quite a few of the higher level adventurers and mercenaries could look past her Concealment and spot her. Styx had cated her into not killing any humans for the time being, at least not until she could saturate her manawork with potential. To level up sooner would only lower her future Max Level. There were a total of five confrontations with humans, three which she robbed their sacks of mana crystals, and two which she had to flee from due to being severely outnumbered and outleveled. There was one other moment where she ran into a Second Step beastman ranker. She immediately felt a dangerous premonition when she saw him and decisively avoided him out of caution. The ranker also noticed Therina, but simply chose to ignore her after she fled. Therina had gained two thirds of the experience required to level up, but had almost no potential built up so had to hold off on returning to the dungeon. She did harvest a wide range of fungus and mushrooms which had spread themselves through the dungeon. Of the mana crystals she had harvested, or robbed, half of them were sold for a total of 7 silver 13 copper. The other half would return with her to the dungeon for Styx''s study and experimentation. ording to Styx''s demands, she bought another cheap book which contained a couple of the lowest level arrays such as themonce light array. She also embarrassingly entered a store selling adult products and spent another 5 silver on a magic powered vibrating dildo. She then returned to her inn for the night. "I haven''t taught you about meditation before, have I?" Styx asked whilst she was stretching her body to train and maintain her flexibility. Therina bent forward while sitting and grabbed onto her feet before pulling them to the sides. "No, you haven''t. Meditation for what?" "As a method for training." "Training my meditation skills?" "Training your mind. Potential shouldn''t be limited to just physical and magical training. It should extend to the metaphysical as well. Even operating your own manawork can build up potential." "And by saying ''should'', you don''t actually know." "Irregardless, training the mind is a part of training the body." Therina wasn''t exactly convinced, but she still told Styx to go on. "Good, no cross your legs and close your eyes. Focus on steadying your breathing in. and out. and in and out feel the air within and around you. Your body is the sole point of reality in a boundless space of nothingness, rhythmically sending out a pulse every time you exhale" Styx continued talking in Therina''s mind, directing her thoughts to first target a sensation of being one with the surroundings, extending the mind''s senses to feel everything around her. He wanted to go into some further training he knew of to fine tune her cognitive processing, but he felt that would be rushing things too much. ~~~~~ The following morning, Therina checked out of the inn early, but didn''t receive a refund on her booking. She had booked and paid for five nights, so the room would remain hers until the end of that period, regardless as to whether she was there or not. They simply didn''t do refunds. It was next to no money for the elf, so she didn''t make a fuss about it but returned the room key and left. She had stopped using Concealment under bequest of Styx, who thought it would be a good chance to allow people to see her leaving the dungeon city and which direction she was heading. This way, those people who were targeting her for revenge woulde looking for her and hopefully find the dungeon. They would then turn into much desired experience for Styx, who had plenty of traps and tactics to kill them. The tactic definitely worked, as several people shadowed Therina as she left the city and made note of where she was heading. They didn''t dare follow her over the hills and farnds however, as that would simply be too obvious and they were under the impression that she was unaware of them tailing her. Seeing she was headed toward the Abyssal Forest, they quickly ran back to report to whom they were spying for. Chapter 24: Mutation Chapter 24: Mutation Therina returned with everything for Styx around midday. The books were ced in a room where he could have one of the more dextrous monsters flip through the pages for him and allow him to read each page. The moss was also ced in the same room with the containers open. He couldn''t physically touch move them, but he had been focusing on learning ways with how to interact with real object using mana tendrils and shown some progress. The progress of dungeon expansion was much faster than it used to be, and he had already begun digging out giant cavities in a second floor for research on recreating environments within them. He still had many areas he wascking, such as life which can grow underground, and mana techniques to artificially alter the environment. One of the greatest limiting factors was sunlight, so until he could ovee that limitation, he nned on causing nts to mutate and be able to survive off a substitute energy source. The main energy supplement is intended to be mana. "How do you know all this stuff?" Therina asked as Styx walked her through the procedures and techniques he would employ to incite nts to mutate. "I simply do." "That doesn''t answer anything. You have briefly described images and knowledge of a world not of this one. Your point and click method is from there, is it not?" "Hmm it is possible. I have knowledge of some things, but mostck the factor of personal identity which makes me feel confused." "Perhaps you came from there." "That is also possible, all dungeons had toe from somewhere, after all." "We are taught that dungeons are randomly born from ambient mana trapped in caves." "Just in your vige, or asmon knowledge?" "Both, I think. Perhaps it is different elsewhere, but that was how it was taught in our vige at least." "Either way, it''s wrong. The mana density in the current dungeon is not much different from outside of it, and it was even lower when the dungeon was new. Nothing is born from nothing, it muste from somewhere, whether that is from somewhere else, or from an equivalent amount of energy." "It is most likely the system which presides over the world''s system and manages leveling up which will take energy from somewhere to facilitate the generation of a new dungeon core. I can specte either I was mixed in with this energy, the memories were, or just the knowledge. For now, it should be just knowledge and memories." Therina paused at this spection and tugged on her hair. "Is there any way to find out?" "Some knowledge appears to be getting stronger as I level up, as if what is making me "me" is gettingrger along with the rest of me. We can only wait and see, but there are more important matters to currently attend to." "What matters?" "You still haven''t brought in any extra manpower. I also need you to scout out the forest for a bit so I can start creating a more detailed map. I would also like to make a topographic map, but that may be being a bit too eager." "A what map?" Therina asked while tilted her head in confusion. "Nevermind, just go out there and capture some people for me." Therina went to have a bath first as she hadn''t had a proper one since she left. The cheapest rooms in inns didn''t have them, and she was unwilling to use a shared bath with humans. After cleaning herself, she then headed out of the dungeon and began wondering where she would capture some people for Styx. Once she had left, Styx turned his attention to his new experimental areas on the second floor. The first room was circr, approximately 50m in diameter and 20m tall. The ground was covered in loose dirt and some boulders. There were several shroom gnomes who were building square garden beds out of wood, while a couple others had freshly harvested flowers and other small grasses and saplings ready for renting. The flowers were because of Styx''s affixation to beauty, while the saplings and grass were due to their high resilience and higher likelihood to produce a sessful result. With a bunch of basic oilnterns resting on the ground and producing a small amount of light in the room, mosses were ced along the base of boulders, while mushrooms, flowers, grass and several saplings were ced in their own garden beds. There were three different types of flowers he was testing. One was a small pinkish red avora radmis, or so it is called in this world. They were like cherry blossoms, with two or three flowers blooming from the end of each stalk. There was also a blue lotus, or royal ariches as they were called, and aqua urs, which were a pure white or creamy-white spider lily that had nothing to do with water as the name implied. The forest assassins and treant spirits did most of this finer work as they were far more dextrous than the clumsy shroom gnomes. Once everything was set up, Styx took over and first watered everything. He could see through his senses how some of the water was absorbed from the dirt, indicating that the nts were alive and functioning. They weren''t getting sunlight however, so he first used a weak mana infusion, trickling in the smallest amount he possibly could. The nts needed energy and wouldn''t be able to photosynthesise, so he had to provide a supplementary energy and have the nts to adapt to it. Mana was an incredible substance, as not only could the basic form of energy refract itself, but the same process could happen in reverse and countless other ways. The nts didn''t have a manawork, so Styx created a pseudo one out of mana which began at their roots and extended up through the nt body, ending at every petal connection, leaf, or folds in the mushroom cap. He constantly monitored the changes in the nts, which were nothing at first but eventually made some changes. This appeared to be quick, but actually took several days. His attention was so focused that he didn''t pay attention to anything else unless he was alerted to an intruder in the dungeon. This was generally just a wild animal or some low level monster, but a small pack of goblins that were bruised and battered had also invaded. ~~~~~ Of the nts that Styx was working on mutating, the moss was the first to adopt changes. The nt finally adopted the pseudo manawork he had built within its structure. He no longer needed to feed it mana as it began to absorb its own from the ground. This realm,, or whatever it was, wasrge enough to house a seemingly endless number of kingdoms ording to Therina, so Styx was under the belief that the mana stored within the earth was theoretically infinite. Even if it weren''t, a room full of the moss would taking very little, even if its consumption was to increase by a hundred-fold. One characteristic that Styx discovered was the moss started to take on a more silvery blue color, which was a bit more vibrant at the tips of its leaves and capsules that grew atop its stems. Just like the moss, the mushrooms began to adapt to their manaworks very quickly as well. They also grewrger, muchrger, than they were before. They were originally about 4 8cm tall, and now they were a giant 10 15cm. They also had a strange emission from the gills as asional blue phosphorus motes of light drifted down briefly before vanishing. Even the gills themselves were emitting the faintest of blue glows from the cavity between each one. The grass and saplings were two pr opposite. The grass didn''t die, but was still struggling to adapt to using mana as an energy source. The saplings took to a manawork quite well, but they all died without fail for reasons Styx couldn''t fathom. The flowers had struggled quite a bit too, nearly 90 percent of them simply dying. The remaining ones were beginning to show progress but were yet to be fully independent. They appeared slightly more vibrant and a bitrger, but what was most surprising was how they ejected mana into the air. The moss, grass and mushroom absorbed mana from the ground and would emit some into the air, but it was only tiny, miniscule amounts. The flowers on the other hand would output more mana than they absorbed. This was the main reason why they couldn''t be independent. They would emit too much mana and very quickly wither. With the moss and mushrooms no longer needing his support, he focused on helping them grow and proliferate while spending his mana elsewhere. He had a treant spirit collect some of the wheat and cotton seeds Therina brought back from the vige months ago. He nted a small field of each, focusing on the same mana infusion method while creating a manawork inside each seed. As they were seeds and not actual nts, he was unsure on the best way to create a manawork, so he created various different nucleuses inside the seeds. There were a hundred seeds of wheat and a hundred cotton, so he designed ten different nucleuses and gave each to ten wheat seeds and ten cotton seeds. They were growing from seeds, so the process and verification would take much longer than the other nts which were forced to adapt or perish. Affecting it at the seed level was the most effective method for forcing it to adjust to environmental factors as it would grow into it. Styx felt like this was a good opportunity to level up again. He had an abundance of experience but had been restraining himself from levelling up until he had filled up his potential. As a dungeon core, he was unsure whether his manawork differed from a living person such as Therina, another human or any other exotic race. He couldn''t view his own manawork or any internal structures of his core, and his levelling up was different as well. He could voluntarily level up or not as soon as the experience threshold was reached. He could even store additional experience points and even level up multiple times at once should he choose to. . . [ 2,193 exp used to level up. Lv. 7 -> Lv. 8 umted skill experience bonus: Mana Control -> + New Subskill: Mana Vein Creation Dungeon Control -> Basic Dungeon Construction -> Trap Construction -> Internal Resource Storage -> Mining -> ] . . [ Species: Dungeon Core (Dungeon Master: None) Name: Styx Mana: 880/880 Exp: 3,477(+) Level: 8 Abilities: Dungeon Creation Mana Control Mana Infusion Mana Vein Creation Dungeon Control Dungeon Facility Construction Biomass Converter 100 mana Breeder 50 mana, 20 biomass Storage Crate 10+ mana, 10 physical material st Furnace 100 mana, 20 stone Storage Tank 20+ mana, 20 physical material Rotary Mana Engine 40 mana, 10 stone, 1 iron Material Refiner 150 mana, 10 stone, 2 iron, 1 emerald, 1 ruby, 1 amethyst Alchemy Table 200 mana, 5 stone, 10 iron, 1 ruby, 10 quartz Basic Dungeon Construction Scan 10 mana/m3 Blueprint Creation 5 blueprints Blueprint Manufacturing 5 blueprints Mental Projection 1 mana/min Trap Construction Bait 5 mana, 5 biomass Spike Trap 20 mana, 10 stone Pitfall Trap 10 mana, none Arrow Trap 20 mana, 10 stone (5 on reload) Weak Poison Gas 50 mana, 1 stone, 1 biomass (expendable) Chaotic Space Trap 200+ mana Crushing Wall Trap 30 mana, 20 stone, 2 iron Internal Resource Storage (49,977/102,400) Physical Material Stone (30,000), Dirt (10,000), Biomass (785), Ardonite (1,200), Manasteel (37.045), Wolfbone Steel (11.988), Wood (114) Liquid Material Water (7,829) Mining Basic Material Identification Mineral Detection Auto-mine Overdrive Resources: Biomass 785 Stone 496,145 Ardonite 89,334 Dirt 112,055 y 72,400 Wood 114 Water 7,829 Manasteel 37.045 Wolfbone Steel 11.988 Monsters: 16x Miners ( x1, x4, x8, x3) 12x Shroom Gnomes ( x1, x4, x7) 6x Stonerats ( x1, x5) 8x Forest Goblins ( x2, x6) 3x Forest Assassin ( x3) 5x Treant Spirit ( x1, x4) Titles: Level Suppressor, Lusty Dungeon ] . . [ Lusty Dungeon Effects: Reduced burden on host in breeding Born monster stats +15% Subject to random bouts of lust ] Chapter 25: New Minions Chapter 25: New Minions Afterpleting the level up procedure, Styx felt new memories emerging in his mind. They didn''t feel out of ce at all and were instead like they were there the entire time, he just didn''t notice them. Unlike all his other knowledge and scenes of the other world, this time there was a sense of identity associated with the memories. He didn''t just see scenes, but recognized his "self" as being present at the same time, as if they were his personal experiences. These memories weren''t of some highly advanced civilization, but something far more ancient. Houses, pyramid temples and towns were made up of giant dark grey stone bricks or cobblestone cemented together. Designs of pagan gods, who the temples were built in the honor of, were carved into stones. The civilization worshiped these gods, who brought the rain, the harvest, and the wrath of the heavens should their followers not fulfil their demands. He was a priest whommunicated with the gods, sending them offerings while passing their decrees back down to the followers. He had many memories of life in this ancient ce, but the final one left him confused. Styx climbed atop the pyramid temple he presided of and prostrated before the statue of a god whose appearance was clouded. He mumbled several words and offered his prayers as per routine. No, it wasn''t just routine, there was something else as well. He simply couldn''t remember what. The next moment, all noises in the background vanished, even the birds and distant bugs. They lived in a clearing in a giant virgin forest, so silence was something that never existed. There was then the sound of footsteps, bare feet softly tapping on stone and a mumble. Then all color vanished from the memory and everything had ended. What urred after that, or even during the event, waspletely clouded and obscure. But Styx could still recognize the identity behind the footsteps. A god. His god. ~~~~~ "I''m back!" Therina called out cheerily as she returned to the dungeon. Styx remained silent, but the elf could still feel the presence of his awareness as if by some kind of sixth sense, or perhaps something rted to the piece of him inside of her. Just in front of the young elven woman was what Styx had tasked her with collecting - minions. To be precise, there were five elves with greyish tanned skin; four women and one male. They held ck or very dark grey hair and all held nervous expressions. He had been watching Therina''s point of view constantly as he mapped the nearby forest onto a stone wall in the dungeon with her doing the exploration. She had been hoping to find signs of one of the elven viges that used to trade goods with hers, or even them to notice and approach toward her, but she had no such luck. What she did find was several rogue stone elves who had been banished from their vige. Stone elves were a subspecies of dark elves that lived in underground cave systems and were usually referred to as just dark elves. Due to their habitat naturally not providing the ability to grow grains, they had a mushroom based diet and could only bring in limited resources from the surface. They didn''t function well in direct sunlight, and prolonged exposure would even cause damage to their bodies. This led them to being one of the most secluded races and who very rarely interacted with the outside world. Due to these limitations, they could only support so many elves in a vige. When their consumption needs exceeded what they could produce, they would expel elves from the vige. Those elves would then venture out and establish their own vige, join one which could support them, or be wanderers. These five dark elves had been outside during the night when they ran across Therina''s camp. Seeing that there was food present, they snuck in and tried to ambush her with their daggers and spears. Her mana senses naturally long detected them and following Styx''s instructions, she quickly subdued and captured them. They spoke themon elvish tongue, somunication had been simple to establish. Under Therina''s promises and thinly veiled threats should they not submit, they agreed to join the dungeon, which would provide them food and a home in return for their services. What they were required to do however, Therina would simply respond with that it would be exined once they go back. Styx stared at the five beautiful elves, especially the four woman and had difficulty holding his lust back. Ever since he got the Lusty Dungeon title, his lust had been elevated, but not to such an extent. "Take them to the holding rooms and exin their duties," Styx spoke into Therina''s mind. "Follow me," Therina said as she walked in front of the group who nervously followed her. "Are you the dungeon lord?" The male dark elf asked somewhat trepidatiously. "The dungeon lord is Styx, whom is also the dungeon itself. He is everywhere within the dungeon, but you will learn this once you can hear him." All the dark elves visibly faltered in their step at this. "And you said this will be a new home for us?" The shorter dark elven woman cautiously asked. "Correct, this will be your new home." "Can I change my decision?" Therina instantly was menacingly holding one of her hunting daggers in her hand with a smile on her face. "Of course." The dark elves all understood the intention behind her holding her weapon and they felt their stomachs plummet. They had no doubt that Therina wouldn''t even hesitate to slit their throats. "From now on, you all belong to Styx. There is much for you to learn, and I personally hope you will be ustomed to your new role quickly. You will learn that this is the greatest opportunity of your life." Therina was almost fanatic as she led them deeper into the dungeon and where the current residence area was. Each of the dark elves unenthusiastically chose a room of their own and were somewhat surprised by the internal design. They weren''t what they were used to, but they were clean and homely. Each one only had a few belongings which they ced in their rooms before following Therina to arger public meeting and dining room. The dark elves followed instruction and sat along a long bench as Therina exined the basic requirements of what was expected of them. One of the dark elves, a woman with a grey streak of hair running through her ponytail, hesitated before asking, "Are we all expected to breed monsters?" Therina listened to Styx''s voice in her head exining things before repeating it to the dark elves. "No, the male is not required to for obvious reasons, while Styx also doesn''t wish to force anyone unwilling. Those who are willing however, will personally be looked after him to nurture their body and strength. You will all be required to ept a part of him inside you though, and any who refuse or fight back will be disposed of." "But the breeding, it''s said to be an evil practice. We don''t hear much from the world outside, but our former vige still held records of it. And how it consumes women." "There is no need to be concerned, you will be cared for and healed. Styx does not allow his things to harmed in any way after all. You will also have your bodies nurtured and be much stronger." Therina waled toward the woman who questioned the evilness of the breeding practice and grabbed onto one of her breasts. They were considerablyrger than Therina''s, who became somewhat jealous of the size as she squeezed on it inside her hand. "And not to mention, it feels very, very good." The male dark elf watched this closely with slightly conflicted emotions, especially once Therina released the embarrassed conservative elf''s breast and turned to him. "As a male, you will be required to mate with at least one of the females to impregnate and increase the poption. They must be voluntary, but at least one of you must volunteer. You can freely discuss this among yourselves afterward." That dark elf was now even more conflicted as he looked at the female dark elves. Nobody refuted that a forced volunteer wasn''t actually truly volunteering, a fact that seemed lost on Styx and now also Therina. Of course, they were indeed free to refuse breeding monsters, but they would have to prove themselves useful in other ways. "First, we are going to have you connected with Styx, so you can hear him, who will go first?" Everyone appeared to be hesitant, so Therina ended up picking for them. The first dark elf selected was the one who raised her concerns with dungeon breeding. She had waist length ck hair tied in a ponytail with a streak of grey running through it. She was just a bit shorter than Therina, but had long, supple legs and a considerablyrger breasts that filled out her tunic. "What is your name?" Therina asked impassively. "Rhea." "No surname?" "Outcasts have no surname." "I see. Well,e lie down here." Styx moved over a breeder in tandem with Therina''s instructions, which caused Rhea to hesitate further. "Why are these dark elves so timid? Is there something wrong with them?" Styx asked Therina, who could only shake her head softly. "There will be no breeding going on at the moment and is only for yourfort. It will help you feel closer to Styx, and he will also help massage your muscles and help you rx. The procedure is not painful and instead is very pleasant, but you must be rxed and without any resistance." Rhea faintly nodded her head and cautiously made her way over to the breeder under the watchful and nervous gazes of the other dark elves. A quick re from Therina made her quickly sit in it, but it did little to soothe her nerves. Styx''s tentacles extended from the breeder and gently wrapped around her body, some of them sneaking into her clothes as they moved about and massaged her taut muscles. Rhea had never had a partner in her old vige and was very conservative by nature, so this sudden intimate contact caused the stony colored skin on her face and especially her ears flush with a rose tint. Styx''s mana tendril extended toward Rhea and softly probed her manawork, an action which caused her to yelp and entire body to tense up. "You need to rx your body and let him in," Therina calmly spoke as she watched the mana tendril caress over Rhea, even feeling a slight prick of jealousy over it. "Y-yes just, just give me a moment" Rhea fumbled her words as she took deep breathes and tried to rx her body. She eventually rxed and Styx''s mana tendrils slipped inside of her manawork and quickly spread throughout her body. Styx immediately felt resistance within her that briefly tried to force him out, but managed to preserver as she calmed down again. Rhea was feeling unlike she had ever felt before. With Styx''s mana tendrils filling her, she felt like she was inside a very warm, intimate embrace. That sensation began to spread into her mind which she did her best to resist the instinctive urge to fight back at the sensation. She then felt a faint buzzing in her head and her eyes turned blurry. It soon passed as she saw long, tendril threads of mana like the branches of a tree withdrawing from her and a new voice emerged in her mind. "Can you hear me, Rhea?" "Y-yes!" She responded in shock while turning her head as if to look for the source of the voice. "Excellent, the second time truly is much easier than the first. Return to the others for now." Rhea hurriedly straightened her clothes and returned to the other rogue dark elves, her face still flushed which didn''t appear to be going away anytime soon. The second elf was the shortest one. She had straight dark grey, with an almost violet tint under the reflection of light, that reached half way down her narrow back. She was also t-chested with a petite body that made her appear more youthful than the other dark elves. She still looked like an adult though, and was in fact even older than Therina. Her name was Elena, and whilst she was less embarrassed than Rhea, she still had the timidness that Styx had already attributed to their entire race. Because she was basically t-chested, Styx missed where to stop with his tentacles and begun massaging her breasts and erect nipples before he realized it. Theck of fat apparently made them very sensitive too, as she quickly squirmed in the chair and even lightly moaned before mping her mouth shut, a small sound which nobody missed as their full attention had been on her. Third and fourth were ir and Kale, twin sisters by blood and cast out from their vige together. Their facial features were rtively simr to one another with slender noses and grey eyes, but ir had straight shoulder length gray hair, one side oddly longer than the other, while Kale had wavy ck hair draped down her back. After fondling Elena''s petite breasts, Styx was truly feeling lusty. The two sisters were forced to endure a tentacle which would extend through their cleavage and slyly wrap around their breasts. The final dark elf was Theo, who wasn''t the only one who was reluctant. "I refuse!" Styx simultaneouslyined in the minds of Rhea, Elena, ir and Kale. "I will not enter inside of a man!" Therina helplessly sighed in response and pinched her brow. "Isn''t that a bit too prejudiced? How are you going to use him if that is the case? Are you not iming him as yours?" "I don''t care; he is a man, and I will not enter a man." Styx attached himself to his stubbornness and outright stated his position. "Why would that mean I can''t use him though? He is still mine." "But you can''t monitor him, nor talk to him." Therina was eyeing Theo dangerously, whom wanted to cry injustice but couldn''t find the courage to speak up. "He will have a mate, she can pass on my orders to him if need. A point and click method will work too." "Please don''t use the point and click method," Therina protested weakly. "Whomever is his partner can also act as a guardian. Theo, you are not to leave the dungeon by yourself, do you understand?" Theo faintly nodded his head, while Styx was oblivious to any potential issues of him escaping. He did not even consider that a possibility Chapter 26: The Hot Girl Always Wants Someone Else Chapter 26: The Hot Girl Always Wants Someone Else "Are you sure?" Styx asked Rheater on as she was inside her new room. "Yes I do not wish to take part in the breeding. I would like to be be Theo''s partner instead." Styx gazed over herrge breasts, long legs and curvaceous body with lust. He felt it was truly a shame, but he had no desire to abuse his own things against their will. She was still the most beautiful dark elf out of the three women in his viewpoint however. "Very well. You two will then be the parents to a new generation of dark elves. Go inform him of your decision and move into his room with him. I will expand the bed tomorrow as well. I hold high hopes for the two of you. Work hard, and I will reward you just as much as the other girls." "Th-thank you." Rhea had honestly been worried that Styx would reject her and im her for himself regardless of her wishes, but he was surprisingly true to his words. She wasn''t fond of a forced rtionship with any man, but her mind adamantly refused having rtions with a dungeon and being used as a tool for breeding monsters. She grabbed her belonging and left the room before timidly knocking on the door of Theo''s room. Hearing the barely audible knock, Theo opened the door to see Rhea standing outside his door awkwardly. "I chose to be partnered with you," She said while avoiding eye contact. Theo also wasn''t sure how to respond and eventually asked, "So you''re here to" "I have been told to move in with you for our rtionship to improve." "Ah, of course. Please,e in." The two dark elves stood in the room awkward of one another. Eventually, some of the frigidness in the air seemed to melt as they settled into the bed. There wasn''t a lot of padding, but it was a passable bed by the standards which they were used to. Theo wrapped one arm around Rhea''s waist and pulled her into himself as they spooned. "Are you sure about this?" Theo asked as his face nuzzled in the back of her hair. "Yes, it is the decision I made." Theo was resentful of being captured, but also guilty of secretly being excited to be forced into a rtionship with such a beautiful elf, even by elvish standards. His hand snaked its way into her tunic as he ran his fingers along her slender waist and stomach, feeling her perfectly smooth skin under his fingertips. Continuing further up, he prodded by bottom of herrge boobs before taking one of them firmly into his grasp. Rhea''s nipples were erect and prodded the center of his palm as he gently squeezed and pulled her body tightly against his own. Soon, it was no longer enough as his hand released her breast and begun sliding down her abdomen, intending on invading her secret guardian. His hand reached between her legs and just felt the very top of her slit when she jumped in a panic and captured his hand in her own. "That not just yet please. I don''t want to rush it." "O-of course." Theo had no defense for his lust as she was perfectly within reason, so he simply returned his hand to her breast while fantasizing about her vagina which he had barely just touched. He knew the expectations on her and himself by the dungeon and it was bound to happen soon, so he forcefully restrained his lust. Rhea rolled over, her grey skin flushed with a deep tint of red as she looked Theo in his eyes for the first time tonight. "Thank you. This is such a big thing for me, so I need to prepare my heart first. For now, I can only apologize. Styx has said its okay not to do it immediately, but we need to reach that point. I''m sure you are not as against this situation as I am." "That''s not the case" Theo tried to say, but not even he could believe himself, let alone Rhea. "For tonight, please be happy with just this." She leaned in and pressed her lips against his, the soft suppleness of her lips and pressure of her seductive body against his invigorating him far more than she intended. She could feel the hard shaft firmly pressing against her through their clothes. Theo pulled her tightly against himself and wrapped her in his embrace, one hand brushing past her pointed ear and embracing her head with her hair running between his fingers. He extended his tongue which she weakly resisted at first, but he quickly parted her lips and invaded. His tongue pressed against and tangled with her own tongue as their saliva intermixed. Rhea eventually became too embarrassed and broke off from the French kiss, abruptly burying her head in his shoulder as her arms wrapped around and trapped him. The two already increased their rtions to a satisfactory level so Styx quietly praised her in her mind and mentioned that even he was a bit jealous. She was deeply embarrassed at the fact he was watching, but the finalment made him seem more rtable and brought the faintest smile of relief to her face. ~~~~~ "Therina, I''vee to speak with you," Elena, the shortest and most petite of the dark elves soflty announced herself after knocking on her door. "What can I help you with?" Therina cheerfully replied with a big smile after opening the door and dragging the dark elf inside. "Actually, the thing is I wanted to apologise." "What for?" "Well, I did lead everyone to attack you the other night." "But you needed food, didn''t you?" "Of course, but we still lost and are now your prisoners" Therina pinched her cheeks and pulled her into her embrace so that she was sitting in herp on the end of her bed. "I think you are misunderstanding something. Firstly, there is no need for you to apologize, it is well within everybody''s right to fight to acquire food. The weak only serve to feed others in this world and can only me themselves. Secondly, you aren''t a prisoner." "I''m not?" "Of course, you are the belonging of Styx, and as such, my sister." "Sister?" "Yes, we both belong to Styx after all. You did decide to give yourself to him, didn''t you?" Elena mentally thought to herself in resignation, ''This elf is crazy or am I the crazy one for being here?'' "Yes But, I''m still afraid. You know, the dangers" "There is no danger. Styx, and myself, will look after you and keep you safe. He doesn''t permit his things from being unnecessarily damaged after all. If there is one thing" "What is it?" Therina tightened her embrace of Elena and one hand pushed itself into her pants. Therina''s long and slender fingers, kneaded her clitoris and teased the virgin opening of her vagina. Elena resisted at first, mostly from shock, but quickly caved in and let Therina have her way while biting her lip to stifle her rising urge to moan. "The thing is, Styx is veryrge, so there will be a decent amount of pain at first. To help ease you into it, we should help get you ready for it." Therina wasn''t taking no for an answer and she didn''t give her the chance to change her mind out of nervousness as she pulled the petite dark elf to her feet and brought her to the breeding room, a slightly familiar dildo in her hand. "Styx, I worry she may not be able to fit it inside of her the way things are, especially with her so nervous. Can you help her be more rxed?" "There is nothing to worry about, just force it in." "No," Therina refused in a rare fit of defiance, "If she suffers permanent damage, she will be useless to us." Elena wanted toin that breeding wasn''t all she was good for, but she was going through a maelstrom of emotions which left her in a passive position. "Very well, strip." "You heard him, time to take all those clothes off," Therina''s mood instantly turned around and she happily informed Elena. "You too," Styx casually, yet subtly perverse, said in both of their minds. Therina was surprised, but quickly followed the instructions before taking her clothes off and helping the dark elf remove hers. Elena was slim but still had some fat around her waist and thighs. It was unfortunate though, that she simply had next to none on her chest. She eyed Therina''s chest with a slight amount of jealousy before thetter pulled the two of them onto the breeder. The tentacles came out and Elena was afraid at first, but Therina slipped a finger inside of the wet hole of her vagina with a slight squelching sound, causing the dark elf to quiver and bit her lip to suppress a moan. The tentacles wrapped around and massaged her thighs, next and arms while even more wrapped around Therina''s body, massaging her breasts, pinching nipples and copiously rubbing her clitoris, which caused the elf to twitter in ecstasy. "Is this. really okay?" Elena asked between bated breaths before Therina removed the fingers that were scratching her inner walls and sat atop her body. "Just rx, and enjoy." Both elves were unceremoniously wet by now, their bare vaginas, one pale white and one light grey, were covered in a slick sheen of vaginal fluid. At first, Styx controlled one phallic tentacle to start pushing against the tight entrance of Elena''s vagina, which refused to open wide enough. He pushed a little harder and under the natural lubricant, it appeared to have broken some kind of resistance barrier and instantly pushed nearly a quarter of the way in. The dark elf yelped in pain and sucked in a sharp breath of air, tears forming in the corner of her eyes as herher region sent throbbing waves of agony though her body. "Rx" Therina said as she massaged her with her long slender fingers. The other elf wasn''t let off either as tentacles wrapped around her, pushing her forward on her hands and knees above the dark elf, and anotherrge penis tentacle pushed its way straight inside of her soaked vagina. Different from pain, Therina just moaned in great pleasure as he vagina was spread wide open, the rode like object pushing deeper and deeper inside of her. Elena nced down between the narrow gap of their bodies and had a fright as she saw her own previously virgin maidenhood forced open all the way to her inner thighs, even slightly wider as she was gripping the tentacle with said thighs. A significant amount of blood could be seen blemishing the tentacle as is slowly pulses and massaged her vaginal canal which wrapped around it so tight it seemed to be trying to squeeze the semen out. She watched Styx''s mana tendrils extend and fill both her and Therina, filling them with a sense of intimacy that she feared she would immediately be addicted to. It controlled her mana and helped speed up her healing inside of her vagina, as the damage of the torn hymen was reduced and the pain began to fade. Therina didn''t care at all that she was with another woman while enjoying Styx''s meaty tentacle. She grabbed a loose tentacle and pressed it over Elena''s mouth, giving her something to bite into to supress her moans and pain, while she bit onto the other side just out of pleasure. The two elves'' noses touched at the tip and rubbed against each other, causing a whole new range of emotions to enter Elena''s mind. The tentacle between Elena''s legs pushed further and further into her vagina, Styx almost losing himself in the pleasure of a tightness he hadn''t even imagined before. Both the elves bit into one of his tentacles, their saliva mixing together, as he pushed his phallus tentacles in and out of the two of them synchronously. It was at this moment Styx noticed the dildo Therina brought in was just within reach. He had a tentacle extend and grab it before brining it over to where the two tentacles were busy repeatedly knocking against the entrance of their wombs. Hepletely pulled the tentacle out of Therina''s vagina and wiped her vaginal fluid all over the dildo before fully inserting the p-tentacle back inside of her vagina, causing her entire body to quiver and vagina to clench around his phallus tentacle as she came. As she was cumming, he pressed the tip of the didlo against her button like anus, barely allowing her time to widen her eyes in surprise before sliding it straight inside of her. Elena was under Therina moaning in her rhythm and about to reach a climax, an unknown experience for her, when the elf came and pressed her breasts tightly against her t chest. She didn''t understand why, but Therina''s climax only increased as her eyes rolled up in pleasure and arge amount of warm saliva spread over the tentacle they were sharing and into her mouth. The penis tentacle deep inside of Elena pressed all the way inside of her, causing her to release arge, muffled moan as she too climaxed, when both tentacles released arge amount of dungeon seed deep within their wombs. Elena grabbed onto the only thing she could during her climax which made her feel like ascending to heaven, and that was Therina. She wrapped her arms around the elf''s slender waist and pulled tightly, the elf responding with a frightening strength and doing the same to her. The two quivered and shook as their climax finally died down, the penis tentacles sliding out of them and opening the dam to arge amount of creamy white dungeon seed to flow out of them. The two breathed heavily and hugged with their cheeks pressed against one another. Styx was then faced with the insemination options for the two elves. Elena truly had suffered some damage on her internals and was still healing under his care, so he chose to not inseminate her with anything this time, but he needed more miners, which Therina was more than capable of, and willing to, breed. Even though the breeding was over, Therina still had a dildo halfway inside of her ass, which tightly throbbed and pulsed around. ~~~~~ The dark elves were less ufortable the next day as the initial nervousness wore off. This was except for Elena, who had received so much stimtionst night and moaned so loud she felt that she would never wash off the shame. Rhea and Theo stuck together as a couple, mostly on Theo''s active approach and Rhea allowing him to. They became more familiar with the dungeon and were designated several tasks they needed to fulfil. The main role was training themselves and training amongst one another. They also had to periodically water, grow and monitor the mutated mushrooms and nts that Styx was growing, allowing him to put more focus on other tasks. They were also responsible for sharing their production knowledge skills amongst one another, and once their strength was up to par, tasks outside the dungeon as well. The dark elves were being drilled by Therina in training when all of a sudden, Styx spoke into their minds, "We have intruders in the dungeon. Humans." "What is it?" Theo asked in confusion when all the girls simultaneously stopped training. "There are humans who have invaded the dungeon," Rhea exined to him. "It looks like a party of nine adventurers. I don''t know how strong they are, but they don''t appear to have any particrly outstanding equipment. It looks like those people trailing Therina have finally located the dungeon." ir, the dark elf twin with shoulder length hair had heard many stories of what happened if they were captured by humans and immediately went into panic mode. "Eh, isn''t this really bad, then? If the humans attack us, that is definitely really, super bad!" "Why? Now we just need to kill them." "Is it that simple, though?" Kale asked while deep in thought. "More or less. The role of a dungeon is to lure people in, then kill them. I don''t even need to fill treasure chests and they wille flocking to me, hahahaha." Realizing that Styx deliberately allowed the humans to locate the dungeon, even encouraging them to attack him, the dark elves felt like he was extraordinarily dumb, not that any would be brave enough to say that aloud. Chapter 27: Dungeon Attack Chapter 27: Dungeon Attack The nine fully equipped adventurers entered the dungeon with their weapons drawn. Starting from the front, they took the following formation: ~~ Frontline Defenders: male Novice Shieldbearer, female Apprentice Swordswoman Vanguard: male Apprentice Swordsman, female Apprentice Swordswoman, male Novice cksmith Support: male Healer Initiate Rear Support: female Apprentice Earth Mage, male Apprentice Water Mage, male Hunter ~~ It was a well-bnced party and came from a mid-sized investmentpany. At first, several of the party members were just controlled by lust and hoped that they would be able to have sex with Therina. As long as it happened outside of the city and they didn''t bring their employers name into it, they wouldn''t care if they had sex with farm animals let alone some lone wolf adventurer. When the scout returned information about locating an unmarked dungeon however, any thought of the lone elf was thrown into the wind as thepany immediately went into action. They posted up flyers in the adventurer and mercenary''s guilds that they were recruitment fresh blood in ns of expanding their business and needed extra muscle. Experienced adventurers and mercenaries immediately knew that thispany hade across a potentiallyrge profit, but nobody could be sure on exactly what. It could have been a rare treasure, spiritual fruit tree, or an unmarked dungeon. All of these had happened before, and someone always got rich. Otherpanies and mercenary groups also caught wind of this and began paying closer attention to the recruitment process, some even trying to send spies to sign up with the investmentpany. Nobody wanted to increase theirpetition, so it was an information war in which onepany was trying to protect their secrets, while others were trying to discover them and also keep them from others themselves. This party had slipped out of the city on what seemed like a standard mission to collect ingredients, but they secretly took a roundabout route toward the located dungeon instead. "Be careful," The hunter and only Second Step ranker in the party called out to everyone the moment they stepped forth inside the dungeon. The Novice Shieldbearer at the front of the party raised his shield slightly higher and asked, "What''s the matter?" "My danger senses are tingling, there are likely traps here." "I don''t see any t-" The Novice cksmith was cut off as spears shot out from the gaps in the carved brick pattern of the floor and walls. Everyone were experienced adventurers who had been through many dangers. They reacted instantly and tried to evade or minimize the damage as much as possible. The frontline defenders did the best job, the Novice Shieldbearerpletely blocking the spears with his shield and armor while the Apprentice Swordswoman used her small kite shield and sword to block and break several spears in quick, lithe movements. The remaining spears where ones which either nced off her armor, or she evaded enough that they barely cut her skin. The vanguard were a bit less lucky and the Novice cksmith had an unlucky spear pierce through his shoulder. The other two vanguard members used their body to protect the healer, the Apprentice Swordswoman even took a spear in her abdomen. The higher level adventurers had much sturdier bodies from the mana infused in the body from level ups, which was also shown as their endurance value on their stat page. The only Second Step adventurer in the party, the Hunter, was much stronger than the rest of the party. He managed to avoid a pitfall trap opening up below him and even pulled the Apprentice Earth Mage out of harms way and protect her from all traps. He only suffered some minor wounds as his body was sturdy enough to resist most of the damage from the stone spears even if they struck him on bare skin. [ Faust (Apprentice Water Mage ) killed! + 528 exp ] The Apprentice Water Mage was the only adventurer killed by the traps as he was unfortunate enough to get a spear pierce through his throat. Mages naturally had weaker bodies than their melee fighterpatriots, especially in vulnerable ces such as the neck. His death was basically immediate as he limply hung off the spear, his blood running down the stone shaft and dripping onto the ground. Just as the healer begun healing the vanguard members who were injured, especially the Novice cksmith who could no longer hold his axe properly, the traps retracted and a sharp whistling sound cut through the air. Four goblins and three forest assassins stood further in the cave and attacked with ranged weapons. The goblins held crude bows and fired arrows while the forest assassins used their dextrous arms to fling throwing knives. "Defensive formation! Even charge forth and get out of the trapped entrance!" The Huntermanded from the back as he carried the Apprentice Earth Mage. "Jennifer, use your magic to shift and break any traps behind the walls and floor around us." The Hunter then pulled out his bow and fired back at the monsters. Jennifer, the earth mage used earth spikes and other basic earth magic to break apart the surrounding surfaces, inevitably destroying any spear or other traps hiding behind the walls and floor. The ceiling was too high for effective traps so Styx had long removed them from there. The already injured Novice cksmith was the main target for the monsters being controlled by Styx. He tried to defend himself but with one limp arm and being caught unprepared, several arrows and throwing knives had hit unguarded areas and stolen his life away from him. The Healer Initiate also suffered a throwing knife to his calf before the frontline defenders could block the assault. [ Danz (Novice cksmith ) in by Forest Assassin! + 33 exp ] As a counter attack, the Hunter''s arrows fired off with a force worthy of a Second Step ranker. The first arrow was released with a sharp snap of the bowstring and split the air like a bolt of lightning before striking on of the goblins in the center of the forehead. The goblin''s bones did nothing to slow down the arrow as it passed through its head unhindered, leaving a finger sized hole where it passed through. The goblin dropped to the ground lifelessly with green blood pouring from the hole in its head. The remainder of the monsters quickly retreated while the forest assassins flung several more throwing knives at the adventurer party. [ Forest Goblin in by Human! + 6 exp ] Another arrows shed by with a sharp snap and gust of wind following it, this time piercing through the heart of a forest assassin. [ Forest Assassin in by Human! + 13 exp ] Kalvin, the Hunter and party leader, looked at his fallen party member in annoyance once they escaped the booby trapped entrance hall. The Novice cksmithy in a pool of his own blood that ran outwards along the rivets of the floor. Whilst the loss of the cksmith wasn''t too devastating, adventurers with a mage ss were a rarer minority and losing the water mage was highly unfortunate. "Hiding among the designs what insidious traps," Kalvinmented as he looked toward where the monsters escaped deeper into the dungeon. "Everyone be careful, there may be more unexpected traps. Try to keep an eye out for anything suspicious, although you may not see it so be ready to act on a moment''s notice." The entire adventurer party held the nerves taut as they entered deeper within the dungeon. When they entered the main passageways on the giant stone bridge which ran along giant corridors, water flowing beneath them, they all sucked in a cold breath of air. "It surprisingly beautiful," the vanguard Apprentice Swordswomanmented in admiration. The Apprentice Earth Mage also chimed in, "And has a mysterious grandeur." The Hunter wasn''t to be fooled. He immediately assessed the dungeon based on its structure and warned everyone. "This isn''t just some random dungeon. There is clearly a dungeon lord already owning this dungeon core. The traps are perfectly hidden and the monsters seem to have tactics. Also" He looked back at where the fallen forest goblin and forest assassin were lying in their own pools of green blood. "These monsters aren''t summoned. Someone has used women to breed them, else they would have returned to the mana that they were born from. Whoever is in control of this dungeon is conducting illegal activity and clearly breeding monsters to have stronger minions." "Are you such a straightced person that you care about someone breaking thew?" The Novice Shieldbearer asked with a raised brow. "Don''t be ridiculous, this is good for us. Nobody would defend a criminal even if they escaped and managed to im we stole their dungeon core. I am merelymenting on it so everyone knows what we are up against. These people can employ some truly underhanded methods from what I''ve heard." "What is our n?" "We are at a disadvantage. They most likely know everything about us, but we know nothing about them. Take things slow, don''t get baited by the monsters, and kill the dungeon lord. Most importantly however, be prepared for anything to happen." Chapter 28: Dungeon Attack Conclusion Chapter 28: Dungeon Attack Conclusion Therina followed Styx''s instructions to begin engaging the adventurers in sneak attack along with the dungeon monsters. The Second Step ranker was a surprise to Styx and was clearly the most dangerous individual. Therina''s first task was not to kill him however, but to help the monsters eliminate the weaker party members first and iste him. After the first conflict and two deaths, the adventurer party proceeded much more cautiously, exploring the giant maze-like passages one step at a time. Unwilling to give them peace for too long, Styx had several miners drop in from above on them. It was a targeted ambush while their attention was on the surroundings but not above themselves. Four miners dropped down at once, one on top of the front Novice Shieldbearer and three on the Healer Initiate. The healer was heavily guarded in the center of the party and this was a tactic which would only work once as they won''t be as negligent afterwards. The miners had very sharp pincers for digging, but the adventurers had tough bodies as well. The healer was more physically vulnerable than the melee sses and the three miners quickly pierced through his body with their pincers, one prating through his chest, puncturing a lung and cutting through the wall of his heart. [ Feradono (Healer Initiate ) in by Miner! + 59 exp ] The healer barely had time to cry in pain before life left his body and he dropped to the ground with blood trickling out of his mouth. The Novice Shieldbearer deflected the pincer as it collided with his bracer. The miner simply couldn''t cut through the metal armor. "Bastards!" The vanguard Apprentice Swordsman cursed and cut in two the three miners who killed the healer, while the shieldbearer crushed the one which attacked him under his shield like squishing a bug. [ Miner in by Human! + 3 exp Miner in by Human! + 3 exp Miner in by Human! + 5 exp Miner in by Human! + 3 exp ] Human and insect blood intermixed on the bridge as a horde containing the remaining seven forest goblins and two forest assassins charged at the party. There were also three stonerats at the front of the procession to tank any blows, although the Hunter could kill them in one arrow each. "Defensive formation! Keep an eye above us!" Kalvin the Hunter cried out as he drew his bow with multiple arrows knocked in preparation of using multishot, an archery subskill. Kalvinunched multiple arrows and then more in quickly session. The stone rats could take two arrows before dying, and they served as a meatshield to allow the rest of the monsters to reach the party. The Apprentice Earth Mage was still low levelled and didn''t have high level skills yet, so her magic wasn''t very potent but it still posed some danger as stone arrows rained down toward the monsters. The Novice Shieldbearer and Apprentice Swordswoman in the vanguard tanked most of the damage, the swordswoman gradually taking damage. The shieldbearer was the best defender and tanked as much damage as he could, but there were too many projectiles chaotically flying through the air between the two forces. The remaining vanguard swordsman and swordswoman fought hard and were quickly killing the monsters, but the severed some deep wounds and needed to staunch their bleeding or it would quickly endanger them. [ Stonerat in by Human! + 7 exp Stonerat in by Human! + 7 exp Stonerat in by Human! + 9 exp Forest Goblin in by Human! + 3 exp Forest Goblin in by Human! + 3 exp Forest Goblin in by Human! + 3 exp Forest Goblin in by Human! + 3 exp Forest Assassin in by Human! + 13 exp ] Therina was hidden nearby in preparation of this moment. Styx had dismantled a weak poison gas trap and given her the poison canister from it. She quickly stepped out from her hiding ce and threw the canister at the party. Whist it was still in the air, she then flicked her wrist andunch a throwing knife to shatter the container of the poisonous gas. "It''s that elf!" "Be careful! Poison!" "Quickly kill her, she must be the dungeon lord!" Several of the party members shouted upon seeing the beautiful elf woman, but didn''t forget about the monsters attacking them. Kalvin drew his bow into a full moon and aimed at Therina, his mana pouring into the arrowhead under the armor piercer subskill. Therina knew she wouldn''t be able to evade it once the Second Step hunter locked her in his sight, Styx had also informed her as such. She pulled out her manasteel longsword and reinforced it with her mana. The arrow broke the sound barrier as it punched arge hole through the poison gas where it prated. Therina braced her sword with two hands and intercepted the arrow. It sounded like a thunderbolt striking a tree as the arrows left a deep gauge in the reinforced mana steel before sessfully being deflected and piercing into the wall in the distance. Therina also slid back several feet from the blunt force of the arrow and even felt like her arms were fractured. She controlled her manawork to speed up recovery as she charged at the adventurers while trying to prevent the Hunter from having a clear line of sight to fire more arrows. She could easily expel the weak poison due to her training with her manawork, but the adventurer''s didn''t have Styx''s abnormal ability to help them train in this. With all their open wounds, the poison gas causes the areas to grow inmed and discolored as it directly prated into their bloodstream, even more from what they breathed in. The adventurers tried to fall back and avoid the poison gas of course, but Styx controlled all his shroom gnomes and half the remaining miners to adopt human wave tactics and keep them trapped while the treant spirits, the strongest monsters in the dungeon, released a deadly stream of arrows at the party. The first to fall was the Novice Shieldbearer who was overwhelmed by numbers after using a taunt skill to forcefully attract the monsters'' attention onto himself. Then both the remaining frontline defender and two vanguards died under the treant spirits'' arrows. [ Jax (Novice Shieldbearer ) in by Treant Spirit! + 63 exp Amarice (Apprentice Swordswoman ) in by Forest Assassin! + 87 exp Luther (Apprentice Swordsman ) in by Treant Spirit! + 42 exp Erika (Apprentice Swordswoman ) in by Treant Spirit! + 101 exp ] The Apprentice Earth Mage was under the protection of the Second Step ranker and remained mostly safe, although Therina did manage to hit her in the stomach with a throwing knife. Styx''s monsters also suffered devastating losses, all the shroom gnomes dying and only one forest goblin surviving. The Hunter even killed three of the treant spirits, leaving only two still alive. Poisoned and seeing how unfavourable the situation was, he quickly decided to retreat. The earth mage was woozy from the poison and could no longer cast magic properly, so he grabbed her by the waist and used a movement skill to quickly travel back toward the entrance. Styx wanted to release the spear traps on him again, but the Hunter passed through the entrance tunnel in a single burst in which all he saw was a shadow before the adventurer was gone from the dungeon. "Hahahaha, that was FANTASTIC!" Styx maniacally shouted in everyone''s head as he observed the pile of dead bodies and streams of monster and human blood forming trickling trails along the bridge. Arrows and throwing projectiles littered the ground, even more sticking out of the corpses of humans and monsters alike. The blue tinted me of the crudenterns burning mana infused animal fat had be eerie as they caused shadows to flicker and move while also reflecting light off the gloss of the blood. "Should I go after them?" Therina asked while disregarding all the bodies. "No, they have already left and to chase after them would be disadvantageous." "But they know I am here, and assumed I am the dungeon lord. If they report that" "Why would they do that? They won''t tell anyone, but they certainly want to kill you irregardless." "Dispicable humans," Therena cursed under her breath in disgust, even breaking the beautiful faade on her face as she spat on one of the nearby corpses. "They will be back with more people." "I am quite looking forward to it." Styx''s voice could only be described as incredibly excited. "Why are you so excited? This is incredibly dangerous." Therina couldn''t help but worry. She had already lost one home, and this was the ce she was saved and didn''t want to lose it too. She would die before she allowed the humans to capture or destroy Styx. "Therina, what do you think the purpose of a dungeon is?" "To kill humans? To be a training ground?" "Why is that a question? No, the purpose of a dungeon is to lure in adventurers with dreams of fame and fortune, then to crush those dreams as you squeeze the life out of their corpses." Therina felt there was something wrong with his exnation, and he seemed a little too heavily invested on this idea of what a dungeon was, but she didn''t refute him. She was feeling frustrated and in a vulnerable position, which she hated. "But they will be back soon, and all the monsters are dead." "Worry not, we should have at least a week. There are also more elves~" "They will be more prepared next time! If you are a dungeon, then you should have killed everyst one of those vile humans!" Therina''s anxiety and anger finally got the better of her as she shouted at Styx. "I can lure more people here, but leaving it up to the enemy to make the next move is disastrous! What will I do if you die!?" Her emotions were so intense Styx even felt them through the piece of him inside of her. "Thea you are not very smart." This only served to enrage the elf even further, but before she could react, he simply stated. "Why do you think I would leave the initiative to the invaders?" "Because you want them toe attack?" "You are considering the question from the wrong angle. Let me ask it in a different way For what reason do you assume I am leaving the initiative to them?" "Ah! Are you saying that you''re not? But how? Are we going to attack them?" "There are many moves one can make on the chessboard of life. All you have to do is move as your are told." "Aren''t you at least going to tell me what you are nning?" "No." Therina felt her anger dissipating into the wind and reced with exhaustion. Talking with Styx could sometimes be incredibly tiring for her, as his train of thought simply wasn''t elvish, human or any other form of reasoning that she could understand most of the time. ~~~~~ The dark elves were currently still hiding in the deeper room where Styx was growing food and mutated nts designed to be able to grow without sunlight. They were afraid when the dungeon was under attack, but at the same time somewhat hopeful. If Styx was to be captured or killed, Therina would undoubtably be killed as well, and they would be free to this cave system and be able to create their own town in it. They also worried that if he was defeated, the humans would kill or capture them, which was by far the most likely scenario. Styx waspletely oblivious to this train of thought from his new ''minions'', but even if he did know, he would not have cared. "Well, at the end of the day, the weak are eaten by the strong. Therefore, we need to increase our forces again!" Therina''s ears flushed red as she responded, "You seem a little bit too excited about making new monsters." "Aren''t you?" Therina was caught off guard by his straightforwardness and didn''t know how to respond. At the very least, she couldn''tpletely deny his im. Chapter 29: Theres a First Time for Everyone Chapter 29: There''s a First Time for Everyone Kalvin escaped from the dungeon with Irie, the Apprentice Earth Mage, under arm. They were both poisoned, but he could rely on his superior physique for restrain the damage. Irie on the other hand was a low level, First Step mage ss, so she had much weaker resistance to the poison. Once he was sure he was far enough away that even if the monsters were chasing him, they woudn''t catch up anytime soon, he came to a stop and ced the now unconscious mage on the ground. It was still an hour before sunrise, the sky an ocean of stars with a neb of violets and crimson shades running across the sky. "You will be alright in a moment," He said to the sleeping mage even though she couldn''t hear him. Kalvin reached into his belt satchel of emergency and treatment items and pulled out a small ss sk with three murky green and red pills in it. These were detoxification pills, and could cure arge portion of intermediate toxins, let alone some entry level poison. He took one pill out of the bottle and held Irie''s head in his other hand. She wasn''t going to be eating it herself, so he pinched it between his fingers and forced it into her mouth. Using a finger, he pushed the pill into her through before massaging it and causing her to involuntarily swallow. Perhaps she still had some consciousness in her, as she begun sucking on his finger in an almost erotic way. She was quite attractive, with long ck hair and a small mole under her right eye. She also had a pair ofrge breasts which not even her loose robe could hide. They had knocked on Kalvin''s arm several times as he was escaping, sparking a fire of lust deep within himself. He pushed his finger against her tongue, which curled and wrapped around it. He moved his face closer as he hooked his finger on the inside of her cheek. The medicine was highly effective and she regained consciousness at this time, looking Kalvin directly in his eyes. Feeling the foreign object in her mouth, she instinctively bit down on it extremely hard. "Arrgh!!" Kalving cried out in pain as her teeth dug into his finger. He can more or less stop low level arrows with his body alone, but biting down on such a weak point at full force was still excruciatingly painful. He tried to pull his finger out, but Irie''s jaws was tightly locking it in ce. Realizing what she had done, she quickly released his finger before ring at him. "Kalvin, I am deeply grateful for you saving me, that is not excuse to take advantage of me whilst I am unconscious." "Haha, Irie, don''t be so harsh, I was just feeding you a detox pill. They are expensive you know, I had to make sure it went down properly and didn''t get stuck anywhere, so I was checking." Despite him feeling lustful, he wasn''t some brigand or lowlife who would force himself on a woman. Irie was had reached her adulthood a year ago and had joined thepany''s payroll around the same time. After all, training a mage ss was a very expensive undertaking. In order to maximize her future, she had slowed down her leveling far further than was rmended, only levelling up once every two months to allow a long time to gather as much potential as she could through study and training. "You are a terrible liar," She bluntly said before dusting off her robe and standing up with wobbly legs. "Ah, let me give you a hand." "There is no need," She responded with a dismissive wave of the hand before catching a sh off to the side. "Instead, please prepare your bow, there are monsters iing." Kalvin''s eyes opened wide in shock as he too then noticed the presence of the iing monsters, a small group of goblins with a goblin shaman. What surprised him was not the monsters nor that they were dangerous, but the fact that Irie detected them before him. "How did you know?" "I saw a sh over there and just felt them, I guess urgh, I have a bit of a headache still, most likely from that damned poison." Irie massaged her temples and left the fighting to Kalvin. The two were close acquaintances, and Kalvin not so secretly fancied Irie, but this was a one-sided affair. She ced a strong importance in strength, and while he was a Second Step ranker, it was a well known secret within thepany that he was at a high risk of hitting Max Level. When he was younger, Kalvin had powered through a bunch of levels in a short period of time, so his ability to store potential was hampered. She merely sighed inwardly and thought it was a shame, but he simply wasn''t for her. ~~~~~ "Are you prepared?" Styx asked Elena in one of the breeding chambers. "Can I have some more time?" She asked nervously while looking away from the breeder. She wasn''t against the act as she had already agreed to it, but the fear the first time still haunted her. "No." ''Then what was the pointed of asking!?'' She eximed in her mind. "First, show me your stats." Elena opened up her stat screen, which Styx could see through her sight. [ Species: Stone Elf Name: Elena Ether ss: Bowman Age: 49 Mana: 285/285 Exp: 1,479/7,288 Level: 14 Str: 32 Dex: 49 End: 21 Vit: 38 Int: 22 Mnd: 19 Lck: 4 Skills: Darkness Race (Racial) +20% Dex, End, Vit when in in dark environments. Direct or indirect exposure to sunlight causes damage to your physique.. Archery Twin Shot 5 mana Rapid Fire 5 mana/shot Multishot 10 mana/arrow Armor Piercer 30 mana Elvish Movement Art Silent Step 5 mana/sec Swift Step 8 mana/sec Shadow Step 15 mana/sec Dagger Arts Gauge 10 mana Trap Setting Concealment Dismantling Detection Mana Sight Titles: ] "You''re a much higher level than I thought. How did you lose the Therina so badly?" "She was very strong No, even though we had higher stats, we were simply weak." Elena was deted as she admitted to being weak for her stats. "It matters not. I train all my things so they can be the best they can be. Failure is not permitted." "I understand" Steeling her resolve with a deep breath, Elena took off her tunic and let her skirt slip down to the floor. Her dark grey hair extended down her slender frame which she twined around one of her fingers. "What now?" "Come sit down. I will help you rx." Elena sat back into the breeder with her heart beating like a frightened rabbit. The tentacles unravelled from the device and began curling around her body, tying in knots and squeezing her ears while others massaged and eased her muscles. Her body''s senses were very acute, causing her to start humming in pleasure just from massaging her small breasts and nipples. Styx had two tentacles wrap around her knees and pull them up and to the side, exposing her vagina in all its glory. A small button like anus could also be seen clearly from the angle. "Be gentle, please," Elena worriedly said as she scrunched her eyes shut. Even though she was anxious, her body remained true and a thin film of fluid could be seen around the vaginal entrance. Her slit was bare just like Therina''s, but had a light grey tinted skin due to her race. Styx controlled a penis tentacle to begin slowly rubbing the tip up and down her vaginal crevice, taking his time to pleasure the clitoris and cause Elena to moan ever slightly louder each time. Once her body was fully rxed and vagina covered in arge amount of natural lubricant, he slid the penis tentacle back down the valley of her vagina and pressed it against the tight hole which seemed like an impossible fit. He applied pressure to the tentacle penis and pushed it against her narrow opening while twisting it back and forth to squeeze the entry hole open. "Iiick!!" Elena painfully cried out and instinctively clenched all her muscles, including her vagina which tried to push out therge penis. Styx pulled open her legs a bit further and slowly begun moving the p-tentacle to get her used to it. He wasn''t insensitive toward his things, and didn''t wish her to experience pain if it were possible. Her vagina was stretched all the way open, a bit wider than her thigh gap, as the phallus pushed against her tight vaginal walls and ventured deeper inside of her. It moved millimeter by millimeter, and slowly but surely, it was all entering inside of her. Elena moaned loudly in a mix of pain and pleasure. Even though Therina had broken her hymen with a dildo insertion, there was still some pain due to Styx''s overwhelming girth. 5cm left 4cm left 2cm left Styx finally gave a final push and the remaining parts of the penis shaped tentacle tip was swallowed by her vagina. He could feel the inner walls tightly contracting around it as he pressed it up against the entrance of her womb. He then slowly begun pulling it out to the half way point beforepletely submerging it inside of her again. Styx reached out with his mana tendrils and filled up Elena''s manawork, giving her the feeling of being embraced in the most intimate manner. "MMpppghhhHH" She did her best to stifle a loud and long moan as her vaginal walls clenched and gripped onto the phallus with a death grip, her entire lower body violently quivering as she reached her climax. Elena grabbed onto whichever tentacles she could and begun shaking her hips to maintain the feeling of utmost ecstasy, which Styx was more than happy to reciprocate. Her vagina was more amodating his giant penis tentacle, so he began pistoning more vigorously. The friction of her narrow tunnel clinging onto his shaft which seemed to be trying to constantly suck him in further caused his entire dungeon core to quiver in pleasure. He knew he would notst long against against such pleasure, so he thrust in and out of her, kissing her womb with the tip and also grinding against her erogenous zones on the inner wall of her vagina. Styx felt the pressure in the tentacle increase like a pipe about to burst as he sped up his thrusts before nting one final, deep thrust against the entrance of her womb and releasing a copious amount of dungeon seed inside her. "AAaahhHHHHHmmm!!" Elena also climaxed again, her entire body quivering in euphoria as she didn''t even attempt to stifle her voice this time. Her vagina tightly gripped on the phallus and even wrung out some more dungeon seed to seep into her womb. [ Insemination begun. Please select seed to imnt: 3x Miners Burden (1) 1h incubation 2x Dirt Gnome Burden (1) 1h incubation 1x Stoneater Burden (2) 2h incubation 1x Stonerat Burden (3) 2h incubation 1x Midnight Guard Burden (4) 4h incubation 1x Stone-Tail Fox Burden (9) 12h incubation 1x Stone Bramble Queen Burden (11) 24h incubation 1x Living Golem Burden (13) 24h incubation 2x Stone Bramble Queen Burden (16) 24h incubation 1x Shadow Leaper Burden (17) 24h incubation ] Not wanting to put burden on her body and help it be stronger and more resilient, Styx began by just selecting a standard set of three miners. [ 3x Miners selected Incubation 59:58 ] ~~~~~ "That that was" Elena panted between steamy bated breaths before her face turned more red than light grey and she buried it in her hands. Even though Styx did all the work, she felt physically exhausted too. As her body rxed under his rhythmic massage of tentacles, the penis tentacle slowly slid out, releasing the blockage which caused arge amount of thick white goop to freely run out of her still pulsating vaginal entrance. The tentacles were still holding her knees up and wide apart as they gradually lowered her legs to a resting position. Elena was deeply entrance by the feeling of Styx inside of her as he exined her manawork and how he was widening and strengthening it. She was over the moon in happiness that he would be increasing her maximum mana pool and amount of potential she could store. At the same time though, she was incredibly embarrassed about what she had just done and curled up on her side whilst wrapping her arms around a bundle of tentacles. She merely answered any questions with a shake or nod of the head, or a single syble sound of affirmation or denial. Therina then entered the room and Elena wished she had a hold to crawl into. She did her best to cover herself in some feeble attempt at maintaining her dignity. "There is no need to be embarrassed," Therina said with a slight giggle. "I am just here to bring you some things to clean yourself with. The monster will also be growing in your stomach right now, so I have also brought you food as you will undoubtably get hungry as it derives the energy for its growth from you." Elena turned to look at Therina but didn''t need to say anything as her expression told it all. "You don''t need to stress," She lightly sighed and shook her head. "Styx won''t make you grow a monster you are incapable of. They are also born smaller than normal babies, so the pain is quite small. After enough times, you will even earn a title which has an unwritten effect of adapting you to the process, after which it won''t hurt anymore." Elena didn''t respond, but Therina''s words did alleviate some of her anxiety. The tree elf left the food, cloth and clean water for cleaning off to the side and left the room with a smile. The twins had also just had their first session with Styx and she needed to check in on them too. Chapter 30: Look Down Chapter 30: Look Down "Are you sure you''re okay?" Kalvin asked Irie as she massaged her temples, her headache unabated even once they got back to town. "I''m fine, it should be better once I get some sleep and let my body heal. We have a report to go make first though." "I can do that by myself, you should get some rest first. Do you want me to get you any medicine for it?" Irie knew that he was trying to earn her favor, even possibly using that to try leverage a date out of her. "There is no need, it is only a minor inconvenience. Thepany has sponsored me for the past six months, I must at least do my part." Kalvin didn''t offer again as they both entered the Silver Wheel Investments, thepany which paid their wage and provided them with spiritual fruits and opportunities in return for them doing anything thepany needed them to. Anything they obtained while under employment also counted as thepanies, and any form of hiding goods was considered theft and punishable by the dungeon city''sw should it be discovered. "Where are the rest?" A malepany liaison asked as he ushered them into a room. "Dead." The liaison merely nodded in response and made a record of it on his notes. "We need to do a breakdown of everything you encountered." Kalvin and Irie took turns answering the liason''s questions, describing what little they had seen of the dungeon''s structure, enemy types, the elf, and suspected dungeon lord, who was inside the dungeon, as well as a step by step recounting of the battle. "This is troubling" The liaison sighed and run his fingers through his hair. Irie also pinched her brow and added, "Surely it can''t be as bad as you''re imagining. This is only spection." "This is based on Kalvin''s observation as well as my estimate. If the dungeon lord has not summoned any creatures at all, it is most likely because they can''t. Even if the summoning functions are the only ws in the core and it is a C Grade core, to be missing such a major function will devalue the core so greatly that it may not even be worth 10 percent of what it should be." "So, what does this mean for us" "Regardless, thepany still has a vested interest in acquiring the dungeon core. However, our investment in this venture will be significantly reduced. We may even decide to broker certain information on the core should the losses exceed the estimated profit." "I see. Well, I''m getting paid either way, so just tell me what you need me to do." The meeting soon came to and end and the liaison departed with the information for thepany managers to hold more meetings and deliberate over. ~~~~~ Irie had her own apartment, a two bedroom ce on some middle ss level of the city. There were six spacious apartments in this small tudor building, two on each floor. She slowly stripped off and jumped in the shower, the brimstone gem shard embedded in an array heating up the water as it passed through a copper pipe. She massaged her temples while resting her head against the wall of the shower. The hot water didn''t evenst ten minutes before the brimstone gem shard ran out of energy and begun to get colder and colder. Looking closer at the gem shard, she could even see a thin blue line extending from the gem shard into the array, which seemed to light up with life when in use. That line gradually got thinner and thinner over time though, looking like it would eventually snap. "Urgh, this is the worst. I bought a new shard justst month, and its internal structure is already worn down. Their quality are getting lower and lower," Sheined to herself as she hurriedly turned off the water and got out of the shower. A new brimstone gem shard would cost anywhere up to five gold depending on the purity. cing it in the embedded silver catalyst array would cause it to heat up the water which passed through, while the array had an absorptionponent which would absorb ambient mana to recharge the shard when the water was shut off. A decent quality shard would store enough energy to provide an hour of hot water, which would slowly decline until it could no longer store mana. The usage of mana inevitably wore down its internal structure, a type of aetherical wear and tear. About a hundred years ago, there was a technology breakthrough in which it was discovered how to artificially reinvigorate their internal structure, although its quality and lifespan was neverparable to the original product. This was revolutionary as it increased the use of a depletable product, but it also enabled shady merchants to pass off cheap products as the genuine articles, and nobody would be aware of it until long after they made the purchase. Irie stood in front of the mirror and examined her body. Her hair clung to her unblemished skin, while herrge breasts stood firm as if constantly defying gravity. She squinted a bit before weighing her breasts in her hand and pinching the b around her waist. "Have I put on weight?" Tossing the thought aside, as if refusing to consider an answer, she finished drying herself and climbed into her bed still nude. It was summer so the temperature was considerably high, even during the night. There were homes with thermal regting arrays installed, but they were the upper ss homes and even if Irie could afford one after selling her current one, it was still very expensive and she considered it the be an extravagance for greater than she needed. This is not even taking into consideration the increased maintenance costs of a higher grade of living. As she was lying in bed trying to fall asleep, the headache seemed to melt and fade away like a morning mist, like it had all been a lie. "I like your home," A voice suddenly spoke in her mind. Irie immediately sat up in bed, her eyes wide open in alertness. She didn''t even register that the bed sheet fell down and exposed herrge breasts and milky stomach. In the face of dire circumstances, dignity was thest thing she would be concerned with. "Who''s there?" She spoke aloud in no direction in particr, her mind currently running through various scenarios for surviving a potential assassination. She knew the voice sounded inside her mind, but she immediately concluded that it was the effect of some skill to hide the user''s whereabouts. "How do you know I am here?" "What do you want? I can give you information on thetest recruitment, but I know very little regarding the matter." Even in the face of potential death, she lied with a straight face that could fool even an experienced interrogator. "Oh, you are very good at deception! Next time though, try to fake emotions to match. Panic, maybe fear, false bravado thatst one is a good choice actually. But no, I merely wanted to have a brief talk with you." Unaffected by her lie being exposed, she didn''t hesitate for a moment and responded, "Why don''t you show yourself first? It takes a lot of courage to break thew inside of a dungeon city. Duke Ashburn, the dungeon lord, will know immediately should there be a death here." "Do you wish to know where I''m hiding?" "Do you dare show yourself?" "Very well, look down." Irie followed the voice''s instructions and looked down, which was both a top view of herrge full breasts with pink button like nipples, while below that was herp still covered by the bedsheet. Even though she followed the instructions, she still kept the surrounding room in the corner of her eye, trying to spot any movement. "I''m under the sheet." "" "What? You don''t believe me?" "Are you an exotic race?" "Perhaps to you, I am. I consider myself to be normal." Irie lowered the sheet and exposed her smooth legs, her thick thighs pressed up against one another. While considering the possibility that the voice was some strange tiny exotic species, like a pixie, she scanned the bed, but didn''t see anything. "I''m under your legs." With her nerves highly taut, she parted her legs and spread them to the side to expose underneath them. For all the tension she was feeling, all that was revealed were two things. The first her vagina, covered with a thin mat of short, curly ck pubic hairs that didn''t hide the bare earth of her secret garden at all. A meaty mons pubis, in which a slight pink hue could be seen around the edge of the lips, was clearly visible. The second thing that could be seen was an empty bed. "You have to look closer." Irie bent her waist and looked closer almost instinctively, her breast swaying slightly as she leant down. Despite looking for a finger sized leprechaun or some other esoteric lifeform, there was simply nothing there. "Ah, such a beautiful sight. Be mine~" Realizing she had been fooled, Irie angrily shut her legs and pulled the sheet up, ring at the room around her to spot an enemy. "You tricked me! Did you get a good enough look?" "Don''t be so mad, you even lied to me before about not knowing any information about the dungeon. I saw and heard your entire meeting with that liaison of yourpany, you know." "That''s impossible! How could you possibly know that?! There definitely wasn''t anyone else inside the room. Even if I didn''t notice, there are others in thepany who would unless" "It looks like you have guessed correctly. I''m not just putting my voice in your head, I AM in your head." "This is" "Allow me to clear up your doubts. Not only am I in your head, I am also a dungeon. The same one your party attacked Ah, I mean yourpany''s party, but being pedantic over the correct terminology is really irrelevant by this point." "Anyway, I normally can''t enter a person as the slightest bit of resistance makes it impossible. But it turns out that while you were poisoned and unconscious, your resistance was a big fat zero, null, void defenceless. It was a bit of a rush job, so not perfect, but I have corrected things now. I am a part of you, and there is nothing you can do to change that." "I just need to kill you." "I immediately stand corrected! Now I want you even more~" "I will report this matter to thepany, city lord, and maybe even the temple. If they know what you are capable of, they will immediately make a move on you. You heard the meeting, right? You are expected to at best be a heavily wed C Grade core worth little." "But you are clearly more than that. This ability of yours, your intelligence you are definitely outside the standard ranking. Once either of the three parties know that you are a S Grade core, possibly even SS Grade, they will immediately invest everything in capturing you. Are you stupid?" "Oh, of course not. After all, you will never tell them about this." "Why are you so sure on that?" Irie had regained her confidence now that she knew who, or what, the voice belonged to and could analyse the situation better. With the variables known, she immediately came up with ns and counter ns for how to deal with the situation. "Well, I could simply kill you with the piece of myself in your head before you tell them, couldn''t I?" "" "Just kidding~ I don''t hold that power. Tell me, were you frightened? I know you were, I could feel the spike of fear, you know." Irie truly had a panic spite, yet the so-called dungeon immediately ousted his threat which could have held sway. She still remained heavily befuddled by the thought process of this dungeon. "Why would you immediately reveal your threat as being harmless. You truly are stupid, aren''t you?" "Because it doesn''t matter~" "Why?" "Even if you told them, you have no evidence. They won''t be able to find me inside of you, I have fully fused with your mind. Second, if they were toe with such a force, I would immediately surrender and cooperate with them under the condition that they give me your severed head~" "" "I''m willing to bet that I''m infinitely more valuable than you are if that is the situation." Any ns Irie had of exposing the dungeon immediately were thrown out. Any conquered dungeon core could be controlled by a dungeon lord to execute its functions, but thought and analysis ability were sealed away within the cores themselves. A normal dungeon was basically a simple self-sustaining system though, so this usually didn''t matter. If the dungeon demanded her head as the bargaining tool for full cooperation on its part, she had no doubt her head would be severed that same day. Forget about escaping from potentially the kingdom itself, how far could she possibly run in ten minutes, for that is all the time it would take for her head to say goodbye to her body for good. "What do you want?" "Simple I want you~" "I refuse." "You don''t have a choice as I have already imed you as mine. Don''t worry, I look after my things. I will give you lots of benefits, one of which you''ve already been enjoying, have you not?" "What benefit is that?" "The ability to see and sense mana. Thates from me, and is an inadvertent gift of when I attach myself to someone." "Like that elf. I noticed she seemed to dodge immediately before I would cast any spells, as well as dodging attacks originating from the ground as if she had foresight. I see, she was able to see the mana." "More proficient than you could. But you will be able to get to that point." "What is it that you are expecting from me? You know I will have you removed, right?" "Why are you trying to escape from me? You are already my thing; it is a natural cause of events." "" "As my thing, you are required to follow what you are told to do." "I refuse." "What? Why?" Irie waspletely dumbfounded by this line of thought. She couldn''t fathom how the dungeon hade to this conclusion, but it definitely had a few screws loose. "Sigh, I won''t ask my things to do anything that will get them killed, I will protect you well." "I don''t need your protection." "I will also make you stronger." "" "For now, I need you to do something for me." "What?" "Can you look down some more? I can''t see it if you don''t look at it, after all." Chapter 31: No Abnormalities Chapter 31: No Abnormalities Irie ended up ignoring Styx after she learned he can''t actually do anything to harm her, although she could do nothing to avoid his incessant chatter as he spoke directly into her mind. Unwilling to simply surrender, she headed over to the Eve Temple the next morning. The Eve Religion was several millennia old and started by the founder of the Maple Dragon Kingdom, who apparently had ties with the goddess Eve. She was a war goddess who stood with a spear in one hand and shield another. Her godhead was that of victory and valor, her believers said to be indomitable forces on the battlefield who fought to their final breath. During the early days of the kingdom, not long after their world had merged into this hodgepodge checkerboard of kingdoms and myriad life forms, the newly established religion took on the role of healers for wounded soldiers. They also providing faith workers who would cure curses and other myriad afflictions the befell humans from battles and war. These days, the temples offer full health care services and function not only as a ce of worship, but also hospitals. There are small clinics who offer healing services, but the temple basically held a monopoly on providing healing arts. "How can I help you today?" A formally dressed nurse with long blonde hair asked Irie with a genial smile as she entered a private consultation room. "I was out hunting wild monsters the other day with arade when I was struck with a mental attack. I am unsure of the cause, but I have had a constant droning noise in my head ever since." Irie avoided the subject of it being the dungeon core that had infected her after it threatened her constantly of the consequences of what it would do to her for "betraying" it. She did however insinuate that something was affecting her mental state to the nurse hoping she would find it inside of her head and remove it. "I understand, pleasee lie down on the bed and I will run some diagnostics on you." Irie followed the blonde nurses instructions and lied down on the bed before she used several magic tools with arrays engraved inside of them to examine and provide feedback to the user. Thepanies that made these medical devices were truly brilliant with some of the inventions they came up with, and were always widely renowned in the healers'' circles. Irie watched the various magics at work and the weird ways the machines manipted mana. It was a marvellous sight she had never been able to see before getting the ability to see magic. "There are no abnormalities detected," The nurse stated as she ran one final test which ced a considerable sized magic array above her head that shone in a dull red light. "Are you sure?" "Very much so. As it has only been a few days, your mind is likely suffering from a trauma, which will naturally heal by itself, and even needs to do so. There is no physical damage in your brain, nor are there any scarring or rot in your psyche, everything is in full health." "I understand, I at least wanted to make sure." "It is always best to have a checkup when you are unsure, please don''t feel like it was unnecessary. I will prescribe you some mental rxants which can aid in mental recovery andpletely healthy to the body, but they can be a bit expensive, so it is your call. If the droning persists for longer than two weeks with the medication, please do return for follow up consultations." "Did you hear that?" Styx''s voice chose this moment to speak in her mind. "I ampletely normal, and a part of you. Just ept it." Irie was unwilling to respond in public as it would look like her talking to herself. "Please do be careful in the future," The nurse gave her a serious expression and spoke solemnly. "Some monsters who can use mental attacks are generally instinctively highly skilled in that domain. They don''t always attack directly, but can leave suggestions or other mechanisms in your mind which will affect your judgement or thinking without you even being aware of it. If you don''t get it inspected and treated in time, the consequences can be severe." ~~~~~ Once she had left the temple and was out of ear shot, Irie hissed under her breath, "What do you want?" "I already told you, I want you." She snorted contemptuously with an arrogant expression, but Styx couldn''t see that. "You value your strength very highly, don''t you? I watched you training early this morning, you are more studious than others in this aspect." "Hmph, there are plenty who train harder than I do in order to build up potential." "Potential can be built up in many ways, but that is not the point. If you stop trying to fight me, I can make you very strong." Irie remained silent, but Styx could tell from her sight that she nodded ever so slightly, making him extremely happy. "First, we need to destroy this Silver Wheel Investments and take all of their treasures for ourselves." "That will be hard. I cannot kill anyone within the city after all. The entire city is ssified as part of the dungeon, which is why it is called a dungeon city. The moment a death urs, the dungeon lord, Duke Ashburn will know immediately who died, and who, or what, killed them." Styx was greatly shocked to find out that even his dungeon core notifications system was heavily impairedpared with other cores. They not only received more information, but could also run search queries on the log, which he didn''t have altogether. Once a notification was gone, there was no way for him to ever check it again. "That doesn''t matter, there are plenty of other means in order to do so. We will just make you thepany head. Then you can just give me everything. Not to mention, there are other methods of killing people to fool a dungeon log." "That would be impossible. I cannot take over thepany just like that. As for killing, there is, but such actions garner the attention of the city guard and the punishment can be as high as the death penalty once found." "You only need to do as you are told. Do not forget, only those with a resolve of steel will be powerhouses." ~~~~~ Back in the dungeon, Styx was multi-tasking several different tasks at once. A small portion of his attention was on the farm for different nts and fungi he was forcibly mutating, which was a constant drain on his mana that slowed its already slow mana regeneration to a snail''s pace. On the good news, the farm was proving to be a great sess, and the dark elves were taking over most of the manual duties so he only needed to split a small amount of attention on it, sometimes none at all. The grass had fully adapted to its manawork, although it took Styx a few dozen rounds of trial and error to create a manawork suited just for grass. Apart from the garden beds for various nts, the floor was now mostly covered in a carpet of soft grass with blue tips on each de. Taking from this example, he started creating unique and wonderous mana structures for the flowers, each getting its own unique one which was the mostpatible he could create for them. They were all now flourishing, each flower growing double the size as they used to be and more vibrant. The royal ariches, a blue lotus like flower, even adopted a strange phosphorescent trait with a dim blue glow. The all emitted a decent amount of mana into the atmosphere that they absorbed from the earth, but it was nowhere near the level it was before in which they would emit so much they would drain their own life force without Styx''s mana infusion supplementing them. The wheat and cotton seeds were growing steadily, and Styx reworked their manaworks to be forcibly closedworks to prevent any from leaking out of the nt. He saw mana by it''s true nature energy. He wanted that energy stored in the products of the nt, rather than being expended. The room itself had expanded in size to twice its former size, now having giant intricately carved stone pirs supporting the ceiling of the room. Of the dark elves, Styx''s favorite were the twins, ir and Kale. ir was an Apprentice Hunter and quite skilled with a bow. Contrary to the regr expectation of elves, stone elves were in fact not instinctively skilled with a bow and had to put even more effort into training the skill than the average human. Living in dark cave systems, they were more inclined towards stealth, spears and daggers. Kale was a Novice Dimension Mage, an extremely rare ss and would not have been exiled from her vige should she not have decided to remain with her sister. There was an argument during the vote that Kale was as much or more valuable than two people, so the twins would be excluded from the vote, but in the end, the food shortage was more severe than anticipated ir was deemed a necessary loss. Kale naturally left with her twin sister without a second thought. The twin had bubbly personalities and epted being the dungeon''s women the quickest out of everyone. They supported each other and did everything together, even breeding, such was how close their sibling bond was. They were currently each half way through the 12 hour pregnancy period of a stone-tail fox, one of the new monsters Styx was exciting to breed through the dark elves as their manawork channels were nurtured and expanded to all new levels and they had had adapted to higher levels of burden. Chapter 32: (Heroes) Its All About Confidence Chapter 32: (Heroes) It''s All About Confidence It had been a week since the heroes were summoned to the Maple Dragon Kingdom by the royal faction. They had been so busy since then that they had forcibly be ustomed to their new life, although there were stillints of victimhood and not wanting to do something because it was troublesome or too hard. Some of the heroes had changes in their personalities to various aspects as well, some bing more reclusive, while others more domineering. They were currently in arge outdoor field in the castle grounds used exclusively for training. "Alex, how are you holding up?" Jake, who had traded a football jersey for a set or light mithril armor, said with a smile to the student who was more reclusive than ever. He ced one hand on his shoulder as he asked, applying a grip harder than necessary. "That I am doing okay" Thetter nervously responded while flinching in pain and avoiding eye contact. Alex was heavily intimidated by Jake, whom had taken it as his responsibility to overlook the entire ss. He was a Compounder, had the lowest stats in the ss and the most useless ss. It was a production ss that could mix, separate, and cause various changes in materials to produce various medicines or more advanced chemicals. What was worst about the ss, is that individual skills could not support an entire kingdom of people, so most of these techniques had been integrated into magitech to allow mass production and endless further material research. This made the ss itself almost obsolete, only unknown higher ranked sses proving to be of any value. "You need to try harder. You are getting left behind by the ss by too much." "I''m sorry, I''m not very good with weapons." "If you don''t try harder, you will be the first to die on the battlefield, you know?" Jake''s grip on his should increased in strength, causing the former to wince in pain. "I understand I will do better." "Excellent, that''s the kind of positivity I like to hear! Michael,e over here and spar with Alex!" Jake released his grip on Alex''s and dusted his shoulders before calling over a fellow ssmate. Michael was an African American who didn''t fit in well with the other ck kids. His ss was a Defender and was equipped in a low level set of heavy adamantium armor that appeared several sizes toorge for his scrawny body. "Michael, you are superb in defence, while Alex here is still trying to pick up the Swordsmanship skill. Alex, no matter how you attack, Michael can defend against it, so ensure you don''t hold back, okay?" Just like that, the Hero among the heroes left the two to train together while he went to give advice to others before also doing his own training with the head knight overseeing their training. The knights had already received word from the princess, and Jake was to be closely monitored by them and ensure that he performs up to her expectations. It ced a lot of pressure on his psyche, but he did his best, even if it meant he was forced to guide the others heroes so they could support him better. He knew that if he went to the battlefield alone, or with people who couldn''t keep up, his only fate would be death. ~~~~~ "Irene, they all hate me," Alex aggrieved to his personal maid back in his roomter. "They consider me weak, but I''m doing my best!" Irene merely smiled and offered her support. She sat at the table in his room with one long slender leg crossed over the other, sipping on a cup of tea with a strange delight. It was a behaviour highly unbing a maid employed by the royal family, but Alex didn''t mind it one bit and was only happy for her presence. "Hero, I have no doubt you are the strongest of all the heroes, they just don''t see it." "Exactly! I may not be good with a sword, but I can make mana potent sulphuric acid which will eat straight through them!" "They will undoubtedly see your grandness once they see your strength." Even with the maid''s ever present encouragement, Alex gradually believed that he had untapped potential, and he could be very powerful. Only, this courage and demeaner of his only came out in private with his world defying beauty of a maid. "Irene should I leave?" "Why would the young hero wish to leave?" "I am unappreciated. I know I could do grand things, just like you''ve said. I''ve made huge progress withpounding, and I have a huge amount of otherworld knowledge, but nobody seems to care. They don''t understand how much effort I have put in, and even use me of not trying hard enough!" "I can only sympathise with the hero, but I don''t believe you are allowed to just leave. The guards would stop you before you could even leave the castle." "Is there no way?" "There is." "What way?" "Make apound to put them to sleep, then sneak out." "I can do that but I will need to research more. All the guards are Second Step at the weakest, are constantly at high vignce, and have unknown resistances, so it will have to be something incredibly potent." Alex quickly ran through ideas in his head, speaking them to the maidpletely forgetting that she was employed by the castle too and the possibility of her leaking his ns to the guards. "Say, Irene, I like you a lot. If I left, would youe with me?" "Hero, if you put me on the spot like that, even I won''t know how to answer." "Just theoretically. Perhaps I''m moving too fast for you, but you have always encouraged me and help calm my nerves at the end of the day. I don''t know this world like a native would, and I would be stumbling in the dark without you. I will care for you in every way, and only ask that you stay beside me" Irene ced the now empty teacup on the table and rested her chin on her hand, her elbow leaning on the table. She stared deeply into Alex''s eyes as her ever unchanging smile seemed to be slightly more vibrant, enrapturing the young, summoned hero. "Hero, if you wished to take me away, there are two conditions you must meet." "W-what conditions?" Alex stammered in nervousness. "First, you must provide my wage to me, or at least the equivalent in worth at a minimum." "I can do that! I havepounding, my abilities can bring in a lot of money!" "The kingdom has devices andpanies that deal in alchemy and otherpounding services, they all mass produce these items for bulk prices. I am afraid that despite how valuable your skills are, the market demand may not be there." Alex felt a stab of pain in his heart as her words struck right in his sore spot. "I am still a hero, so I have an endless potential of future growth What is the second condition?" "You must get permission from his majesty to take me away." "I-isn''t that impossible?" "I''m afraid it might be." Alex was dejected, but he still held hope in his heart he would be able to convince her. "Irene This may be asking too much, but I think you like me too, so can I embrace you?" "Oh my," The maid raised her brows slightly in surprise. "I am considered the property of his majesty, so unless you are seeking an early death, I would rmend refraining from such actions." "That" Alex was truly depressed and frustrated now as he lied on his bed and buried his head in his pillow. It was a rough hemp and slightly ufortable, but it was all he had now. "Can you leave me alone for a while" "Of course, hero." Irene gracefully stood up and gave curtsied to the hero lying down before moving to leave the room. "Wait," Alex called out through the pillow in a muffled voice. "Yes?" "Stay a little longer." "Of course, hero." "Also" He turned his head to look at the beautiful maid who just sat down again, "wasn''t that tea supposed to be for me?" "My apologies, hero, I will go prepare another batch right away." "This time, I want to drink it." "Of course, hero." Chapter 33: (Heroes) Expedition Chapter 33: (Heroes) Expedition When Jake returned to his room, Princess Zoerina was already waiting for him. She was instructing a pair of maids to make changes as she saw fit. The bed sheets were exchanged with a new, red set, and at least half of the clothes in the wardrobe were taken away, to be reced with different onester. "Hero, I believe I gave you very specific instructions." "You will have to be more specific, princess." "Call me Zoerina, or just Zoe, there is no need to be so formal in private." "What can I help you with?" "I am just checking in after hearing that you are still together with the Holy Maiden. I take it that she is no longer a weakness?" Princess Zoerina''s voice was t and even toned, but Jake felt a deadly threat of daggers at his throat from the question. "She is not a weakness." "So if I told you I was going to go remove her head, would you stop me?" "I would stop you." "You would betray your future wife for this girl, throw away your best chance at power and strength, yet you would not call her a weakness to you?" "" "That simply isn''t good enough, hero." Zoerinabed her fingers through his hair before grabbing arge clump of it and pulling his head backward, causing him to wince in pain. She red at him with a gaze that was colder than ice. "As my future husband, I will not tolerate it, do you understand?" "Yes." "Excellent!" Zoerina''s expression instantly turned into a smile, as if her previous icy faade was a lie. "I know you won''t disappoint me." She leaned in and gave him a small kiss on the corner of his mouth before giggling and covering her mouth with her hand as if in embarrassment. "I am also here to inform that you heroes will be going on an expedition in three days time. It will be your first public debut as you march through the main thoroughfare out of the castle. There will be quite the crowd, so you must ensure that you look your best." "Where are we going?" "Naturally to get first hand experience. Fighting the demons on the front line, that is." "What!? It is far too early for us. We have only been training for a week and are all still. How can you throw us directly into the heat of the battle? Weren''t we more valuable than that?" "Get over it. Did you think you would be able to train for as long as you want before going to battle, fighting in afortable and easy manner? We are already at war, and our viges and citizens are dying or being abducted every day." "That well I know" "Don''t worry, you are still incredibly valuable to the kingdom, but a de that isn''t used is a useless de, no matter how expensive it is. You will be deployed to low level skirmish areas around the outskirts in which your opponents will be below Second Step except for a few leaders. There will be guards in the shadows to ensure deaths are kept to a minimum as well, but we can''t be too obvious." "Will you being?" "Idiot," Zoerina pinched the bridge of her nose as if unable toprehend the sheer idiocy of the question. "If the princess of the enemy kingdom shows up on the frontlines, what do you think will happen? I''m sure you all would have a great time when an entire special forces group of Third Step rankers shows up, you will have a st. I doubt any of you heroes would return alive." "Sorry I was just asking." "Now, now, don''t get cold feet on me when I''m not there to give you support and advise. You have done a good job leading the heroes so far, keep up the good work." The princess with a dragon bloodline swished her long silver hair and left Jake''s room to inform all the other heroes of the uing expedition. Just outside the room, Jessica, Jake''s girlfriend and the Holy Maiden, stood outside his door with a face as pale as a ghost. Jake couldn''t see her from inside the room as she wasn''t in the doorway, but Zoerina saw her the moment she stepped out, not acting surprised to see her standing there at all as if she knew the entire time. Jessica wanted to say something, but the words were caught in her throat. Zoerina merely gave her a smile which wasn''t hostile, but empty of any positive emotions, as she soundlessly walked pass her. ~~~~~ The heroes were leaving the castle for the first time under the escort of royal guards in a long procession, their destination the frontlines where demons were reportedly having small skirmishes and abducting the kingdom''s poption, all the while their offensive line encroaching further into human territory. The heroes were on open carriages, so all the residents of the royal city who line the roads could see them. They all cried out the hopes and grievances, wishing the heroes a sessful trip and to repel the demons back into thends they came from. This was a pipe dream after all as the heroes were all base level, with the exception of a few craftsman ss heroes who could gain some experience by creating things. Jake was on the forefront carriage, standing in polished mithril armor and smiling and waving to the crowd. He cemented the smile on his face, even if he didn''t mean it. His wellbeing was dependant on his impression as a hero. It wasn''t just people on the side of the streets either. They hung out of windows and offmp posts as they waved unknown gs and praised the heroes. At the back of the group, Alex was trying his best to blend in among some other heroes. The crowd weren''t cheering in his eyes, but were just hiding behind facades, false expressions of people judging and looking down upon him. Despite that, Alex did his best to understand this fantasy world. He had expected a medieval type fantasy setting, and while that appeared to be true at first appearance, their applications of magic were highly advanced. They also had high quality clothing and other items. Even the craftsmanship of the carriages were exquisite. ~~~~~ Carriages pulled by demon bisons, the standard mule for pulling carriages or carrying packs in this world, were tireless beasts that could run day and night for seven days straight. Their endurance marvelled all the heroes and their ss teacher, who had never even imagined it possible for any creature. They passed through one city, vige and town after another, slowly heading toward the eastern border of the kingdom. Eventually, they found the general poption bing more and more sparse, and a faint smell of sulfur and volcanic ash in the air. "Students, do what you can to cover your mouth up with a wet cloth," Ms. Greenwood, the honors English teacher and now a hero with the Guide ss, spoke up as she smelt the volcanic ash in the air. "Jessica, Susan, Vivian, please cast healing spells over us periodically. The more ash you breathe in, the more harmful it will be. Thankfully, we have magic to treat it." This was abination of her Guide ss'' intuition, which told her it would be harmful for her students, and hermon knowledge of its dangers from the previous world. Faint ck specks of ash could be seen drifting in the air the further they entered the deadlyndscape. A Second Step hero could resist the effect with just their body resistance, and certain races were immune to it as well, but weak humans would suffer continuously growing damage to their bodies as they breathed it in. The royal guards who were to ensure protection had already split off from the hero party, keeping away and well hidden. This meant there was some response time to save them should theynd in a crisis, and the heroes would have to protect themselves until the guards arrived. They may only take ten minutes, but life or death could be decided in only a moment. "That vige is Godoza Vige, our destination! It is close to where the front line is and under constant threat of attack," Jake stated and pointed his sword toward a worn down vige that only had wooden walls, some parts of which had been destroyed. "Are you sure that''s a good idea?" Jessica asked beside him, whom had stuck closer to him than ever once they left on this trip. Jake didn''t believe she was aware of the full rtionship between him and the princess, but his girlfriend had brought it up more than once on the trip. It was bound toe up sooner orter, but he simply kept smiling and brushed off the question whenever it came up. As the heroes got closer to the vige, they found that everything was too quiet. There was also nobody in a tall wooden watchtower in the vige, indicating that the vige was currently in dire straights or worse. "Everyone, stay alert," Ms. Greenwood informed everyone as she moved to stand at the front of the party with Jake and Jessica, the unofficial leaders of the heroes. "My skill is giving me an ominous feeling about this town." "Vanguard and defenders, move into position and prepare to defend so the mages and other damage dealers can kill anything hostile if it appears." Everyone moved along with Jake''smands, quickly getting into formation before they pushed through the worn down gates and entered the town in battle condition. "This town" Jessica said in a sad tone, "has already fallen." Chapter 34: (Heroes) Battle Chapter 34: (Heroes) Battle The heroes entered the town through a wooden gate which was damaged all over. There were holes that appeared to have been chewed through it, and several especiallyrge portions at the bottom which the only remained splinters of wood spread throughout the ground. They pushed open one side of the gate in which rusted hinges squeaked in protest. "Urgh" Several of the heroes threw up onto the ground as inside the town were half rotten, half eaten corpses sporadically left on the ground. This ce was so eerie that not even carrion birds hung around, leaving behind an ufortable silence. Ms. Greenwood was pallid with one hand covering her mouth and tears in her eyes. Only a handful of students managed to remain steadfast. Even though they had thought they mentally prepared themselves for this world, that instantly copsed the moment they were faced with such a gruesome scene themselves. Jake was at the front of the party and he barely managed to maintain a smile, his face several shades whiter than it usually was. "This shit is fucked up," Elija almost spat out in disgust. A soft padding sound broke the silence as several zombified corpses ambled into sight. "There are zombies!" One of the more timid girls cried out with a sob. "Remain calm everyone! They are only zombies, the weakest kind of undead." Jake hurriedly solidified hisposure and tried to rally everyone. He wasn''t happy with the situation, but he couldn''t allow himself to copse in front of all these people. Pointing at the zombies with two fingers, a light bulb size ball of soft white liquid light formed in front of his fingers. It then shot off with a snapping sound and flew at them like a cannon ball. The holy bolt struck a zombie in the center of the head, causing it to explode backwards in a stter of blood, flesh and bone. [ Zombified Human killed! + 49 exp ] Jake''s experience bar immediately shot up over half way from that one kill, leaving behind a strange sense of satisfaction that seemed almost alien to him. The other zombies became enraged upon sensing enemies after one of their own was attacked. They immediately howled as a group and woke up any sleeping enemies in the town. This includedrge amounts of grey bipedal monsters that stood about two feet tall. They had sinewy grey wings on their backs the same color of their skin and had four pure red eyes instead of a human''s two. They red at the heroes and cried out in anger in high pitched voices, pointing forward the spears and tridents in their hands in clear hostility. "Be careful!" One of the boys called out as the new enemies appeared. "They are gremolkins, a species of the demon race. They are vicious and like to eat brain matter." Several heroes visibly tensed up but their training in the castle hadn''t been for nothing. They readied their weapons and confronted the enemies with nervous expressions. Jake looked at Ms. Greenwood from the corner of his eye. Both her and him were de facto leaders of the heroes, her by her status as their teacher, and him by his status of Princess Zoerina. The teacher was a Guide, which didn''t seem to be a powerful ss by the name as it was focused on peering into fate, but it also had an elemental magic skill. There was about 80 gremolkins and 40 zombified humans that could be seen. Seeing that there were only about 30 humans, their courage was greatly bolstered and they simply charged without a care for tactics. The heroes fought back with various emotions, mostly panic. Fireballs, earth shots, arrows and other ranged attacks were fired at the enemies while the melee sses stood at the front of the group under Jake''s directions. Most of the attacks missed due to nervous aiming, but many still hit as arrows pierced flesh, fire burnt, water and stone cut and bruised. Jessica forewent attacking and cast a holy guard on the front line warriors, rapidly draining her mana and leaving her mind spinning from the rapid loss of mana. Perhaps it was to not stop gate support sses, but she also received 10 percent of whatever they killed, so she quickly received a plethora of notifactions of 2 to 5 experience points each. "Squeeeee!!" About ten gremolkins squealed and raised their spears in preparation of throwing them. "Everyone, fall back and focus on defending!" Ms. Greenwood called out as she cast a third fireball at the enemy. "No, stand your ground!" Jake shouted and raised his shield and sword, thetter glowing with holy enchant as the milky white liquid light seemed to flow over the entire weapon. Ten spears flew forward like bolts of grey light. The imp like creatures weren''t all that strong normally, but they all trained in a skill that apparently temporarily buffed the strength of one arm so they could throw their weapon with incredible force. Most were blocked by the frontline defenders who had shield, but a few made it through the line and hit the heroes at the back. "NOO!!!" Pam screamed out in grief as Ashley Scott, the Dancer who did support dances for the party to give them a strengthening buff, had a three foot spear pierce through the middle of her chest. Ashley had a brief look of disbelief as she weakly grabbed onto the spear and took a step backwards before she dropped to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut, fresh blood tricking down the weapon and covering the old stains. Ms. Greenwood had a dark expression as she sent and usatory re at Jake, who was grimacing at the scream but still holding down the frontline. Swords cut into gremolkin and zombie alike, while gauntlets broke bones with direct hits. One of the most prominent heroes was Mason Anderson, the Ink Mage, he had been creating monsters out of ink ever since he was being summoned. He held arge sketchbook where he would paint the monster on the page, its detail and size determining its strength. This didn''t cost any mana, only when he was turning it into an actual monster did it cost, so he had many drawings saved up. As he was limited to monsters that could be created with 30 mana as he was at the third level of the skill, he was still limited to rats and other small creations. He could even summon a goblin, but that took longer to draw properly and he wasn''t much of an artist. One of the front line warriors was stabbed in the kidney and quickly fell out of line, his fear getting the best of him. He cried in pain and a hero with a healing skill quickly went to him. Vivian Jiang promptly cast heal on him and help staunch the blood. It was only a low level spell with a low skill level, so she had to cast it three times to fully close the wound, leaving behind a harsh scar. She also cast cure once to avoid any infectious diseases that may have been on the weapon. The hero quickly rejoined the front line under the pressure of a seemingly harmless nce from Jake, although he was a bit less afraid of getting stabbed now that he knew what to expect. Vivian rushed around the battlefield and healed whoever needed it, but still had to ensure she kept enough mana in case of an emergency. This kept everyone in top condition. The demons and zombies eventually fell, the sporadic remaining gremolkins fled in a panic once the tables turned on them. "Is everyone still alive?" Jake rallied everyone and asked once thest of the enemies were taken care of. "All those who need healing, go over to see Vivian and Jessica who will treat your wounds." He held his hands behind his back with a forced smile, trying to show a brave front and hiding his still shaking hands. All the heroes had levelled up at least twice in this battle, the frontline defenders at least three times due to them killing more. Jake alone had reached , increasing his stat points overall by 5 points each, while the Hero ss gave him 6 extra stat points per level. All the other heroes had sses equivalent to a Second Step ranker, so they also gained 5 extra stat points per level, but the Hero ss was a step above them. Jake not only started with a higher starting point, he was also getting stronger faster than the rest, solidifying his position as leader. "Jake! How could you?" Ms. Greenwood stood in front of him and publicly chastised him. "You caused that girl to die!" Jake''s stomach clenched at the usation but he still fought back against the usation. "What, and following your instructions would have been better? Ms. Gree Andria, if we hadn''t stood forth and stopped as many spears as we could, how many would have died? None? I think not." "That It is still not okay" "We are not in our home world any more! Our values from there are worthless. Please remember that currently, I am the leader of the heroes." "" "If anyone wishes to take over that role, speak up." Even though everyone was feeling confidence in their strength which seemed to break through the human limit through levelling up, they didn''t say anything to challenge his position. Even the teacher bit her lip and broke eye contact. "Good, now, everyone focus on recovery and we will scout the rest of this town to try and determine how long ago it was attacked." "Excuse me." Vivian, off to the side came forward. "What, do you want to be the leader?" "No, it''s not that," The asian girl nervously shifted her eyes around under Jake''s gaze. "I was checking in on everybody, and someone is missing." "What? Who?" "Alex, the Compounder." Jake recalled who that was, the reclusive silent kid in ss, and instantly put all the dots together. "He ran, huh? Forget him, he is no longer one of us." "Jake!" Ms. Greenwood called out in anger to see him abandoning a ssmate, clearly very unhappy with his actions. "Enough! We don''t need a traitor!" ~~~~~ Later that afternoon, all the heroes brought over the wagons and were setting up tents and a campsite for the night, an action they had be familiar with ever since leaving the capital. Zac, a demaster and best friend to Zac, approached him with a bit of an awkward expression. "Hey, J, you''ve been pretty harsh on everyone. It been like this for weeks now, and I know you are stressed, but so are we." Jake hardened his heart and brought out his best smile, using his nickname that the entire football team used for each other. "I understand that, Z, but it''s necessary for everyone." "Why? Surely it is okay with some people not doing as well, or being weaker, than others. We are only human, and that''s inevitable." "Z, would you trust your back to someone who couldn''t defend it? This world isn''t like ours. If they are weak, they will die, then whomever they were protecting will die too. You saw what happened to Ashley. If we were weaker and stopped just one less spear, there could have been one more death." "Still, you can be a bit gentler on them." Jake patted Zac on the back and stated "I will try" with a softugh. Zac, who had been Jake''s friend since middle school, could tell that he was being insincere, but only hoped he would consider it more. ~~~~~ After the camp was set up and several ssmates were in charge of cooking a potato and mushroom soup for everyone''s dinner, Jessica sat beside Jake who was overlooking everyone from the side. "Jake, what is your rtionship with Princess Zoerina?" Jessica bluntly asked, prompting Jake to turn his head toward her with raised brows. "My rtionship? What do you mean? We don''t have any rtionship." "I mean, she does go to your room and order the maids to change your clothing, even having your armor personally catered to before anyone else." "Oh, that. That is about public image. As I am not only a hero, but my ss is a Hero, I am seen as a public image of everything. I will be ced in the spotlight and my actions will be reflected on all the other heroes, so I must do better than everyone else." "Is that it?" "Yeah." "And there''s no personal rtionship with her?" "What? Of course not." Jake couldn''t see it, but Jessica''s hand was clenching a bunch of grass on the ground so tightly her knuckles were white. The two sat in silence after that, so close to one another yet further away than they had ever been. Chapter 35: Even Immortals Must Die Chapter 35: Even Immortals Must Die Styx levelled up to and had another swarm of memories emerge in his mind. He remembered who he was, or at least, who he had been. He was born in the peak of the era of Mayans, although it was called something closer to Aramyayan back then. This was an ancient civilization that existed during the days in which humans relied on the pagan gods for survival in a world that seemed determined to kill them. Styx was actually his name back then, and he was the high priest for the goddess, Anthea. She was an earth goddess of the harvest, who walked bare foot across the earth and gave it her energy for nts to thrive. He wasn''t just her high priest, but also deeply in love with this goddess who provided them with the food they ate. He professed his undying love to her on a regr basis along with his private prayers. One day, for whatever reason that only the gods would know, she epted his love. Anthea descended into the temple and revealed herself before him. She had long golden hair breaded with beads, golden eyes, and a smile which made even the sun seem to dim in its presence. There were no words spoken, but he perfectly understood all of her intentions. She opened her arms and brought him into her embrace and their lips locked, the entire universe seeming to make sense at that moment. The two of them fell backwards andnded on a bed which should not be there, in a room which definitely didn''t exist anywhere on Earth. Her clothes slipped off, revealing her body that was the embodiment of perfection, while his own had disappeared at some unknown point of time. His body pressed against hers, herrge breasts squished against his chest, her divinity enveloping his soul. "Why don''t you talk?" Styx asked at the time. Anthea merely smiled and he knew. It wasn''t that she couldn''t talk, but he couldn''t hear her. He pressed onwards, his hard rod about to prate her hallow hall, when all memory of that moment faded away. He awoke the next day back in the temple, as if everything had merely been a dream. He would have also believed that to be the case, should he not know that his body was no longer mortal. Just as he gave her his love, she gave him hers. His body was now one with the Earth itself and would exist as long as the former did. All wounds would heal, and all sickness pass. He would no longer age, but it came with a condition. He could never love another. He could have physical rtions with other women, and it was expected of him, but his love belonged exclusively to Anthea, and would remain hers for all eternity. Once every thousand years, the two would reunite again to share their love among once another. Thus begun his life of eternity. He watched his own civilization fall and others rise to take its ce, only to fall once more. He was both worshiped as a god many times, and executed as a devil just as often. Civilization learned of science, and the age of man truly came to fruition. He watched as they warred, conspired, and killed on scales never before seen on the history of the. Gods came and went from the world, some ever present, others forgotten in the river of time. The gods of war and conflict thrived the most, and the human civilization reflected this in their actions. Eventually, humans reached a point where they no longer struggled for survival and pursued spiritual fulfilment. He was a great god of gaming, streaming and had a huge online following, but just as trends came, they also passed and lived their own cycle of life and death. He lived for almost 4000 years, and was a first hand witness to some of humanities greatest and worst moments. It was in the futuristic age where buildings pierced the clouds and cars flew through the sky that he made a mistake. He fell in love with a girl. There was over a thousand girls he had rtions with, some for several years, others a single night. This time however, he fell in love. His love was exclusive to Anthea and the foundation for their contract. He had broken the covenant, and paid the ultimate price. His body turned to dirt, his judgement delivered by the very earth goddess who had loved him deeply. He never saw his goddess again to apologize, nor was he given the chance to, the bnce had been corrected and all rtions severed. Styx simply begun his next life as a dungeon core. ~~~~~ Styx had a knot deep within his core, a regret which could not be corrected. His core seemed to dim several shades and enter a depressed state. He wanted to speak with his goddess again, to seek forgiveness, but he knew that was no longer an option. "Is everything okay?" Therina asked while in her room, picking up on his mood as if by some supernatural sixth sense. "Everything is fine." Therina didn''tfort him anymore, but her feelings reached him across the link they shared. In another room, Styx also spoke with ir and Kale, the dark elf twins. "Is everything ready for your journey?" "Yep~" "Of course~" "Do you remember what your task is?" "To bring back our fellow sister dark elves!" "And males! I want an entire new generation of dark elves!" "We will, we will," Kale giggled while storing their luggage in a dimensional pocket. It wasn''t a big space, but it was enough for two people''s supplies. The two of them were tasked with returning to their old vige and proliferating the word that Styx would take in any outcasts, or even the entire vige should they truly fall into dire straits. The two twin sisters set off at dusk and ran through the moonlit forest with bows in hand and daggers on their hips. They were intending to reach there and return before the end of the night as the humans were currently in the process of organizing another attack but nobody currently knew when. What they did know was that it would not tonight. The reason the twins were chosen to go was Kale was considered to have a highly valuable job, and her words would hold more sway than anyone else''s. The dark elves'' training had progressed quite fast as they were more ustomed to fighting and weapons than Therina had initially been. Of course, thetter still far outstripped them in skill and could easily defeat them all at once. Rhea and Theo finally had sex for the first time, and Theo had been busy fawning over thetter ever since. Styx had first row seats to it all, which he greatly enjoyed, not that he told them that. Rhea was already embarrassed enough, but Styx had helped nurture her body and manawork afterward. Promising the same treatment each time to help her growth. He also checked over her body at the same time, but while the male seed inseminated her egg with rtive straightfowardness, the egg had a high difficulty attaching itself to the uterus wall. This appeared to be cause of elves'' lower fertility rate, and Styx wanted to try fix this, but there was simply nothing he could do to change it. "Try lying like this," Styx said to Rhea as he adopted some more superstitious traditional methods of increasing pregnancy. Rhea followed his instructions and raised her legs up straight up in the air. She was highly flexible and strong, so it was little to no effort on her part. "Is this okay?" "Yes, now hold that for half an hour. It will increase the chances of you getting pregnant." Styx knew that there was no truth in this, but he was hoping for a cebo effect to take ce and her body increase its own fertility. In the meantime, he could also make her take poses that entuated her figure and let him secretly perv on her. ~~~~~ The dungeon facilities had also grown. The first were the st furnaces. With the replenishment and introduction of new monsters, Styx expanded his operations of refining iron into steel, while also injecting spare mana he had into creating manasteel. Three more forging rooms were created along with some carts for monsters to move the finished products to a storage area. Most of it was stored as raw steel, but there was a small supply of backup weapons and spare throwing knives cast to rece any of the girls'' weapons or supply new minions. He also ran tests on the wolfbone steel, which operated like normal steel except was more brittle and only had average mana conductivity. He didn''t even need to take it to a store in the local dungeon city to know that it was practically worthless. He suspected it could be used as an intermediary product for other materials, but until a demand for this new material could be created, it held no market value other than being an oddity. His miners were approaching a new unknown ore vein he had detected with the mineral detection subskill. While he had an inkling as to what it was due to its bluish shade of color on his radar, he couldn''t be certain until they reached it. Overall, the dungeon was progressing at an increasingly rapid rate, and all that he was waiting for was his next batch of human experience toe in as well as new minions to add to his ownership. He wanted a city. He wanted a civilization. He wanted to create a temple to provide worship. He wanted to amend his past wrongs. Chapter 36: Phone Salesmen Chapter 36: Phone Salesmen ir and Kale reached the entrance to the cave system they were familiar with not long before midnight. There were several pair of eyes watching them from the treetops, which were the night guard of the stone elves. They recognized their own race, albeit exiled members, so they did nothing to stop them and let them enter their former home. They would not find a home there, but they weren''t so reclusive as to deny visitors. The exiled were not criminals, after all. "It has only been a bit over week, but it feel like its been months," ir sighed with a heavy sense of nostalgia as they passed through the ever familiar tunnel system. Kale grinned and answered with a bubbly spirit, "I know, but, I''m happier now for some reason." "Bring back some of the growable products if you can. You can promise them repayment in metal," Styx''s voice entered their minds, causing the twins to smile sheepishly at the thought of their recent frequent interactions with the dungeon. There were tunnel systems in which were designated as farnd, where mushrooms of all kinds and other magical nts grew. The most valuable was a denka fruit, which was a light grey pear like fruit which could grow without sunlight. It was highly treasured by underground species whom were notorious for refusing to sell the fruits alone, let alone seeds. The chatter of stone elves could be heard from various directions, echoing through the giant caverns which snaked through the earth like a maze. There were specific call they would make for when extra hands were required, or someone had be lost in an area they weren''t familiar with, all of which the twins could easily still recognize. The vige wasn''t veryrge, only about 800 stone elves at their peak, but they held a rigid control over their poption as even that amount of elves would consume arge amount of food. There were currently only about 500 elves inhabiting the vige, indicating how severe the current food shortage is. "Halt!" Several of the inner guards stopped to duo as they got closer to the vige. "What is your purpose in returning." It was clear that the duo were wee to visit, but the guards wanted to ensure they were aware they were not permitted to stay or eat the vige''s food. Kale was familiar with one of the guards and quickly nudged closer to him in friendliness, "Jarole, there''s no need to be so harsh, okay? We want to speak with the elders to provide information of where any outcasts can go if they are exiled. We know the rules, and won''t be staying long, okay?" The guard was clearly flustered about the female dark elf''s closeness, and waspletely unaware that she was already faithful to another. Styx had no doubts in his trust of the two elves, who used their wiles to gain a favorable position. If anything, he apuded her for her ingenuity to take control of the conversation. "That well, of course you''re allowed.. As long as you know the rules" "Hehe, thanks Jarule. You truly are the best, you know." Kale skipped back to ir and grabbed her sister who was helplessly sighing to herself before dancing around the guards and entering the heart of the cavern system where the vige was. The other guards sent a disdainful yet humored look towards Jarule who turnedpletely passive before the twins. They then simply returned to their duties, monitoring and patrolling the cave system. ~~~~~ The stone elf vige was a bunch of wooden and stone block houses in an enormous cavern at the centre of the cave system. Houses of all shapes and sized were arranged with little concern on the overall structure and it could be seen where past generations had simply extended the vige out during times of prosperity. Houses were also carved into and up the lower half of the walls, with enormous walkways strung from the cavern ceiling. On the center of the cavern ceiling, was a plethora of mana rich gemstones sending out hues of red, green and gold light, providing a small amount of light to the entire area. Whilst the stone elves had perfect night vision, that didn''t necessarily mean they wished to live in total darkness. It was still dark enough that alleys between houses and other tight spots werepletely pitch ck though, and even the natives would have trouble seeing deep into them without a mobile light source. "Hey look, it''s them" "Do you think they are one of those who are going to petition to be let back into the vige?" "No way, there hasn''t been a sessful reversal of being exiled in over a hundred years" "But one of the sisters is a Novice Dimension Mage, the elders may approve of it if she is really determined." "We will have to see, has anyone gone to inform the elders yet?" "No, maybe I should." "No way, let it be a surprise for them, it will make those old fogies bounce off their seats if they show up unannounced." "Actually that''s a pretty good idea" Crowds watched the sisters and chattered among themselves as they headed toward the grand hall in the center of the vige where the elders were constantly seated. They werepletely nonchnt to the words being spoken around them, even ignoring as small grey heads of children and adults alike peeked out of windows or stopped in their travel to stare from a distance. Despite all the attention, they were still outcasts, so none of the elves approached them, as was an unspoken custom with those who had been exiled. ~~~~~ "Urgh, these stone seats are so ufortable," Urghar, a white haired stone elf elder squirmed on his stone seat in difort. "I know, would it be so much to ask for some passing human adventurers to carry somefortable seats with them?" An elderly female elf also chimed in. "Sigh, you all have it easy, I had to get medical attention because my arse started bleeding from sitting for so long on these damned chairs." Of the seven elders, six of them coughed awkwardly and a seventhined about his hemorrhoids once again. Although he was the only one which alwaysined about them, he wasn''t the only one who had suffered from this issue. These elves were only of the First Step after all, so their bodies weren''t so strong they were immune to mundane illnesses. At this moment, the door to their meeting room where they were seated mmed open, Kale standing in the opening with her hair swaying in the wind caused by throwing open the doors. "Kale! We can''t just barge in. This is where the elders are!" ir nervously tugged on her sister''s arm. "You worry too much, ir. You heard the vigers, right? We need to give them a surprise." The elders in question looked at the sisters with their brows furrowed. Their former nonchnce andints about the stone chairs being too ufortable was reced with the dignity of authority. "You two girls what are you doing here?" The elderly woman quizzed the two intruders. "We wanted to talk with you about spreading word among the vigers for and for the exiled." ir exined their purpose and respectfully bowed to the assembly. "A novel idea, having somewhere for the exiled, to go. Come in, exin to us more about this ce." Kale was the main speaker, as she talked up Styx and the dungeon to be the equivalent of a utopia for all, while ir blushed at the straight up bootlicking and told some more concrete details. The elders all frowned as they learned of the dungeon, and what was expected of those who join them. "You girls have changed a lot in a very short time," One elder closely scrutinized them with his gaze. "And you have given yourselves to this dungeon for breeding?" Whilst the stone elves were a more reclusive race, they also knew about the breeding dungeons could do to create unique and stronger monsters. "Yes, but please do not bepletely adverse to the idea," ir frantically exined while iling her arms in the air. "Styx will not do anything to harm them, and it is fully controlled. If anything" Both sisters deeply blushed in unison as they both thought of their shared experience at the same time. "If anything, he will nurture the body, increase your manawork, which is even better than most spiritual herbs for increasing mana capacity. It also increases potential that the body can store, raising an elf''s Max Level, and increasing the strength scaling with each level up." "It is also not a requirement," Kale joined in while hugging her sister. "Nobody is forced to do so, but any rules he makes are thew. Rhea is currently partnered with Theo, whom is apparently very fond of the dungeon now, although he has to do whatever Rhea says as she is stronger." The sisters exined several other benefits with fanaticism, such as mana sight. "What about the males?" One of the male elders asked while stroking his chin in thought. "The males will be assigned work, and or partners to mate with if they are single as increasing the poption is currently one of Styx''s main goals. They however won''t get the same benefits as the females as the process is very intimate." ir''s ears turned entirely red while Kale was also vividly amorous. "Bah, do you think I don''t know where this will lead to?" One of the male elders jumped up in protest. "A pure matriarchal society, in which the women are dominant over all the males." "But Styx is male, and he stands at the top?" Kale tilted her head in confusion. "Perhaps, but the societal trend will be pure matriarchal as women hold all the power." "Oh shut it, you old coot," The sole female elder in the room cussed at the old man causing a scene, forcing him to grudgingly sit back down. "This world is determined by strength, and whoever is stronger, is dominant. That is perfectly normal." "But still" "Rejected, I approve for knowledge of this dungeon epting outcasts to be spread among the people. Do any of you wish to oppose this?" Under the pressure of the female elder, all the other male elders ended up caving in and agreeing to the proposition. "Perhaps we are already a bit of a matriarchal society," The final elderughed as he also agreed. With approval by the elder council, a cry was sent out into the cave system to summon all the stone elves working on the farms and patrolling the area. Everyone gathered at the central square of the vige where the twins exined everything to the people under the supervision of all the elders. Many dark elves seemed against it, but even more were favorable to the increase of strength or potentially getting a mate they otherwise wouldn''t have a chance with. "You know, Styx is also willing to take in the entire vige should you decide to migrate," Kale sheepishly informed the council during the meeting with the vigers, putting them on the spot. "I''m afraid these old bones can no longer support the Styx''s demands," The female elder brushed off the idea with experienced wisdom. "Our entire history lies in these walls, we cannot simply leave." "It was worth a try," Kale giggled and finally departed with her sister. Either way, the seeds were nted, and only time, and perhaps some maniption in secret, would determine how well they flourished. Chapter 37: The Correct Way to Make Paper Chapter 37: The Correct Way to Make Paper Styx finally reached the new ore vein which turned out to be a copper vein with a considerable amount of tin mixed in with it. There were also traces of other materials, but he currently had no method of refining them out of the tin and copper. ir and Kale had returned from their former vige and had been unable to acquire any seeds or other materials. The elder council had stuck their heels in the mud when the topic was brought up and refused to budge. They already had a food shortage, and were unwilling to part with anything except for more food, an amount which Styx couldn''t produce at the moment. Another discovery he had was that he was at a shortage of miners and gnomes. He needed more miners to increase the mining speed of the copper and tin ores, while more gnomes were needed to increase the amount of furnaces refining the ore. They weren''t very dextrous monsters, but they could get the job done. One of the forest assassins or treant spirits could do a better job, but it was all about matching the correct tool toplete the correct job. The next item on the agenda was his experiments with mana stones and magic arrays. The magic stones were the most basic item. They were essentially magic batteries, except they could also hold a specific attribute mana, which worked better when used in its rted application. One could use either a fire or an earth attribute magic stone to heat up a bucket of water with a basic heating magic array, but the fire magic stone would heat it up for longer, and faster, than the earth attribute magic stone. There were different types of stones and gems of each attribute, such as a brimstone gem. A magic stone basically covered any material which could store and release mana. The magic arrays were much like electronic circuits, except they were far more esoteric with rules that even he couldn''t understand. They drew logic from primordialws, and there were many countless systems in which they could be designed to perform various functions. The actual magic array needed to be either created with mana, or a product which could conduct mana. Styx created a basic light array out of mana steel first, a high mana conductivity material. On a stone b was a basic circle with basic arcane glyphs for converting mana into light along with aponent in the upper right corner for absorbing ambient mana. The array immediately activated and created a light blue ball of light above it, but Styx couldn''t turn it off without breaking the array to interrupt it. "Rhea, bring Theo down to experiment room #2, I need you two to carry some objects." "Of course, please give me a moment." Hearing the voice in her mind, Rhea stopped training and went to bring Theo from the ntation field. The two of them saw the stone b with an activated light array on it and were curious. "What do you need us to do?" Rhea asked curiously gazing at the ball of light. "I want you two to carry this item to the ntation field and ce it near the flowers where the ambient mana is denser." "Ah, sure, is that all?" "Yes, that is all." Rhea didn''tin that the task was too simple and immediately ordered Theo around to help her carry the stone b between the two of them. She was the very embodiment of shyness and assertiveness. She was shy about intimacy matters at first, butter took on a very dominant position in the act and pressed Theo beneath her. She was polite and respectful towards others, but would order Theo around whenever she wanted. ''Surely these stone elves must secretly be matriarchal by nature, right?'' Styx silently questioned himself as he never tired of watching the interactions of the two. After the two delivered the light array stone b to the garden where the various species of mana flowers were growing, the light ball abruptly increased to nearly three times the size. "Is this meant to happen?" Theo asked Rhea, whom was his window tomunicating with Styx. "He says that it isn''t, but it was suspected that it might. There is apparently no limiter on the mana absorption array and it cannot control how much it absorbs." "That I don''t understand anything of that" "Neither do I." ~~~~~ Styx wanted to try tamper with the magic circle, but he had zero foundational knowledge on arrays and the rules of various underlying systems behind their functionality. He could vaguely understand some small parts of why the array worked based on the introductory book and its brief exnations on different parts of the array. He tested the same array out with standard steel, wolfbone steel, copper, tin and bronze. Bronze was just an alloy of tin and bronze and rtively easy to make, but it was rtively useless as a mana conductivity, being worse than both tin and copper, which were only average themselves. Steel had the same low conductivity as bronze, each barely producing even the shadow of a ball of light, while wolfbone steel seemed to have above average mana conductivity, but still far below mana steel. He wanted to keep recording this information down, but carving countless experimental material into stone walls was a long and tedious process. He needed paper. Styx decided he needed to start making new machines. He created several rotary mana engines with manasteel and ardonite wheels. These were made as coarse as possible with countless teeth and on adjustable sliders. With several of these machines set up, the shroom gnomes dragged in several freshly cut up and bark stripped trees. They then fed them into the grinders, each powered by an attributeless quarts mana stone. The wheels spun incredibly fast under the mana influx and another gnome controlled the slider, locking it in ce and causing it to tear apart the wood with an incredibly loud grating noise. The rotary mana engines screamed under stress, but they managed to hold together as several giant dumpster-like containers were filled with wood chips. Styx knew he then needed to remove the lignin, but didn''t have the proper chemicals for it. He suspected that the human dungeon cities would have a full production process of paper as he had seen it used through Therina''s sight when she was in the nearby dungeon city. Instead, he had to make do with what he could in boiling it in various concoctions of his own, producing a substandard effect, but somehow producing some effectiveness. The forest assassins then took over the process and threshed the fibers before feeding them into new machines Styx designed for rolling out the paper. The end product was a slightly yellow paper. It wasn''t exactly uniform in thickness as he wascking in any form of precision equipment, so the rollers themselves weren''t very high quality. It would have to do for now, but he would still improve the production line in the future. Rhea was called back again by Styx, this time she was to use a finely carved graphite wooden pencil to start recording all of his experimental data for himself. Arge stack of paper would allow him to record far more data than stone wall carvings. "I''m happy to do it, but please at least make a table for me to work on," The dark elf stated while grabbing her ears to drown out the noise of Styx''s new machinery. "Can it also please be somewhere quieter? I will go deaf if I have to work here." "You won''t go deaf as I will help take care of your body. You are managing to grasp your own manawork too by now, aren''t you?" "If I don''t go deaf, I will go insane." The dark elf was very adamant on this matter and Styx could only acquiesce to her request and moved the standard research room to an area of the dungeon less noisy. He made a mental not that she needed ear protection, one specific to match her long elven ears. He created arge office for her with an ornate wooden desk on one end and several benches for him to leave samples for her to use as reference for the research notes. The first task was to make a detailed list of alloys, what properties of them he knew, and any other information about them such as their market value. The next was information on arrays and thews of magic, which was abysmal right now, but would eventually add up to something far more tangible. Rhea''s elvish was a bit rusty and didn''t look very goodpared to what she had wanted to write, but it was still a beautiful script to Styx, which was more than enough. ~~~~~ Irie was called into the Silver Wheel Investment Company to be introduced to the new team of adventurers who had been recruited and screened for the dungeon raid. "Irie, you arrived quicker than anticipated," Thepany liaison that she was familiar with greeted her at the door. "And yet you are already here waiting for me," She brushed her hair behind her ear and nonchntly answered. The liaison waved her into thepany and guided her to where all the other adventurers were waiting for the meeting where they will get to know their party members better before the dungeon raid. "I hear you have been petitioning for a higher position in thepany," He said as if a passing remark. "Indeed I have, I feel like a can give more back to thepany that way." "There have been a few higher ups who have had their feathers rustled over that." "I bet. It''s their jobs that I''m after." "As amusing as it is, don''t forget that promotions onlye with results." "There are many ways to achieve results, and just as many methods of getting promotions." The liaison shot her a look out of the corner of his eyes, feeling like she was a viper waiting to strike. "Those are some dangerous words." "Ones which are capable of achieving great profits for thepany." The liaison shrugged his shoulders in response and stated "it is yet to be seen" before opening the door to a room with a group of ten human and one male racoon beastman adventurers. Kalvin, thepany''s Second Step Hunter, was also present. He sat in themanding position at the top of the table when Irie stood next to himself and took charge of the introductions of each person''s abilities and past experiences. Kalvin was greatly taken aback by Irie''s sudden aggressive approach in leading the party, when she had normally always docilely followed his orders. He was unsure what brough upon such a change, but before he could even say anything, she had established herself as a de facto leader of the raid party. "What are you doing?" Kalvin hissed under his breath as she sat beside him. As passionate as his feelings were toward her, he couldn''t let her challenge his authority in the party so tantly. "Please don''t worry, I''m looking to get some promotions in thepany, so I need to achieve some merits." "And if you fail? This isn''t a standard dungeon, remember, it is designed by an insidious dungeon lord who rapes innocent women and has no mercy in killing." "I have you with me, don''t I? How could I fail?" Irie broadly smiled and shuffled her seat closer to him, allowing the expensive perfume she had bought under Styx''s guidance to directly enter his senses. Kalvin swallowed at the closeness of the beautiful woman whom he fancied, her scent causing him to lose himself in thoughts of infatuation. It wasn''t a powerful scent by any means, but it made him want to keep smelling it. "Yes but even I can fail, you know Likest time." "Don''t worry about it so much." Irie went to pat his arm, but Styx interfered and told her he would cut it off if she took things too far, causing her to have an awkwardpse where she quickly withdrew it and gave him a charming smile. The meeting then ended and everyone headed back to their personal abodes to prepare for the dungeon raid tomorrow. Naturally, not a single aspect of this escaped Styx, whom was formting his own ns. ~~~~~ "I''m such an idiot!" Styxined to Rhea who was writing down notes, causing her to slip and make a mistake on the paper in her notes. "What?" Rhea shyly asked while worried about the scribble she identally did on the paper. "I was worried about making the best chemical for extracting the lignin from the wood, which is a part of the process of creating high quality paper but" "But?" "But I should be handling these processes with magic! Thebination of magic and science, this is the path forward! I was trying to do everything the hard way, so I was being idiotic!" Magic and science was beyond Rhea''s knowledge, let along the magitech production from joining the two together, so she could only nod her head and keep agreeing with Styx Chapter 38: To Bee, Or Not To Bee Chapter 38: To Bee, Or Not To Bee Styx began mining out all the walls in the initial dungeon maze in ns of his next improvement to the dungeon''s visuals with histest achievements. Beforehand, it was long passages and intersections, with the main passageway being a giant 10 meter wide bridge above a slowly flowing river fed from an underground waterway. At some point, freshwater fish had also started living inside of it too and their poption were quickly growing without any natural predators, but were soon going to be facing a food shortage as the amount entering through the waterway was miniscule. The walls had giant ornate pirs at regr intervals and on corners with mayan and Aztec designs carved into them. The walls in between the pirs were carved to look likerge stone bricks with a tall banner running along them with carvings and designs with different stone materials like ardonite and oltrite, another new stone he found deeper in the earth with a greenish color to it. The carvings were all of eldritch creatures and devils, feasting and preying upon humans and consuming their souls. When viewing them all, they even told somewhat of a story in the battle of light against the darkness, a creation Styx considered his own masterpiece. At other areas of the dungeon, there were separate areas for production, research, training and living quarters. They were somewhat artistic with their own appeal, but Styx knew he could do better. Now, the waterway below the bridge was being lowered by nearly ten meters, while the walls were hollowed out and creating giant cavity where he was nning on creating a second level with grassy fields of flowers and trees once he could adapt saplings to grow in the dungeon. Wooden bridges would extend over the waterways, connecting each piece to one another. The original stone pirs that were apart of the walls now became goliath octagonal carved pirs holding up the ceiling, connecting between the floor and ceiling as a natural part of the dungeon. The eldritch and demon carvings from the wall were also to be transferred and even made in more detail along the ceiling of the dungeon. The original oilnterns were also reced with hidden light arrays, creating a plethora of blue light balls floating just off the walls and support pirs. So far, Styx had only begun work on one small section of the dungeon as ten miners crawled over the walls and ate away at the stone under his control. It was an enormous undertaking and was expected to take several months of continuous effort as he seemed to be forever underhanded. Styx currently needed a far greater understanding of magic and magic arrays. There were schools which taught public knowledge on this, but Styx wasn''t capable of applying for one, while the elves were also too old to attend school. The only option was to hire a private tutor for one of them so Styx could learn the knowledge through them, but this was also far too expensive. He instead intended to purchase as many magic books as he could afford and use high superputer like processing ability to analyse all the knowledge contained within them. The introductory book of magic arrays Therina purchasedst time was fully analysed by him. Inside were fiveplete and functional magic arrays, which were: [ Light Array Chill Array Heat Array Movement Array Mana Infusion Array ] The light array was the only one which had a natural mana absorptionponent as the ambient mana wasn''t enough to power the others. They were also the most basic designs and had no advanced or specific control functions. They were essentially the equivalent of a kids science experiment kit, except for showing how arrays work. The other arrays in the book were notplete products, but still contained knowledge on other aspects of arrays. They still functioned, but did not produce any actual effect. These arrays in particr relied on what was called Hornheim Magic System. Each magic system had its own ruleset it was based off of, each different yet sometimes sharing simrities in some aspects. The book also introduced the endless research project to reach the root of magic and produce and Grand Unified Theory of Magic which would connect all the magic systems together, but that had eluded magic researchers across the infinite world for eons and was spected to not even exist. ~~~~~ Elena and Therina were currently out in the forest on a mission for Styx. They also had four stonerats with them who were assigned the task of dragging arge cart for transport. On the cart were several of the dungeon''s new flowers in makeshift pots, but they wouldn''t live for long as they were cut off from the mana supply of the earth. They were sufficient for their purpose though. "How are we going to do this?" Elena asked nervously as they stealthily passed a group of normal forest wolves. "Easy, just take the nest and walk back with it," Therina carelessly smiled andughed in response. "Have faith in Styx, he knows what is best." "You have a little too fanatical, I think." Therina gave the dark elf a smile that set off danger signals in her head. The tree elf stared deeply into her eyes and said, "Styx is both our saviour and protector, don''t you think you are being a little too casual?" Elena broke out in a cold sweat from all the danger signals her body was sending her. She could see mana and was far more responsive to external sources after Styx''s grooming, so she knew that Therina was teetering on the brink of deciding to "educate" her. "No-no-no, of course not," The dark elf relented and waved her arms in denial. ''She looks normal, but she''s definitely crazy,'' She helplessly thought to herself. "But aren''t you worried the bees will sting us?" She cautiously questioned. "Of course not, Styx provided us with full coverage leather armor of course." "But you said you knew of a location where a blood crystal bee nest resided. Those aren''t normal bees, they are a herd type monster, and this leather armor won''t protect us" "All you have to do is push mana out of your manawork and into your body and you can strengthen it. You may get stung a few times, but you will be able to resist it. You will also get a poison resistance skill too." "I can''t do that yet." "Then make sure you don''t die." "Can''t we just get normal bees?" "No." "Styx, can we please just get normal bees!? I''ll die, seriously!" Elena resorted to her final measure of calling for Styx, the only person, or dungeon, that Therina would listen to. He was ever present, so he naturally would hear anything they said. "I''m interested in these blood crystal bees, I know you are capable of doing it." Seeing her final hopes dashed, Elena''s mood was deted as she mindlessly followed Therina whom wasn''t exactly sure of where there bee''s nest was as she only heard hearsay when she was in her former vige and never ventured out herself at the time. The two headed deeper into the Abyssal Forest where the true forbidden zone started. As they got closer, neither of the two noticed the presence of a bored gaze focusing on them from the heart of the forest. ~~~~~ "They''re just up ahead," Therina whispered as she hid among the tree branches with Elena. "Wuuu" Elena whined in despair as she watched the bees buzzing around the area, secretly hoping the bees wouldn''t spot them and decide to attack. Blood crystal bees were almost as big as a finger each and were a vivid red and ck color. Their stingers were an entire inch long and one could tell how sinister they were just by looking at them. These bees were just like any other bee in which they harvested pollen from flowers, except they were also carnivorous as they would use the blood of monsters, animals and humans alike in making what is known as blood honey, their main food source. They could also eat raw meat, but they wouldn''t do that unless absolutely necessary as it was unpleasant to them. Blood honey was an exotic product that while it was possible to be consumed, had far greater value as an alchemical product. Upon learning about this item, Styx instantly became fixated on it and he wouldn''t ept the two girls bringing back any other bees. "Just don''t aggravate them," Therina said with a serious expression as despite her nonchnce towards bringing the bees back, she was fully aware of how dangerous an enraged swarm could be. "They are monsters, so they hold at least some level of intelligence. We merely need to make a trade with them and bring our rtion closer. If we can then get them back to the dungeon, Styx can handle it from there." Therina took the lead as she took out on of the mutated mana rich flowers and approached the nest, ready to flee at any moment should they be enraged. The bees quickly noticed her, even though she had Concealment active. Her skill is nowhere near the level of being able to avoid the inspection of thousands of bees after all. They rapidly buzzed in warning and prepared to attack when Therina ced the flower on the ground and stepped back. Seeing this, several bees approached the flower and inspected it, soon sending out a signal of tion to other bees and reducing some of the hostility the elf was receiving. It didn''t change the fact that she was still considered a typical food for the bees. The flower wasn''t enough to satisfy them for long, so she had Elenae forward with the cart full of various flowers, who jumped away in a panic when a cloud of bees swarmed over the carriage. The stonerats weren''t spared either, as many bees attacked and rapidly drained them of all blood through their stingers, the rat''s stone-like hide unable to stop the sharp stingers in the least. They quickly dropped to the ground as dried up and withered husks. "They are smart, but also not so smart," Therina giggled to herself as she snuck up on the crimson almost gem like hive. The hive was at least three meters tall, and enveloped a tree for a support structure. With her mana sight, she quickly located the queen''s location, which wasmunicating with the worker and guard bees with vibrations of mana. Her curved hunting knife shed and a circr hole was cut out of the wall of the hive. Therina then jabbed her hand in almost blindly and grabbed the queen. The mana in the area rapidly fluctuated as the queen sent panic signals to all the bees in the area, informing them she was under attack. Buzzing noises drowned out all sounds of the forest as the bees went berserk. Several of the royal guard bees were the first to respond and stung Therina''s arm as it was pulling the queen out of the hive, their stingers going through the leather and even her mana reinforced skin. Therina felt the pain of poison being injected into her and winced, but she was resolute with her action and sessfully captured the queen. She controlled the mana in her manawork to fight against the damage on her arm, including pushing the poison out before it could affect her body. There was still some poison which made it through, but it was within an eptable miniscule amount. "What the hell are you doing!!?" Elena cried out in fear and shock as Therina appeared beside her with an entire swarm of angry bees behind her. "The nest was too big to carry, so we have to improvise," She answered as a matter of fact, the two of them immediately running back toward the dungeon. The queen was enraged and struggled in Therina''s grasp, but it wasn''t a fighter nor particrly strong and the elf held it in a way in which it couldn''t sting her. Instead, the queen constantly sent out signals for rescue, causing the enraged bee swarm to constantly be on their tails. Thankfully, Therina was in her home environment among the forest, while Elena was at least equally as dextrous, so the managed to run through it as fast as they would an open in. The nest was a three hour walk from the dungeon into the depths of the forest, but they managed to run it back in half an hour. The bees didn''t seem to tire at all, and only got more relentless the longer they chased. The flooded into the dungeon shortly behind the elves and followed them the entire way to the underground ntation area where Styx''s experiments in mutating nts took ce. Inside the enormous excavated underground room, Therina and Elena threw the bee into the middle of it before escaping out the side of an emergency exit which close behind them. The enraged cloud of bees followed in barely momentster and swarmed around the now free queen protectively, not realizing the entrance to the room was sealed off as well. The queen angrily had the bees patrol the area and look for the victims once she was no longer disoriented and found themselves sealed inside the room, further enraging her. The bees attacked the walls with their stingers, punching small holes all over it, but it seemed to be a futile effort. Styx watched all of this from his omnipresent perspective and was deeply interested in the bees, as well as how the queen beemunicated through mana fluctuations. She couldn''t see mana, as she would have noticed his tendrils entering the room if she could, but she could instinctively control it. The bees were all around and while not overly strong individually, a swarm of them could even kill a Third Step ranker, a strength Styx deeply desired. He extended his mana tendril to the queen and tried to enter her, but she violently fought back. She felt like she was under attack andmanded her hive to protect her, but there were no visible enemies. ~~~~~ After a stand off thatsted several hours, the queen eventually tired out due to exhaustion and hunger and couldn''t resist the mana tendrils anymore, which quickly invaded her body and filled up her miniscule, yetplex, manawork. The queen blood crystal bee felt extremely strange at the sensation. She felt like the contact was veryforting and intimate, and wondered why she fought it so hard before. Styx''s thoughts entered her mind, and she could understand them, but not at the level of an advanced species as her thought capabilities weren''t that strong. Due to this, Styx invaded her mind andmunicated via emotions and images with words supplementing his thoughts. The queen responded with her own emotions and asional images which Styx had difficultyprehending due to their abstract nature. Eventually they came to an agreement, which was half a surrender by the queen as it was currently in a helpless position. The queen would live in the dungeon, and the bees would be forbidden from attacking or harming the dungeon''s residents unless provoked first. They would also focus on pollenating and spreading the flowers, which the queen was more than excited to do, and would also defend the dungeon from intruders. Styx would also provide them with the blood from any monsters or animals hunted before they are turned into biomass and also do his best to meet any demands that the bees had. For now, he opened the room back up while having several miners dig a tunnel from the ceiling out to the cliff face where his dungeon was situated, allowing them direct passage in and out of their new residence of the dungeon. ~~~~~ Therina and Elena returned to the experimental crop roomter on and it turned out that the queen bee could hold a grudge. A horde of royal guard blood crystal bees flew out of the still being built new hive and circled the pair. A bunch of themnded on the shoulders and head of the two shocked elves, one being an especially terrified Elena. The rest of the group hovered around them menacingly with their stingers poised to strike. "They won''t attack us, right?!" Elena called out in a panic. "You''re good," Styx immediately replied, not offering any constion. Chapter 39: The Second Raid Chapter 39: The Second Raid "The dungeon is just in front, everyone, remember to watch each other''s backs and always keep an eye out for ambushes from above," Irie stated in amanding position at the front of the 12-man dungeon raid party. "As long as we don''t let them catch us by surprise and we stick together, we should be okay." The dungeon raid party were a bit nervous at first as thest team had practically been entirely wiped out save Kalvin and Irie. Her words at this moment did help bolster their courage though, but they would have entered regardless. There was a saying for this after all. Gold changes hands so carelessly, yet men would die to acquire it. Thankfully society was more developed than a true medieval setting and the global corporation known as the adventurer''s guild also provided the option of life insurance should adventurers have family, in which they would be paid out the insured sum to the wife, husband, or next immediate family member, should said adventurer die. Irie first used earth magic to split and shatter the spear traps behind the entrance walls that had been repaired since thest raid. "Last time, you were just unlucky," Kalvin whispered to her in encouragement on seeing the tension in her movements. "You can do much better, you levelled up to st time and are still very strong for your level." "I know." Irie inwardly sighed as Kalvin was mistaken on the reason for her tension. She was currently in cahoots with the dungeon, so held no fears of her safety. She was slightly nervous about entering, but the greater tension would be if she could earn merits from this trip and not be seen through. The raid party entered while weaving around the stone stgmites piercing out from the ground and walls. The new party members marvelled at the intricate designs, which were something only an entric nobleman would do to a dungeon, most merely focused on expansion and efficiency while disregarding all cosmetics. "Can you sense anything?" Kalvin asked the racoon beastman in the party, who had the keenest senses out of everyone present. "No monsters," His nose twitched as he identified all the scents in the room. "All I smell is water, a lot of it too. I also smell elves of some kind, but they smell strange. And finally I don''t know what it is, but it''s chaotic and is causing my fur to stand on end." In this world, there were beastman and beastkin, which were distinctly different from one another. Beastman were generally covered in fur and had the bodies of animals while being bipedal with human equivalent hands. They had greatly enhanced sensespared to humans and naturally stronger bodies too. They also usually carried a bloodline of some kind which served as a growth supplement as well as direction for their development and ss advancements. Beastkin were the mixed species of humans and beastman and highly numerous as a beastkin mating with a human nearly always gave birth to another beastkin. They were human in just about all appearances, but also carried the traits of their beast ancestry which took the form of animal ears, tails, or less noticeable aspects like sharper canines or exotic pupils. They shared the same benefits the beastkin had, but to a far lesser degree. At this beastman''s response, Kalvin nodded his head in understanding. "I see. Well, the dungeon lord will know we are here from the moment we entered, so pay close attention to anything approaching. We have run into the monsters in here before and there isn''t anything we can''t handle if we aren''t careful." Irie wasn''t to be left out and added, "We also need to keep a clear line of retreat, so let us know if you detect our escape route being intercepted." Kalvin considered what happenedst time and nodded his head in approval as it was a careless mistake that shouldn''t have happened. The party headed beyond the entrance area and descended a wide set of stairs onto the bridge that ran through thebyrinth area. There was the faint sound of some grating in the distance, but it was impossible to urately identify the source with the sound echoing through all the huge passages. "Everyone be prepared forbat," Irie stated and held her staff aloft, ready to begin channelling her spells at a moment''s notice. Unlikest time, no enemies immediately ambushed them, leaving their tension at a constant high point. Styx did this deliberately, deciding to wait until their attention waned before attacking, but prepared to attack them at any moment given they went in a direction he didn''t want them to. Several of the adventurers walked over to the side of the bridge and peered over the stone railing. "Hooh, that''s pretty deep. I assume anyone who goes off the edge isn''ting back up without help." Whilst she was on the dungeon''s side, Irie was also secretly ufortable on the bridge as being suspended cut her off from the earth and restricted a good deal of her spells. The healer among the raid members began creating a map as they went deeper inside the dungeon, which helped them avoid getting lost or double checking areas. "Monsters iing!" The beastman informed the party while tightening his grip around a two handed sword. The attacking party consisted of three stone-tail foxes, one living golem, six forest goblins, two forest assassins along with Elena and Therina. "You''re kidding, right?" Kalvin asked in a moment of disbelief. All the monsters, including the forest goblins, had been fitted out with various degrees of heavy armor. The stone-tailed foxes stood a meter tall and two long, with dark grey fur and long tails which appeared to be covered thin stone needles rather than fur. They flicked their tails overhead and flung a deadly rain of stone needles on the party while narrowly missing Irie. The bared their sharp fangs and continued to charge, aiming to rip and tear with those fangs while wrapping their tails around the pray and crushing them while also turning them into a pin cushion at the same time. The living golem was 3 meters tall and looked to be made out of rock, but that rock flexed and moved like skin. It looked like a structure, but was very much alive. Its body was incredibly strong and had no fatal spots, so it formed the frontline defender to attract all their attacks while trying to crush the humans with its overwhelming strength. Not to mention that being covered in steel armor half an inch thick made it very difficult to kill. The forest goblins were fully armed and armored, and even Kalvin''s arrows wouldn''t pierce the armor in one shot unless he used a skill. They served as the vanguard, charging behind the stronger and muchrger monsters, preparing a surprise attack when the front line monsters were intercepted. The forest assassins hid in the shadows and were the lightest armored out of all of the monsters. This was because they needed to maximize their agility. Each assassin held curved steel hunting daggers in their hands, striking the moment an adventurer was busy with another monster. Therina joined the goblins, hiding behind the heavily armored living golem with her sword and a dagger drawn. Meanwhile, Elena scouted around with a myriad of throwing knives, aiming for any openings. One adventurer at the front without enough armor was turned into a pin cushion by the stone-tailed foxes'' needle rain. He didn''t even get a chance to struggle before dropping to the ground with blood quickly soaking his clothing and forming a small pool under his body. It was even more grewsome as several needles had even pierced through his eyes, turning them into a liquid seeping mess. [ Horadine (Apprentice de Wielder ) in by Stone-Tailed Fox! + 57 exp ] Half of the remaining adventurers had suffered damage to varying degrees, the worst being a bow wielder having one of his arms turn limp and being forced to draw a dagger. The rest managed to shrug off the damage with their superhuman bodies. "We need to retreat and heal, now!" Irie cast a stone spear spell andunched it at a stone-tailed fox, which managed to intercept and knock it out of the air with a vicious flick of its long tail. "No, we will kill all these monsters now and set up a defensive perimeter to heal. We can''t show them our back," Kalvin, with his experience as an adventurer, immediately refuted and gave a different order. "We cannot win, retreat, immediately!" The party ended up listening to Kalvin, but their losses were severe. Kalvin was the strongest at the Second Step, his arrows deadly and skills even more so. He shot many arrows off with rapid shot, prating shot, even higher level explosive burst arrows, but the living golem was relentless. It blocked the powerful archers ability to target the other monsters with its body, and while the arrows did a lot of damage, it still lived and Styx forced it to keep being a meat shield. Its limbs would have been blown off immediately should it not be for the extra thick armor it had along with Elena striking from the side and a noble sacrifice by a forest assassin. The healer of the raid party had his mana drain at a fast rate as he cast healing spells and defensive shields over the front line warriors as quickly as he could, but the stone-tail foxes overpowered them nheless. The first to die was a shieldbearer who struck back one of the forest goblins trying to do a surprise attack when the fox''s tail wrapped around him and constricted in a death grip. "Arrghhhhh!!!!" The man screamed in pain with whatever air was left in his lungs as bones were crushed and right before the thousands of stone needles broke through the resistance of his body and pierced through every inch of his skin. [ Lorem (Novice Shieldbearer ) in by Stone-Tailed Fox! + 41 exp ] The tail gave another bone crunching constriction as the now dead body was twisted and torn beyond any recognition, all the blood in the adventurer''s body being squeezed out by the now dark crimson tail and pouring onto the floor like rain. The next adventurer was the female Pdin Initiate who had demanded a high price during recruitment, but had party buff skills that made the investment worth it. She hardly got to show her value before a flying dagger from Elena hit the slit in her armor behind the knee and caused her to stumble. A stone-tailed fox then knocked her over and pinned her to the ground. It immediately used its sharp fang to bite through armor and into her neck before ripping her entire head off in one swift motion and immediately cutting her scream off. [ Ultina (Pdin Initiate ) in by Stone-Tailed Fox! + 65 exp ] Therina and Elena then killed one adventurer each. Elena pierced a distracted sword wielder with an arrow through his neck, while Therina appeared before the earlier injured bow wielder like a ghost and thrust her sword through his eye and out the back of his skull with a single, deadly movement. [ Ovarine (Apprentice Swordsman ) in by Dark Elf! + 40 exp n (Novice Ranger ) in by Elf! + 29 exp ] The beastman was barely surviving off instinct and the sheer tenacity of his body alone, but his fur was already matted with blood and it was only a matter of time. "Retreat, now!!" Irie shouted in desperation, this time nobody in the party going against her order. Kalvin was bleeding from a cut on his neck which had nearly been deadly, and whilst it was against his better judgement, he didn''t refute the order this time. He used his bow to cover the front line while everyone began retreating as fast as was allowed. They shortly broke away from the monsters and ran back toward the entrance at full speed. Irie was at the back of the party now due to her weaker body and inadvertently lower running speed as a mage, and a low level one at that. Kalvin stuck back with her to protect her as best he could, but if it came down to his own life or death, he was prepared to choose his life over saving the young mage mistress whom he fancied. At this moment, a loud buzzing filled the tunnel as a giant swarm of bees appeared from a side passage and chased after the adventurers. "Devil bee swarm!!" Kalvin called out in shock and fear. Everybody in the party felt their hearts leap out of their chest in pure fear. Even Irie had a moment of panic, and had it not been for Styx constantly consoling her in her mind, she felt even she would have had a mental breakdown at this point. Blood crystal bees were one of the bee types known as devil bees, and were greatly feared by all adventurers and monsters alike. They were a swarm type monster, which were a hundred times more deadly than any other monster. Any adventurer would prefer to face a pack of Second Step bloodwind wolves, rather than a swarm of bees. Following what the dungeon was telling her to do. Irie tapped her staff on the ground while running, secretly casting a spell. Nobody noticed this small movement and they couldn''t see mana directly either, although the beastman''s ears and nose did twitch slightly in response, indicating that he sensed something at least. The spell activated and caused a small pothole to form just below where Kalvin''s foot was tond. The Hunter couldn''t do a thing as he stepped in the hole and tripped forward. Irie kept running briefly before turning and crying out in apparent shock and pain. "KALVIN!!" She cried, but turned and continued running as if recognizing there was nothing she could do to save him. This was true, but even if she could have, she wouldn''t have done so as this was the dungeon''s sinister n to take down the Second Step ranker. Kalvin just lied their in shock and disbelief, staring in confusion toward the woman who looked at him with a cold gaze. ''What, did I ever do to you? I always treated you as well as I could,'' He barely had time to think to himself and thousands of finger sized bees swarmed onto him, their stingers piercing straight through steel, leather and flesh without discrimination. His body was instantly turned into a bloody pincushion as it was attacked by an obscene amount of poison while also having his blood sucked dry. His death came so quickly he never felt fear, just confused, as his soul felt like it was sucked out of his body along with his blood. [ Kalvin (Hunter ) in by Blood Crystal Bee! + 455 exp ] Chapter 40: Post Reflection and Plots Chapter 40: Post Reflection and Plots The raid party fled from the entrance of the dungeon with their hearts still in their throats, not daring to look back for fear of seeing their death chasing after them. They finally reached the abandoned ruins of a nearby destroyed vige, elven by appearance, and hid in one of the more intact houses. "W-what the fuck were those monsters!?" One of the surviving members seemed to have a mental breakdown. They had all signed up for treasure, and even expected deaths, hoping they would eventually win with numbers and that those who died wouldn''t be them. Should they have seeded, their reward would have been unimaginable, enough to livevishly for the next decade. However, the dungeon monsters were nothing like what they had been briefed on and had instantly demolished the parties frontline defense, the remaining members not far off from death too. Not even Kalvin, the Second Step ranker, could protect them from this onught as a giant over-armored golem was cunningly used to hinder him. "Those are unique monsters thate from breeding," Irie said while pinching her brow. She waspletely unharmed, but this was due to the slymands Styx gave to the monsters to make them always target someone else, leaving her to "luckily" survive without suffering any injuries. "Wasn''t the report that most of the monsters were killedst time?" The beastman asked while bandaging up the injuries under his blood matted fur. "Yes, we believed that." "Not to mention, the monsters were also armored this time too." "That was also a surprise." "Do you think it was purposeful, so as to lure us in with the wrong information?" Irie seemed to think on it, and whilst she was inmunication with Styx, not even she understood the dungeon''s ns or its forces. "It is possible. Whoever is the dungeon lord of this dungeon seems to constantly be a step ahead of us." "Is it that elf which is in the reports and appeared in the attack? She is very skilled, n didn''t even have a chance to defend himself before he was killed." "It''s also possible, but we have no concrete evidence. There is also the unknown dark elf that appeared, but we hold no information on her either. No matter how I look at it though, the dungeon appears to be as far from elvish design as I can think." The beastman nodded in agreement at this and shuddered momentarily before stating, "We all saw those designs on the walls. Could the dungeon lord be a demon? I know our kingdom is at war with them, and they must have sent spies deeper into human territory." "I don''t know," Irie shook her head in ignorance. "They would most likely just bribe humans, it is far more effective, but I will add it on the report." The healer who was sitting off to the side in an eerie silence finally raised his head and spoke sorrowfully, "What about us? Surely we should be getting some bonuspensation, right?" All the other remaining raid members hastily agreed with him and joined in the seeking of better benefits, the pressure of which solely fell onto Irie''s shoulders now that Kalvin was gone. Even though it was againstpany policy as this is what they originally agreed to and were paid a base enlistment fee, she had her own agenda and naturally wanted them happy. "Please don''t worry, I understand how you are all feeling and will do my best to ensure everyone is fairlypensated. I may even be able to give you good paying jobster too, but I will need everyone on my side, though." The adventurers lived and died for gold, and at the scent of money, they rapidly agreed to whatever she wanted and aligned themselves to support her opinions. She could have told them that there was zero evidence that there was a demon controlling the dungeon, and they would all instantly nod in agreement by this point. Later that night, when everyone was resting after the healer had tended to all their wounds with magic, the racoon beastman approached and sat beside Irie and spoke with her in a voice the others wouldn''t be able to hear. "Excuse me Miss Irie, the thing is, I have some concerns." "What''s the matter?" She asked back equally quietly. He pinched and stroked his whiskers nervously as if unsure how to express a difficult question. "Kalvin was a Second Step ranker, a Hunter specializing in dexterity and ability to move around quickly nheless. He wouldn''t simply trip for no reason. At the same time, I sensed some actions that were done in secret." Irie instantly understood what he was getting at. The beastman was hinting that he knew that she had a hand in leading to Kalvin''s death which was far less idental than it seemed. As for why he was bringing up this knowledge in secret with her, she also understood immediately. He acted concerned over the act but was instead aiming to use this knowledge to secure better benefits for himself. To put it simply, it was ckmail. "It is sad that he fell in the dungeon, but he made several poor decisions and someone needs to take responsibility for today''s failure. Whilst he won''t be able to take that responsibility personally, his actions led to theplete failure of our raid when we could have retreated earlier and not confronted the monsters head on." "" "Of course, while this is a sad matter, it does free up some of thepany''s resources so we could take on some fresh employees. Those who can take care of thepany''s matters and grow in a safer environment." "Miss Irie, perhaps I would be able to fulfil that role." "Competing for resources is hard, after all. Who wouldn''t want that role. You are a beastman, and have many natural advantages over humans that are highly valuable. I also think you could fulfil that role, but I believe we need to be at an understanding." "Of course." The racoon beastman quickly bobbed his head in agreement. Whilst he was naturally stronger than Irie, she was the most valuable member of the party and held far more authority than him. He hinted his agreement to be supportive of her and in turn she hinted that she will provide him benefits of rare resources. ~~~~~ The human dungeon raid party were entirely unaware, as was Styx, of a certain female beastkin lurking outside the dungeon. In the treetops above the ruined elven vige, the strange beastkin sat in pure silence while looking down toward the half ruined house where the remaining 6 members of the raid party were camping and hiding for the night to rest and recover. She was 5''9" with long milky white legs and thick thighs. She had full, f-cup breasts which defied gravity even without a bra with their firmness alone, and a supple yet not toorge pair of hips. Her messy hair seemed to be a color darker than ck, as if sucking in light itself, which curled and twisted as it extended down her back and below her waist. Two oversized, pitch ck scruffy wolf ears extended from the top of her head, one with several brass earring loops through it. Her face was the personification of beauty itself, with an angled chin and slender nose. The only w was her eyes which were the same light absorbing ck as her hair but held a lifeless, or emotionless, quality to them. The greatest blemish to her beauty was the old, tattered robe she wore. It was so worn out the dye of the cloth itself had begun to fade to white while loose threads were all over it. There were even a couple small tears in which her wless milky white skin could be seen through. She sat as still as a statue on a branch of the tree save for the asional twitch of an ear as she focused on the conversation the adventurer party were having. She showed no desires toward the humans and beastman. If anything, she seemed to be present out of sheer boredom itself, with nothing better to do. The interactions between the people did seem to stave off that boredom though as she was very content just listening to their interactions. Another portion of her attention was on the entrance to the dungeon, which she was equally curious about. What seemed more important to her in the present though, was the small plots the humans yed out among themselves, their actions based upon lust or greed desires which she hadn''t felt herself for a very long time. Chapter 41: Dungeon Lord Chapter 41: Dungeon Lord Styx had previously talked with Irie about the public information of dungeons, due to questions he held toward himself and why he could stockpile experience points rather than living creatures which would automatically undergo the level up process as soon as the threshold was met. He had a deep understanding of the Max Level concept as he could physically inspect someone''s manawork. It was possibly to level up in rapid session very easily, but this led to no potential being gained in between, and a practically zero expansion of that individual''s manawork and resulted in hitting Max Level at anywhere between and , almost forever unable to be a Second Step ranker. However, there had never been a dungeon which had been recorded as hitting Max Level nor having a ss Up system. Not to mention, dungeons grew physically with each level up which also seemed to have no rtion with potential built up between levels. Styx observed his own dungeon core, which was his main body, currently still hiding in a pitfall trap he had ingeniously installed on the ceiling in the center of the dungeon. It had grown from the original 70cm in height to 115cm, increasing by 5cm each level respectively. Despite this, there were still benefits to building up potential between levels. The higher level he reached, the longer it would take to level up each time as the experience points required scaled exponentially. This meant that using as much potential to level up his skills at earlier levels would increase his overall abilities atter levels, even if only by a tiny bit each level. When a lifeform levelled up, their mana and potential in the manawork would burst out into the body and infuse itself in every cell, slowly evolving them to the theoretical point where they were essentially the embodiment of mana itself. Styx, and other dungeon cores, were already natural conduits for mana, so this wasn''t a factor of their leveling system. Styx was currently , and with therge influx of experience from the death of six adventurers, one being a Second Step ranker as well, he reached the required amount of experience. ''Should I, or shouldn''t I,'' He contemted to himself as he mentally picked flower petals, trying to decide whether to level up now, or wait. Eventually, he felt like was a significant number, and resolutely hit the marker to trigger his level up procedure. [ 3,648 exp used to level up. Lv. 9 -> Lv. 10 umted skill experience bonus: Mana Control -> Dungeon Control -> Mining -> + New Title: Dungeon Lord ] [ Species: Dungeon Core (Dungeon Master: None) Name: Styx Mana: 1,320/1,320 Exp: 249 Level: 10 Abilities: Dungeon Creation Mana Control Mana Infusion Mana Vein Creation Dungeon Control Dungeon Facility Construction Biomass Converter 100 mana Breeder 50 mana, 20 biomass Storage Crate 10+ mana, 10 physical material st Furnace 100 mana, 20 stone Storage Tank 20+ mana, 20 physical material Rotary Mana Engine 40 mana, 10 stone, 1 iron Material Refiner 150 mana, 10 stone, 2 iron, 1 emerald, 1 ruby, 1 amethyst Alchemy Table 200 mana, 5 stone, 10 iron, 1 ruby, 10 quartz Basic Dungeon Construction Scan 10 mana/m3 Blueprint Creation 37 blueprints Blueprint Manufacturing 37 blueprints Mental Projection 1 mana/min Trap Construction Bait 5 mana, 5 biomass Spike Trap 20 mana, 10 stone Pitfall Trap 10 mana, none Arrow Trap 20 mana, 10 stone (5 on reload) Weak Poison Gas 50 mana, 1 stone, 1 biomass (expendable) Chaotic Space Trap 200+ mana Crushing Wall Trap 30 mana, 20 stone, 2 iron Internal Resource Storage (49,977/102,400) Physical Material Stone (30,000), Dirt (10,000), Biomass (785), Ardonite (1,200), Manasteel (37.045), Wolfbone Steel (11.988), Wood (114) Liquid Material Water (7,829) Mining Basic Material Identification Mineral Detection Auto-mine Overdrive Avatar Creation Resources: Biomass 1,401 Stone 1.2m Ardonite 265,994 Oltrite 2,875 ck Sand 256 Dirt 220,009 y 96,335 Celendine y 134 Wood 187 Water 9,700 Iron 34,102 Copper 2,048 Tin 979 Gold 0.042 Steel 7,821 Manasteel 224 Wolfbone Steel 52.006 Monsters: 21x Miners ( x1, x8, x12) 6x Shroom Gnomes ( x3, x1, x2) 8x Dirt Gnomes ( x3, x5) 6x Forest Goblins ( x6) 5x Stonerats ( x2, x3) 12x Forest Assassins ( x4, x8) 6x Midnight Guards ( x6) 6x Treant Spirits ( x3, x3) 4x Stone-Tailed Foxes ( x1, x3) Inhabitants: 1x Blood Crystal Bee Queen 150x Blood Crystal Bee Royal Guard 4,766x Blood Crystal Bee Worker/Warrior Titles: Level Suppressor, Lusty Dungeon, Dungeon Lord ] [ Dungeon Lord: A dungeon which has developed its own individuality and has survived under it own rule without being conquered. It is a manifestation of itself which so long as its avatar is alive, cannot have the dungeon core be conquered. Effects: + 10% Stored potential + 20% Mana + New Skill: Avatar Creation Avatar Creation: A physical clone of the dungeon, shares all of the dungeon''s skills and senses. It consumes an enormous amount of mana to create, so the skill will store mana in a separate space to recreate the avatar in the event of death. Recreation of the avatar will take 7 days of time. Avatar cannot leave the spere of the dungeon''s influence. One free avatar will be awarded upon earning the skill. ] ~~~~~ "What!??" Styx''s shouted in shock, even unintentionally sending his shocked voices into the minds of the elven women and one unsuspecting human who woke up in a moment of fright. "What is the matter?" Therina asked to the dungeon whilst in the middle of training with Elena, ir and Kale, Rhea and Theo off training to the side also perking up their ears. Styx was slightly embarrassed, but he felt this avatar of his rapidly being coalesced out of a sudden, enormous influx of mana. There was an issue with this. His core was currently in a small hidden cavity in the ceiling above one of the bridges, where there was a 10 meter distance between the ceiling and bridge. His core could float, but the body couldn''t. It was also very weak as the skill was currently only , so such a fall would be crippling. Not wanting to cripple this new avatar, he called out to the elven girls and told them to hurry over to where his core was located. Theo naturally was told to remain in the training grounds, where he focused on his own training while absentminded. None of the girls knew where the dungeon core was hidden as Styx had kept it a secret the entire time, so they had to follow his instructions on where to go. They arrived at the location which didn''t seem any different from other parts of the dungeon, both excited and nervous. Styx naturally trusted the elven women, it was kept a secret out of his own paranoia ever since he manifested, but now, he couldn''t be conquered so long as his avatar existed. "Be prepared, I need you to catch my new avatar when it drops from the ceiling." "Avatar?" Elena quizzically asked while tilting her head in thought. "Yes, a physical manifestation of myself, the result of a new title. The monsters are too stupid or not dextrous enough for this, now get ready." Styx''s avatar finally manifested in its entirety and his senses were immediately connected with it, like a set of senses which he had just remembered he had. Inside the small cavity was the new Avatar Styx along with a softly glowing 1.2m prismic, blue dungeon core. It was an extremely strange sensation, to have the senses of a body while also still being omnipresent in the dungeon, as if he was looking at the same thing from two different perspectives at the same time. "How strange, looking at myself." Styx said while rubbing his hand over the cold, crystal surface of his core. The trapdoor on the dungeon ceiling was never designs to handle heavy loads from the inside of the door, so the hinges rapidly cracked and broke under the weight of his new avatar''s body. Styx''s eyes widened in surprise as he was struck by a sense of weightlessness, the memory of such locked away in long distant memories of his previous life. He fell from the ceiling among a now broken stone trap door towards where one elf and four dark elves were waiting. They all easily avoided the broken debris while ir and Kale acted in unison to rescue his falling body. Not long after it, the dungeon core floated down from the hole in the ceiling under Styx''s control. It moved much faster due to higher Mana Control skill level, but it was still rtively slow and would never be able to run away from someone chasing it. "So beautiful," Therina said amorously as she ignored Styx''s new avatar and immediately jumped on the crystalline core. She rubbed her hands all over it before hugging it and nearly causing it to fall to the floor. ''There is definitely a screw loose in her head,'' Elena thought to herself with yet another mental sigh and starting to feel like she was the only sane person in the dungeon. Elena then eyed up Styx''s avatar, which took a simr appearance to his body in his previous life. He was tall, about 6''4", with broad shoulders and a muscr body. He had long, pure straight ck hair and deep set eyes. The body appeared powerful by any measurement, but it was currently been felt up all over by the dark elf twins who were still carrying him. Rhea covered her eyes at the back of the group in embarrassment while all three of the other dark elves were also a bit shy. As a newly created avatar, Styx waspletely naked, arge appendage between his legs which was appeared to be of a remarkably familiar shape to everyone except Rhea. Given the right amount of blood flow, even the size would be a seemingly perfect match too. "Enough!" Styx stated and pushed himself out of the hands of the twins. Kale giggled slightly while ir awkwardly coughed, unsure what to say next. They truly were admiring his new body, as even by elvish standards it was rather handsome. As for whether this opinion was influenced by their connection was still a mystery though. Styx turned around and built arge stone throne in the middle of the passage before sitting on it, shifting himself several times as he found the stone seat to be quite ufortable. "Ahem, would you like me to get you some clothes?" The conservative Rhea nervously asked while looking to the side, at which Elena also nodded her head in agreement. "Very well," Styx waved his hand nonchntly, uncaring whether he was clothed or not. "Therina, stop admiring me and go get some clothes for me, your tailoring skills will be required." Rhea was about to leave but awkwardly stopped and remained after hearing him suddenly delegating the task to someone else. As if just noticing the avatar from the first time, she almost jumped back in surprise before rapidly getting closer and also touching his body. "It works I guess, but why are you human?" She asked in clear displeasure. "What are you talking about? I''m a dungeon." "But" "Clothes, now." Therina nodded her head and quickly left to collect several articles of clothing she had stored from her vige for their fabric, along with her tailoring tools. "This is quite the surprise," Elena stated, waiting for what Styx would say next. "Indeed, I also was not expecting it, hence I was caught off guard." "But I''ve never heard of a dungeon having an avatar before, not that it hasn''t happened I''m sure." "You can consider it me being special then." Kale looked between the dungeon core and Styx''s avatar repeatedly before talking to the avatar Styx in her usual bubbly voice. "Tell us, tell us, how did you make an avatar?" Styx squinted his eyes in seriousness and hinted for her toe closer with a curl of the finger. Kale happily obliged and went over to him where he pulled her down to sit in hisp. "It is a skill given by a new title I earned." He slipped his hand under the hem of her tunic and ran it up her stomach, sending mana tendrils into her manawork from his fingers as he did so, causing her to lean on him and hum in pleasure from the sensation. "What is the title?" "It''s called ''Dungeon Lord''." He cupped his hand around one of her breasts, fondling, squeezing and pinching her nipples as he explored the abilities that hands gave him. Kale was still in public with the other elf women present, not just her twin sister, so she held some shame and nervously tried to hide the action from the others by wrapping her arms around Styx. Rhea was also a bit too nervous, so Styx waved his hand and dismissed her back to her training. "I''ve heard of that title," Therina stated as she just returned with a handful of clothes along with needles, thread and a few other small tools. "But it certainly doesn''t give the person the ability to manifest and avatar." Seeing the elf confused, Styx boisterouslyughed before he exined. "I thought of that at first too, and I should know if all the nobility who were dungeon lords had avatars. I quickly understood it though. It isn''t a ''dungeon lord'', it is literally a ''Dungeon'' lord." Chapter 42: Testing The Body With Another Body Chapter 42: Testing The Body With Another Body Styx was finally clothed after a lengthy period of back and forth in which he rejected the original piece of clothing for one reason or another. Therina seemed to have infinite patience when it came to Styx, which Elena marvelled at, and would revise the clothing time and time again until it was to his preferences. After the destruction of many articles of clothing in the process, and only a fewints about the materials, he finally ended up with a somewhat loose cotton shirt with a deep neckline and trousers which tied at the waist with a piece of string. "I need to teach you what stic is," Styx grumbled while pulling at the clothing. "Are you always this ufortable." "I''m not ufortable at all," Therina immediately responded with a smile. Styx wasn''t offended at all and merely proceeded to test all the motor functions of the body with a wide range of stretches and poses, flowing from one to the next with an odd sense of uniformity in the whole set. "Good, it seems like everything is in perfect condition." "What will be next?" Elena asked out of curiosity. "I have only tested the body''s motor functions while there are still a lot of things to test and document." Therina was busy staring back at the dungeon core and yelped in surprise when Styx wrapped one hand around her slender waist and pulled her into himself. She didn''t resist and went along with his whims as he also cupped her cheek with one hand and nted his lips over hers. The elf was used to and even enjoyed breeding, but held no prior experience with kissing, so she was not particrly skilled at it. She reciprocated by trying to kiss back, but the two were slightly out of sync with one another. Styx noticed that her gaze kept straying back to the dungeon core and stated, "I''m beautiful, aren''t I?" Therina hummed her approval as her lips were quickly sealed. Styx reached out with his tongue and pried open the elf''s slender, yet supple lips, briefly touching her teeth before entering the deeper recesses of her mouth Her tongue rose to meet with his, their tips teasing each other at first, before each pressed back with more and more force. Styx was at a disadvantage as Therina was much stronger than him, so her tongue forced his back in his mouth while her moist tongue invaded his mouth. She had finally closed her eyes and entrusted the weight of her body onto him as she lost herself in the pleasure of what such an intimate kiss brought. His fingers ran through her hair as he passionately fought back against her tongue, a battle he was already determined to lose. Rhea had left, but Elena, ir and Kale were still present. They watched the two interacting with conflicting emotions, both feeling awkward at not knowing what to do or say, while also a hint of eagerness as they wondered if they were next. Their worries and hopes were equally dashed when Styx broke off from the lengthy kiss to address them, the taste of Therina''s tongue still in his mouth and a raging libido which came with the body. "You three go back to training, you can help test the bodyter. For now, I just need Therina." "Understood." "We two sisters want to try having a ride tooter~" "Kale!" They each quickly replied one after another before heading back to the training area while talking andughing among one another, until Kale brought up the possibility of breeding with the new avatar body and their chatter turned into whispers with embarrassed expressions. Styx on the other hand picked up Therina and carried her to her residence with a very distinct bulge in his new pants. In her room, he aided Therina in removing all her clothes while he also discarded his own. "Are you sure you''re not human?" Therina asked one final time as their naked bodies were pressed up against one another, her modest breastspressed against his chest. "I''m a dungeon." Therina nodded as if convincing herself of something and responded with, "I understand." Styx then resumed their kiss, his tongue immediately invading her mouth. One hand reached down between her legs, which she obediently parted sensing what he wanted. She lifted one of her legs and wrapped it around his waist and a feat of flexibility as his fingers quickly slid along her already moist slit. He stroked up and down the valley, quickly finding the small knub that was her clitoris. With two fingers, he rubbed, pinched, and rubbed it between his fingers as both he and Therina discovered an entire new range of sensations. From his fingers and hands, mana tendrils extended into her like sparks of electricity, giving localised sensations of enormous pleasure and intimacy. Styx rubbed down her vagina until he met her tight entrance with his fingers. He pressed the middle two digits against the wet hole, forcing them to slide inside under a crushing pressure. Therina also eagerly pushed her body weight against his hand, forcing them even deeper inside of her. "Nngghhoooah!!" Therina loudly moaned and her entire body quivered in a minor orgasm. He had never extended his mana tendrils into one of the girls from inside of their vagina after all, and it apparently caused an immediate effect as the pleasure they felt was astronomically more than they normally would. This held some issues for Styx though as their bodies didn''t match up. Therina''s mini orgasm caused her vagina to contract around his fingers so tightly they felt like they may break at any moment. She also grabbed him with her legs and arms in a crushing grip that made it impossible for him to breath and caused his bones to creak. Unperturbed, he extracted his slick fingers and lifted her up against the wall, the cold stone causing her to suck in a cold breath of air and bit his lip. Styx held her by her ass, her other leg wrapping around his waist as his hand naturally spreading her cheeks. Styx lowered her ever so slightly so the head of his member pressed against the moist entrance of her vagina. Therina had an excellent control over her body, which also included her vagina. She sat atop his engorged rod and rxed her muscles to allow him to prate her, her body weight caused her to slowly slide down the pole and envelop it in its entirety. Styx and Therina both moaned as his rod pressing tightly up against the entrance to her womb, as if threatening to pierce into it. The entire menacing size of the phallus was engorged in her vagina which throbbingly contracted around the base of his shaft. He begun lowering his hips before mming it up again in a slow and fast rhythm. The inner pressure in her vagina increased as she grew closer to a climax, causing him to even feel a mix of pleasure and pain as he fought against the ever enclosing walls of her cervix. Styx quickly reached his climax, giving one final, deep thrust before ejacting an egregious amount of sperm, which was still dungeon seed, into her womb. "Nmmpphhhh!!... Haaghhhhh!" Therina climaxed as her vagina gave an involuntary, incredible vice like grip on his penis as it tried to suction out any seed still within. Styx winced and groaned in pain from her climax crushing his rod while she also bit into his shoulder. She tightened her grip and pressed her body against his, seeming to be trying to meld their bodies into one while also forcing his penis deeper inside her as her vaginal lips forcefully spread wider as they pressed down harder. [ Insemination begun. Please select seed to imnt: 3x Miners Burden (1) 1h incubation 2x Shroom Gnome Burden (1) 1h incubation 1x Forest Goblin Burden (2) 2h incubation 1x Stonerat Burden (3) 2h incubation 2x Forest Goblin Burden (3) 3h incubation 1x Forest Assassin Burden (4) 4h incubation 2x Forest Assassin Burden (6) 6h incubation 1x Treant Spirit Burden (6) 5h incubation 1x Carnivorous Vine Burden (9) 12h incubation 1x Harpy Burden (11) 24h incubation 1x Leaf Devil Burden (13) 24h Incubation ] "We hadn''t gone over it yet, but did you level up in thest battle?" Styx asked almost casually, but his avatar was still panting in exhaustion. "I see there is a new breeding option." "Mmhmm," Therina moaned in agreement while sucking and licking where she bit his shoulder, apparently breaking his skin and drawing some blood. ''Is this the behaviour of an elf? I should have realized from my tentacles, but she''s a biter!'' Styx inwardly thought to himself, revelling in the new sensation of pain that wasing from his shoulder. She had levelled up in thest battle, meaning she was now and could safely harbor a burden value up to 9. This changed depending on circumstances however, and he suspected she could safely give birth to even the new leaf devil, but he wasn''t willing to risk her health and future birthing ability on it. "Well, I also noticed from your manawork, but memories of my past life tell me that it is best to ask anyway." "Will you tell me more about your past life? You''ve mentioned a few things from time to time, but never more than that," She amorously asked while showering him with kisses that she had found a new joy in. "Later, for now, you need to grow the next monster." Therina giggled in response, "I understand~" [ 1x Carnivorous Vine selected Incubation 12:05:30 ] "Good, you have 12 hours, and we have more test to run on this body." Therina ignored the incubation time period as if it were unimportant and focused on him mentioning that they had more tests to run. With his rapidly turningid member inside of her, her imagination began rapidly shot off in tangents on what those "tests" were. As if seeing through her thoughts, Styx snorted and stated, "We still need to perform abat test, test its usability in manufacturing processes, and I want to use it to check the food we are growing, which ir, Elena and Rhea areining have too much magic inside of them for consumption." "Ah of course, of course we do." Styx''s now fullyid penis slide out of Therina, which seemed to have been the stop gate on a dam and caused a copious amount of seed to rain out of her now red around the edges vagina. Therina was ced on her own feet and she quickly tensed her abdominal muscles, forcing her vagina closed and trapping whatever seed was left within her. "Ah," Styx said as he looked at his penis which was covered in his and her fluids. "I need a rag to clean this up." Seeing him reaching toward the new clothes she made for him, Therina immediately grabbed him from behind in a panic. "Those aren''t rags! I''ll get you a rag!" Chapter 43: Curiosity Chapter 43: Curiosity After a brief rest as they cleaned themselves up, Therina followed Styx to the training grounds. There was a joyous hop in her step as she hummed to herself, tenderly rubbing her stomach through her shirt periodically. The other girls were currently there, covered in sweat. Rhea and Theo were training in a special area where there were houses structured built out of stone and a lot of areas with the floor missing and wooden posts to stand on instead. Rhea held a bow with ball tipped heads so they wouldn''t cause any serious harm while Theo had one of Styx''s standard sword and two curved daggers equipment sets. The target of this training schedule Styx came up with was that one party would practice pursuit tactics to take down the target, while the target would practice escaping and defending oneself while under pursuit. They moved extremely quickly over difficult terrain, flittering across sections which they had to run atop wooden posts as naturally as solid ground. They didn''t slow down in the least, nor did Rhea show any mercy as she targeted weaker parts of his body arrows that would otherwise be fatal, such as the neck, heart, or other organs. Styx had long forced them to train like this, as the stimtion from danger provided a far greater increase in skills as well as potential. Even the sparring was done with real weapons that had blunt edges designed to prevent cutting and piercing attacks from causing fatal injuries. Of course, attacks were still controlled somewhat to avoid deliberate fatal attacks or crushing their windpipe with blunt force trauma. The girls were lucky in that Styx had trained them in controlling their own manawork, even earning the Mana-Health Conversion skill as they learned to use their mana to heal their body. This allowed them to fight harder and longer, actively recovering their bodies. Theo was unfortunate in this regard as he had to nurse his own injuries as they naturally healed, although Rhea would help tend them for him. ~~~~~ In an open area of the training field, Styx and Therina stood facing one another while ir, Kale, and a concerned Elena watched from a distance. "Are you sure about this?" Therina asked as she held a manasteel training sword in her hand. "Of course, abat test for the avatar is required." Styx held a matching manasteel training sword but had a much more menacing appearance due to hisrger, muscr body. If any onlooker were to watch this scene, they would undoubtedly assume he was bullying the elf. Therina no longer hesitated after Styx gave the final go ahead. She dashed forward with the sword poised to strike. She moved like a cheetah and was before him in the blink of an eye, her sword thrusting at the center of his chest with deadly precision. Styx had an omnipresent viewpoint throughout the entire dungeon, and every single superhuman movement of hers was captured in fine detail. His avatar had trouble seeing it all, but that viewpoint was basically just an extension of his, like a second, smaller monitor. He waved his sword to deflect the attack, but before he even got halfway, was stuck in the center of the chest with a solid, bone crunching sound. "Ngh!" Styx grunted as several bones instantly fractured and the air was forced out of his lungs. He flew back an entire meter andnded on his back under the shocked gasps of the peanut gallery, waves of agony raging through the body of his avatar. "Therina!" ir called out in objection while ring at the elf usatorily. Therina shrugged her shoulder helplessly with a trace of guilt andpassion in her eyes. "The point of the test would be redundant if I held back." "She is correct," Styx said in pain as he controlled the pseudo manawork in the avatar to heal the injuries. "Next I will attack, and you focus on defending." Styx attacked with his sword, far less skilled than Therina. The elf casually intercepted and deflected the sword while using a set of fancy footwork to avoid others. "Enough," Styx stated with clear displeasure on his face. "How were the findings?" Therina asked, putting away the training swords beforeing closer to hug and shower him in kisses. "This body is weak. While I could follow all your movements the moment you made them quite easily, the body could not keep up. There is also a difference between understanding techniques and applying them." "Mmhmm," She instinctively nodded in agreement while trying to seal his lips, disregarding the other girls. "Cut it out," Styx stated as he grabbed her face and pushed it back. "All you girls get equal shares as much as I can." Styx pulled the dark elves into his empty arm one by one, deeply kissing them. Elena had experienced it earlier so was somewhat familiar as his tongue pushed her lips apart prated deep into her mouth. ir and Kale had both never kissed a male before, as their society had a strong culture in rtionships and once a pair got together, they tended to never separate again. ir was both shy and nervous and his arm wrapped around her waist. She hurriedly pulled back her shoulder length hair on one side and let him steal her lips. She was stiff and tense at first, but soon rxed as all her worries vanished and she lost herself in the moment. Kale was much more active, forcing herself into Styx''s arm while pushing out a now displeased Therina. The bubbly dark elf wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight hug and taking the initiative to kiss him, her tongue instantly darting into his mouth and exploring as he fought it off with his own. After the brief interlude, the dark elves joined him and Therina on the final tests, which were first using the avatar in work purposes. He joined the gnomes in refining steel, iron, copper and tin. He could also use the avatar to inject his mana into the iron to create manasteel, but it was neither more nor less effective than how he originally did it. Next, Rhea and Theo were called over to join them, mainly Rhea who was his designated note taker. She held papers in one hand and a graphite pencil in another. Styx immediately created a rustic wooden clipboard in the hand of his avatar and handed it over to her, who then began taking notes and writing down everything Styx told her to. All the work with the avatar caused the skill itself to level up, and an influx of mana causing a minor increase in its overall abilities to match. Then, they went to the crop and mushroom cavern. "You were saying these couldn''t be eaten?" Styx asked Rhea while looking at all the food growing. "Some of the mushrooms can, but all the other food has too high of a mana content, it will poison the body." "Mana isn''t poison, it is actually a variation of life force. It can''t poison you." "But people who consume food with too high a mana content usually die, and painfully at that." "Spiritual fruits, especially the rare one which can expand your manawork channels, have an extremely high mana content, so that isn''t true." "" "High level rankers consume a lot more food, don''t they?" Kale responded to this one with a giggle as she jumped into his arms. "Yep~ Especially Second Step rankers, they consume looots of food." "Then the issue isn''t mana content, which your body demands more of as you be stronger. It should factor into oversaturation without the ability for your body to cope with it. Perhaps the world system itself aids in the digestion of spiritual fruits, or there is something unique with how the mana is stored within themselves." A small pot was brought over and Styx manually threshed and extracted the grains from one of the wheat stalks. He cooked the grains and gave the final product to Therina to eat while also extending his mana tendrils into her body to monitor it. "Eat." Therina didn''t hesitate and followed themand, eating one spoonful after another without fear. Styx watched the food enter her and begin digesting, which caused arge influx of lifeforce into her manawork as the food''s mana content was broken down during the absorption process. It overflowed out of it and into her body, although her reinforced manawork passively trapped a lot of it and she would have to manually control herself to expunge the excess. "Why would lifeforce kill people," Styx said quizzically to himself, not expecting anyone to answer. What he did notice was that it did not nurture the manawork in any way, which was something spiritual fruits did. This was likely rted with how the mana was stored and the nt''s individual manawork. With further samples and research, he believed he could even make the wheat have a simr effect in the future. He also had Therina eat some steamed mushrooms, which had a lower mana content inside of them. He soon reached a conclusion on what causes the "mana poisoning" that Rhea described and worried over. "It isn''t mana entering the body, but a more primal lifeforce which the mana content in food is broken down to. More is absorbed than your body can naturally expunge under a regr diet if the mana content is too high, which will cause oversaturation in the cells. They will them rupture indeed, a painful way to die." "So, it can''t be eaten?" Rhea asked in response. "Of course it can, you just can''t eat food with more mana content than what your body can handle, simr to the Burden factor in breeding monsters. In fact, oversaturating your body could actually reduce the Burden impact." "Your body evolves and strengthens every time you level up, bing more adept at handling mana. I can also control your manawork to help cleanse your body if you over saturate, which I will help teach you all to do as well." The most awkward one here was now Theo, who Styx refused to ''enter'' and was essentially left to fend for himself. He also had worries about it now as he knew that failsafe didn''t apply to him, and to this day, couldn''t even feel his manawork. "What does this mean for me?" Theo timidly asked, somewhat afraid of the answer. Styx nonchntly waved his arm as if it was of no matter and answered, "No matter, I will design a grading system for associating mana content in ingredients and food. The mana naturally lessens when it is cooked and can vary, so testing methods need to exist. Rhea, add treatment method research to the list of important things." Theo''s worries were mostly alleviated before they moved onto the next test. Styx had Therina capture a direwolf and bring it over to him. He took her sword from her and quickly, albeit unskilfully, killed it. [ Direwolf killed! + 61 exp ] "Tch," He clicked his tongue as the experience was added directly to his dungeon experience, and not some personal addition to the avatar itself. "So the strength is entirely dependant on the skill level." "What next?" Therina casually asked while kissing his cheek, causing his displeasure to immediately vanish into happiness. "The final test The skill said the avatar can''t leave the dungeon, but the piece of me that''s inside of you can leave. I want to know what is stopping me from leaving, and why." The group then walked to the entrance of the dungeon, Styx''s avatar standing on the threshold of what constituted his dungeon and what was the outside world. He waved his arms forward and felt no barrier or other resistive force in ce. Actually, there was nothing to stop him from stepping outside at all. No warning. No inner feeling of being unable to go outside. For all intents and purposes, he felt like he could simply step outside. And so, he did just that. [ Avatar has perished. Cause of death: Severed ] [ Time until new avatar is created: 164:22:01 ] "Argh!!" Styx cried out in pain into everyone''s head as his avatar dropped to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. "Styx!" "Styx!" "Husband!" "Darling!" Elena and ir called out his name in while Rhea and Theo raised their brows in abject shock. Thetter two voices was by Therina and Kale, whom were struck by a sudden bout of fear strong enough to cause them to call out to him in how they generally referred to him in their head. Seeing they blurted it out, both blush slightly, but everyone was focused on his body. Therina was the first to reach his body and was about to pick him up and bring him back into the dungeon when she froze, along with everyone else. A cold sweat rapidly beaded on her forehead as she was struck by a primal, instinctive terror. A woman in a worn out robe stood in front of the body where there had previously been no one. She appeared there in a manner which nobody could understand. A moment ago, she wasn''t there, then she was. There was no sound to her movement, nor was the wind stirred up. She had hair darker than the night sky, a pair of simr colored oversized wolf ears grew from the top of her head. Her ears twitched slightly as her pair of lifeless, or perhaps bored, eyes gazed at the elves and current lifeless body on the ground. Therina tried to reach for the dagger on the back of her waist but her body refused to listen to themands in her mind. It screamed at her to curl up on the ground in crippling fear, a feeling Theo, Elena and ir were halfway into falling victim of. They knew the woman was strong. So strong in fact that any resistance would be useless. "What are you doing?" Styx''s voice entered all of their minds apart from Theo. "Hurry up and bring my avatar back into the dungeon. Hmm? Who''s the woman? A new minion? Bring her back too." Styx couldn''t feel the oppressive pressure the woman naturally emitted because she was currently outside of the dungeon. Not just that, but Irie was in a private location and also currently on a tirade ofints towards him for his voice constantly interrupting her with random, out of context things due to hisck of care in controlling who can hear him. Styx''s voice seemed to alleviate the oppression for the girls, as they rapidly collected their bearings. Therina grabbed the avatar and rapidly retreated. The wolf-eared woman''s ears seemed to twitch, and she slightly cocked her head when Styx talked to the elves, as if detecting something and trying to focus on it. She merely watched the elves retreat back into the dungeon, distancing themselves from her. Therina then looked at the woman, more resolute than before, and stated to her. "You have been asked toe inside." Chapter 44: Are Wolves Friendly or Not? Chapter 44: Are Wolves Friendly or Not? Back at the Silver Wheel Investment Company, Irie was sitting in a meeting with several of the higher ups in thepany who were in charge of general matters of the branch in this dungeon city. Of the general managers, there were three women and two men, each nearly twice Irie''s age. She wouldn''t have even been able to sit in on this meeting unless Styx directed her in doing reconnaissance on one of the managers and getting ckmail material on them. While her actions were technically illegal and could be reported to the localw enforcers, her demands were harsh but not career ending for the manager. Not to mention, the punishment for such a vition was rtively light, while if the evidence of him attending an illegal brothel to have rtions with girls who had yet to reach adulthood. Styx was surprised to find out the age in this world wasn''t just low, but also varied. All humans and other exotic species were not born at , but were instead born at . They remained at this level throughout their growth period, and couldn''t gain experience nor skills. It was how they trained, their experiences, and lifestyle during this period which determined their initial ss. All species developed at roughly the same speed, even those with longer lifespans due to longevity. Everyone was determined to be an adult in thew as soon as they became , which could vary anywhere between when they were 14 years old all the way to 17 and was determined by the individuals body. There were specialised schools and training regimes directly target at people who were still ssified as children. They would help them achieve certain initial sses, holding a sess ratio above 90 percent. As unfortunate as it was, the exploitation of underage boys and girls continued to exist as long as there were men and women with illicit sexual desires. Thew allowed leeway for instances such as both partners were 16, or simr in age, whilst one was technically still a child, but it was as rigid as iron outside of that. For the manager of thepany to be having sexual rtions with a girl who was still ssified as a child, not only was it heavily frowned upon by general society, but an extremely long prison sentence is the smallest punishment he would face if it were revealed. Said manager was currently the Irie''s backer and forced to aid her in climbing the ranks in thepany. "Miss Naeckle," One of the manager''s addressed Irie by her formal surname with a stern expression. "Be aware that you are currently here on privilege, and that your failure in the dungeon is a blemish on your record." "Mr. Adar, that failure was created by Kalvin, who has unfortunately passed away in the dungeon as a direct result of that failing. Not only have I secured valuable information on the monsters existing within the dungeon, but have saved half of the adventurers and earned their favor as well." "Gold will earn any adventurer''s favor!" The general manager snorted in disdain. "Regardless, I have handled the situation. You on the other hand, have cost thepany money with more than one of your decisions. Perhaps we should go over those?" Another branch manager, an olderdy pped her hand on the table in annoyance. "Enough! We are here to discuss the future decisions of thepany, and how to proceed with the dungeon, not to bicker and attack one another!" "Agreed," Irie''s backer attached his opinion to the prior manager. "So, what are we going to do about this dungeon? What will it cost?" "I was there personally and witnessed the monsters. They are powerful, very powerful. Not to mention there is also a swarm of blood crystal bees. In order to conquer the dungeon, we would have to employ a full raid team of at least Second Step rankers." "Impossible, the core will cost us more to acquire than the damn wed thing will sell for! Nobody wants such a faulty core." "I have another solution," Irie understood thepany''s reluctance to invest more money into the issue, which she supported as Styx wanted all of thepany''s resources rather than just more experience. "Oh? What would that be?" "There are still a lot of flies hanging around, looking to get information and a piece of the pie. We will sell them that action and recoup our losses." One of the middle-aged female managers pinched her brow in thought before carefully responding, "That would also be as well as us giving up on it entirely." "It is a necessity. The projected cost is currently far outweighing the return," Irie exined as if it was a matter of fact. "Not to mention, it doesn''t entirely mean giving up." "How so?" "Indeed, please exin this n of yours. You do have a n, right? Not just some vague idea?" Ignoring the snide words that were directed at her, the youngest member present, she shuffled a pre prepared stack of paper. "I recently brought in a racoon beastman who is quite good at information gathering, which is what I have formted this around." "Manypetitors and otherpanies are aware that we are currently chasing down a dungeon to try secure the core, but they don''t know where it is. We will announce the existence of the dungeon, which is bing less and less of a secret every day, while reaching out to others to sell valuable information on the dungeon." "What information? Even we don''t have a great deal of it on the dungeon. It''s all spection." Irie snorted at the man who made that statement. "Since when is it spection? If we tell them it is fact, then fact it is. It is a dungeon which contains secrets on the magitech of demons, contains a limited amount of powerful monsters, and lots of booby traps, the mostmon being spike traps, pitfalls at the entrance, and poison gas. The dungeon core itself has three ws." Several of the managers clued on by this point and began nodding their heads in agreement. "We need them to believe there is enough incentive to pursue the dungeon core, while also not investing too much. We will make back our investment, and while they thin out the dungeon''s monsters, can also sweep in and take all the rewards." "That is all well and fine," The manager who was herrgest critique begrudgingly added, "but what is the guarantee we will profit. There is no guarantee that otherpanies will acquire the dungeon core before we can strike from behind." "So what if they do? We have already made our investment back and some, and we know how wed the dungeon core is more so than others." Another branch manager agreed with her before also bringing up an important point. "However, if we can assess the core''s value and its ws, so can they." "They would have already purchased the information by that point, and nobody who has purchased the information is going to freely give it out. At least, not as long as we manage it well." "I take it you are going to spearhead this?" Irie''s backer, the sleezy old manager, asked with a sneer. "Naturally, I have already put the word out that we are selling the information." "You step above your authority!" It was Irie''s turn to sneer back at the other managers, "And it is me who will earn money for thepany, recouping our losses so far. Try arguing that one to the board members and see whom they favor." Further heated discussion ensued but the meeting eventually, and inevitably, fell into Irie''s favor. Her n was forced to be greenlit as she had pre-emptively put it into motion and they couldn''t retract information they had already given. It had worsened several manager''s opinions of Irie, but they couldn''t do anything to her unless her actions cost thepany, which they didn''t look like they would. As Irie was leaving the meeting, she uncharacteristically yelped and dropped her paperwork before hurrying off to a private spot in the building before entering and enraged tirade with Styx over shouting in her mind at inappropriate times. ~~~~~ The moment the wolf-eared woman entered the dungeon, Styx was struck by an immediate sense of fatal danger. His conversation with Irie was cut off abruptly and all his attention focused on the new woman he had thought was a new ''minion''. Therina looked around the dungeon as she saw Styx''s mana tendrils extending out from the ceiling as his attention was increasingly focused on this area. The wolf-eared woman also seemed to be able to see mana as she stopped walking and looked up at the movements. She watched them briefly before going back to investigating the dungeon. Therina stopped and waved the dark elves to take the near catatonic Theo to his room before nervously addressing the woman in the more guttural human tongue. "Why are you here?" Just then, Styx''s voice shouted in her mind, "What the hell kind of question is that!? It''s nd, boring, and she''s dangerous. What if she was here to destroy everything? You have now essentially directed her to start?!" "Then what am I supposed to ask?!" Therinained back after being affronted. "Ask if she wants to live here. Tell her I can make her feel ahem, never mind, I got a little distracted. You just need to avoid giving her a reason to exin why she is here." Therina felt as if that attraction was a little off point, but even the first part was a big warning sign. "What do you mean if she wants to live her? She is clearly dangerous, extremely dangerous." Almost as if by queue, the wolf-eared woman who was a moment ago delicately running her hands over the carvings in the stone, had appeared directly behind Therina. "What do you mean?" She asked in perfect elvish. "Do you want me to live here?" Her voice was like a spring windchime. It held an ethereal beauty to it which made Styx instantly enamored with strange, yet dangerous, woman. "Hurry up, quickly answer her, I want to hear her talk some more." "Apologies," Therina politely addressed the woman, "Styx, the dungeon, is currently talking to me in my head, making it hard to hold two conversations. He is currently rambling, and I ask you not to be offended." "Why would I be offended?" "That is because Styx can sometimes do or say offensive things So I can only ask you to be forgiving toward him." "I object!!" The voice shouted in her mind. "I have never been offensive toward you! How could you use me as such?" "The dungeon is alive?" "Aren''t all dungeons?" "Not like that?" The wolf-eared woman sniffed Therina before looking at her stomach which was starting to swell. "You are pregnant with a monster." Therina blushed with a faint smile climbing onto her face, one hand rubbing her stomach, "I am." Either the wolf-eared woman was didn''t understand the meaning behind being pregnant with a monster, held her own set of values, or perhaps both. She merely nodded in response and moved on to investigating everything again. "Styx asked if you want to live here Do you?" The wolfgirl stopped and thought about it before nodding her head. "Okay." "Just like that?" Such a simple and direct eptance left Therina feeling at a loss of words. She was having trouble understanding the woman''s thought process, just as much as she found Styx iprehensible at times. ''Perhaps they think alike?'' she thought to herself in her mind. "Like what?" The wolfgirl asked in confusion and earning a sight of Therina facepalming. "She agreed! Haha, excellent, now she won''t be a homewrecker!" "How the hell did youe to that conclusion?!" Therina shouted as she felt her sanity start to copse. "Why would someone destroy the ce they recognize as their home? It''s very simple." Determined to find some rationality to what was happening right now, Therina turned back to the wolf-eared woman and asked, "Pardon my rudeness for asking again, but, why are you here?" "Bored." "What?" "Bored. It seemed interesting here, so I came to have a look." "And you agreed to live here so simply because" "It seemed interesting. Why else?" "Sigh, do you have a name?" "No." "Eh? What? You don''t have a name?" "No." "If you don''t have a name, what should I call you?" "The same as the others." Styx interrupted their conversation and stated, "If she doesn''t have a name, we just need to give her one!" "What do other''s call you?" "Wolf." "Let me show you to a room Wolf." Styx could still fear a deadly danger from the woman, but it was a feeling which was being overridden by his desire to possess her at a rapid pace. Chapter 45: Wolf Meets Dungeon Chapter 45: Wolf Meets Dungeon A week had passed since the wolf-eared beastkin woman known as Wolf, or whom was assumed to be a beastkin, entered the dungeon. She had nonchntly agreed to live there under Styx''s impromptu conversation cues via Therina, as if it were decided upon a whim. Since then, she would mysteriously vanish and reappear in the dungeon with no particr consistency. Whilst in the dungeon, she would either follow around Therina, watch the elves training, or simply studying the dungeon''s design. When she disappeared, not even Styx could tell how she did it despite his constant omnipresence throughout the dungeon. She seemed to have an endless curiosity toward the carvings on the walls and the ceilings in the area being expanded, often asking Therina about it. Therina naturally could only ask Styx, who then spun a hocus story about a legend from and far away which sounded like rubbish to Therina, but Wolf nodded her head along with the story and even her eyes seemed to gain some life in them. "Therina, bring Wolf over to the new area being constructed at the back of the maze," Styx spoke directly into the elf''s head. The two immediately headed over to the new room. It was wide, with a giant ornate stone bridge running down the center of the room. Along therge carved railing of the bridge, there were periodic pirs, arge ball of light constantly floating above each one and lighting up the room. At the end of the bridge there was a raised tform a dozen steps up. A giant stone throne with an excessive amount of padding to cushion the seat was situated at the end. Large tforms where flowers were still growing were attached all over the walls. Brightening up the grand hall with color and will also increase the local mana density considerable once the growth period isplete. Styx''s n was to situate his dungeon crystal in a secure cage near the ceiling, the increased mana density also increasing his mana regeneration speed. After a weeklong wait, his new avatar was finally created and sat atop the throne in a grandiose manner with one leg crossed over the other. Therina had already seen the room during construction so she was unsurprised by the design, but Wolf was deeply interested and kept turning her head to look around in curiosity. The use of manasteel,dine y, and ck sand in the design was an extravagant expense of materials for this room, and it payed off by interesting the wolfgirl greatly. "It is a pleasure to finally be speaking to you personally," Styx said in amanding and arrogant tone atop the throne. Wolf looked at him curiously and briefly nodded her head. She had previously seen him just outside the dungeon "dead", which sparked her curiosity enough to actually appear in front of the group. "We have many matters to discuss, but first, be mine!" Wolf appeared in front of the throne without warning or any signs of movement. Previously, she was with Therina, and then she was simply before Styx. The movement caused him to almost jump in fright, but the woman didn''t seem to be intending to harm him at the moment. She inspected the dungeon''s avatar with a great deal of curiosity, even sniffing him from time to time. "You are emitting a lot of hormones. Do you wish to mate with me?" "Of course!" "I refuse." She didn''t even hesitate, nor show a change of expression as she responded to his desire as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Styx was also unperturbed by this, continuing their conversation without faltering. "It does not matter, bing mine is more important." "How does one be yours?" "You simply let me inside of you." "Isn''t that mating?" Wolf tilted her head in confusion, her ethereal voice only serving to spark the dungeon''s desires even more. "It is different," Styx said as mana tendrils extended from his hands and reached toward her. "This is a piece of me bing a part of you, sharing a permanent bond." Wolf deftly avoided the mana tendrils with little effort while inspected the mana constructs extending from the dungeon cum human avatar. "It is strange, yet interesting." "I have been studying you for the past week, you know? I havee to understand you." "How so?" "You are simply bored, are you not?" Wolf nodded her head in response. "You seemed interesting, and are. It is fun watching everything." "I can provide you plenty of other interesting things, you know." "I have nearly seen everything here already." Wolf tilted her head and Styx sat back down on his throne, indicating for her toe closer with the curl of a finger. Wolf simply headed over toward him without putting her guard up. Styx wrapped one hand around her waist and pulled her over onto him, or at least he tried to. She was like a pir of steel sticking out of the ground and didn''t budge an inch. "Ahem, you are meant to follow along." As if by cue, the resistance in her body vanished and she was pulled over and sat atop Styx''sp sideways, one of his arms supporting her back. She looked at him with a curious gaze in her otherwise lifeless eyes. With her face this close, Styx truly appreciated her otherworldly beauty which surpassed everyone else he had ever seen other than his former goddess. Styx knew the woman now sitting on hisp was so powerful he would never even be able to resist her should she decide to kill him, and probably wouldn''t even realize if she did even in his final moments. Despite that, his desire for her, which was further enhanced by the Lusty Dungeon title, overwhelmed any sense of fear and dominated his thoughts. "First, shouldn''t I give you a name?" Wolf thought about it briefly before nodding and waiting for him to suggest something. "From now on, you will be known as Aviry." "No." "No?" "No." "Why?" "I don''t like it." "Very well, I will choose something else. How about Sarah?" "No." "Hilda." "No." "Everi." "No." "Lidia." "No." . . . "Xeleroth''ar Geneva Lithika." "No." "What do you want, then?" "I don''t know." Therina watched the two interact while sighing. She had wanted to leave long ago while Styx ran through an endless list of names, and Wolf rejected them all, both as tireless as one another. Styx hadmanded her to stay however, as he had a task for her toplete. That was an hour ago, as he still wasn''t done dedicating his attention on the wolf-eared woman currently known as just Wolf. "You''re not a beastkin, aren''t you?" Styx suddenly asked, which Wolf immediately answered. "No." "You''re a monster from deep in the Abyssal Forest, right?" "Yes." "How old are you?" "241." "You seem like sinct answers." "Yes." "How did you be a beastkin?" Wolf seemed to ponder this question, but didn''t have an exact answer. "One day, I no longer had anything to do, so I decided to explore outside. None of the humans were weing though, so I tried to be more like them. Eventually, I was able to get close." "Did you eat any of them?" "A few." "What about elves? Did you eat any of them?" "asionally." Answers of a true bona fide monster came out of the wolf-eared woman''s mouth one after another, causing Therina to eye her with trepidation. "Then of course they would not wee you." "Because I ate some of them? Do they not eat high level monsters, too?" "I will exin it to you over time. Most of these matters, especially to humans, are subject to perspective." Wolf nodded her head in understanding, but Therina felt like they were breaching into a particrly strange topic that only the two of them understood. "More importantly than that, do you have a tail?" Wolf simply nodded in response as if saying, "Of course." "Can I see it." From under the hem of the worn out robe, a tail a meter and a half in length and covered in a thick brush of abyssal ck fur appeared. It became a furry mass on both her and Styx''s body due to the posture she was sitting in. Both Styx''s and Therina''s eyes seemed to drop of out their sockets while the former eximed, "Where in the nine abyss''s was that hidden?!" Wolf didn''t answer as Styx brushed it with the fingers of his spare hand, feeling the soft fur brush between each digit. "It is a beautiful tail, you should show it more often." "It gets dirty when it isn''t covered." "How so?" "Sticks, leaves, dirt." "I will brush it for you to remove all of those." "How does brushing work? Is it like picking them out?" Styx then proceeded to exin the brushing process before abruptly changing the subject without warning again. "So what do you think, will you be mine?" "No." "Don''t be so abject to it. I will provide lots of fun things for you, and my dungeon will only continue to getrger and create new, more interesting things." Wolf didn''t respond and Styx took this opportunity to extend his mana tendrils into her body. She watched the ethereal, nonphysical constructs of mana reach for her stomach, but were then unable to prate inside. Styx felt like he hit a brick wall, one in which the bricks were made with worldstone. His mana tendrils were unable to enter her no matter how hard he tried. Seeing his concentrated face, Wolf did her best to control her body and help pull in the mana tendrils. She had absolute confidence in being in control of the situation but more so than anything, it was interesting. She enjoyed talking with him far more than her expression revealed, and being able to talk to him at any time in her head like the elves was desirable to her. Styx''s mana tendrils were suddenly sucked into her body and he got to witness her manawork. It was enormous, but even that size reference didn''t do any justice to the sheer size of her mana channels. Her manawork was like cosmic rivers expanding through the universe, an impossible size to fit inside of any physical body. His mana tendril was like a small boat on the torrential ocean of mana and sheer lifeforce, the only reason he did not capsize was due to how weing it was of him. Even the slightest resistance, and it would be instantly crushed. With a cold sweat on the forehead of his avatar, he controlled the mana tendrils to navigate the treacherous seas for a long time before he finally reached her core. He entered deep inside and left a fragment of himself to be a part of her, a familiar process. The core was weing of this, and kept the piece of himself safe within itself. "Can you hear me?" "I can." Wolf distinctly responded, the trace of a smile revealing itself of the corner of her lips. The beautiful sight of her fleeting smile caused Styx to lose control, he stoppedbing her tail with his spare hand and went to grasp herrge breasts that the worn out robe clung to. Halfway there, Wolf simply caught his hand in hers and a trace of killing intent immediately descended upon the room. This killing intent broke Styx out of his lust, but he was still deeply and inexorably infatuated with her. He grabbed her hand back, pushing his fingers between hers. She watched the action closely while her killing intent vanished as quickly as it came. "This is where you hold onto my hand." Wolf followed this process and grasped his hand, he slender fingers with sharp, w like nails grasping onto his hand in a vice like grip. This action didn''t seem to be intimate to her, and was treated as another normal thing. "Like this?" "Yeah just, a bit gentler. No, a bit gentler than that too" Wolf could tell how badly he wanted to mate with her. Not only could she smell it, there was a veryrge object that had been pressing against her backside for a while now. She deeply like this new friend of hers and even epted a piece of him into her mind, but she truly held no desire to mate with him. Even for a monster, they had a rigid sense of criteria in whom they would take as their mates. The more intelligent the monster, the stronger that criteria was. Chapter 46: Tier 1 Production Line Chapter 46: Tier 1 Production Line "Why are you still wearing that old and worn robe?" Styx asked Wolf, whom warded off his wolfish hands from inappropriately fondling her body once again. "I don''t have more than one." "You didn''t consider taking some at some point in the past?" "Do I need more than one?" "Yes, you need multiple clothes, and when they get too old or dirty, they need to be reced. Therina currently arranges all of our clothes." Styx wrapped an arm around Therina and squeezed one of her breasts. It was meant to help satisfy some of his lust, but it only made it worse. He gave her a deep kiss, her tongue quickly responding by prying open his lips on her own ord. He then sent her off to collect her sewing tools to take Wolf''s measurements. When she returned, he didn''t bother to hide his grin as he stated, "For her to take your measurements properly, you need to take off that old robe. It will only be in the way." The wolf-eared woman froze and was unsure what to do. Whilst she didn''t have any sense of clothing requirements, she did hold a strong sense of aversion to exposing her body naked and hairless. Seeing her expression locked in conflict and mood rapidly worsening, Therina panicked and hurriedly offered a solution. "A-actually, I can take the measurements with her clothes on." Wolf quickly agreed to that, but Styx red at her usingly, his displeasure spreading to her mind and making her panic. There was tension in the air as Therina had Wolf raise her arms to her side. When she measured her underbust, causing the old rob to pull tight around herrge assets. By this point Styx had to leave to find an outlet for his lust, leaving the elf and wolfgirl behind to arrange clothing. ~~~~~ When Styx returned, he finally arrange Therina''s task for her, which was to head off to the nearby dungeon city with a cartload of manasteel. It may not be worth very much individually, but there was an enormous amount within the cart. The monsters would carry the cart most of the way to the city, while he had arranged for Irie to meet Therina along the way with a pair of demon bisons to rece them as monsters couldn''t enter the city and would also raise hostility against Therina. She was to sell all of the metal in the city, then use the coins to purchase as many magic books and other key information that would be valuable to him. A portion of that coin was to purchase mana gems as well for powering his own arrays. Gems could be recharged a certain number of times too, so they weren''tpletely expendable. Once she left, he led Wolf over to the far eastern side of the dungeon, which she hadn''t been to yet. She was now in clean, new clothes. She wore a stylish skirt with some intricate thread design around the hem, while the shirt was perfectly tailored to fit her bust which was more prevalent than ever. It was basic cotton clothing that could tear if she were careless, but her ability to preserve clothing without tearing it to shreds had been demonstrated by the old robe. There was also a pair of basic shoes, but she had refused to wear them and remained walking around barefoot. Therina was apologetic to ruining Styx''s n of getting her clothes off, so she had secretly cut the neckline of the shirt a little lower, showing the top of her cleavage. It was a sight Styx never regretted staring at and had instantly forgiven the elf. "This is the current ore refinery," Styx stated as he showed Wolf into a giant room which was still being expanded. Styx had redesigned the basic st furnace into arger piece of equipment made fromdine y bricks and manasteel tools. He had experimented with and designed a new magic array based on the Light Array Type I and Mana Infusion Array Type I. He called it the Passive Infusion Alpha Array, which was essentially just taking the ambient mana absorption function from the first array, the mana injection node from thetter, andbining them into one product. It took a lot of trial and error as his knowledge was still rudimentary, but it eventually began working. The amount of mana absorbed was miniscule, but it made a small improvement to any manasteel structures or tools it was inscribed on. It would be even more effective if he rose the mana density in the factory too. The room had a tall ceiling, with arge number of vents at the top, leading to above ground. He had created a series of fans with rotary mana engines. He had inscribed a bunch of Seldrick''s Ambient Mana-Absorption Array Organs outside of their arrays and onto the mana engines. They now functioned without Styx''s or another person''s personal mana infusion, but it did suck out a lot of ambient mana due to the sheer number of them, making him feel ufortable whenever he entered the room. Giant pirs supported the room while a total of 35 of the Celendine st Furnace''s were arranged into three neat lines, a gnome manning each furnace. Styx''s next greatest invention was a conveyer belt, which required mana stones to operate, and his abysmal current stock from Therina''sst trip to the dungeon city was used in its entirety. These were long belts made of interlocking small wooden nks atop a buffer of ck sand to reduce friction on the perfectly smooth stone core, which had four Movement Array Type I''s engraved in it with manasteel every meter. Styx had modified the array to have the mana input from an external source, which in this case, was slots on the side of the conveyer for putting in mana gems. The gems would then be taken to an area of the dungeon with higher mana density for recharging once the were expended. With more gems, he would be able to form a constant rotation of them. "How does it work?" Wolf asked as her eyes sparked in interest. "This is just the first design. The miners mine the raw ore, which is sent into the room by this conveyer. The minions then take the ore and go through the refinement process and cast it into a small mold." "The finished product is then ced on the outgoing conveyer, which takes them to another room for storage." Wolf watched the gnomes working with an almost endless curiosity, when Styx informed her of more things nned for the future. "So you want to have a lot of people here?" "Of course, and by having those people, resources and products for the public are necessary. For instance, steel cutlery, there should be enough product to supply everyone should they need or wish for it." "What do they give you?" Styx shook his head with a smile. "They are my people, I provide for their needs, and they in turn provide back. Take the dark elves who are currently assigned to expanding the farms, or the bees who are pollenating and breeding new flowers." "Should they have anything they need or want, I naturally give them, or help them acquire, whatever they need. In turn, they have tasks or work for the dungeonmunity assigned for them toplete. It isn''t measured by amount nor value as we are working as a collective group." "What if they don''t want to do it?" Styx merely shrugged his shoulders. "I won''t force anyone. There are always alternative things they can do, and should they choose to do nothing, themunity simply won''t support them back until the choose to do so." "Will I have to do things?" "Of course. You are mine, are you not?" Wolf seemed to want to refute him, but she had technically agreed to that, so his words weren''t wrong in her mind. There was one finalponent of the factory, which was a side room with an extrarge celendine brick furnace. This was controlled by two minions and through the dungeon to create manasteel while also researching new alloys. Rhea couldn''t stand being in the sweltering hot, noisy factory areas, so Styx had taken it onto himself for recording research notes on new materials. He had currently created three new alloys, which were currently undergoing the testing process. Therina had also taken some samples off to the dungeon city cksmith to evaluate their worth. Just as he was in the middle of showing Wolf this room, he abruptly stopped and raised a brow in surprise. Wolf also turned and faced the direction of the dungeon entrance as if detecting the same thing as Styx. "We have new minions! 10 of them too. It''s a good thing I stopped the traps," Styx chuckled joyfully to himself as he watched a group of dark elves timidly entering the dungeon. "Elena, Rhea," Styx spoke directly into the minds of the dark elves currently in the dungeon, the twins outside on external tasks for new and rare resources in the forest. "A group of your townsfolk have entered the dungeon, go wee them and bring them to the throne room." "They are minions?" "Well, they are here to be mine, so it is basically the same. Minions, vigers, etc these are the most basic people in games used for gathering resources, building, and other menial tasks." Wolf nodded in understanding, not towards what he meant in the context of games, but regarding people whoplete the small tasks. "By the way, I finally thought of your name." "?" "Aura." "No." "Why?! It is such a good name!" "I don''t like it." "Too bad, I''m going to call you that anyway." Styx snorted in derision, adamantly sticking to this name. Aura wasn''t insulted by this, and merely allowed him to do as he willed while the two walked toward the throne room, or so Styx called it even though he was a dungeon, not a royal figure. ~~~~~ ~~~~~ [ New alloy created. Testing against existing records Record already exists. Award for discovering existing alloy: Bronze. + 100 exp ] [ New alloy created. Testing against existing records Record already exists. Award for discovering existing alloy: Charged Obsidibronze. + 100 exp ] [ New alloy created. Testing against existing records Record already exists. Award for discovering existing alloy: Nopper. + 100 exp ] New BUK entry: Passive Infusion Alpha Array 6.6 Passive Infusion Alpha Array 6.6.1 Effect: Absorption of any ambient mana and infuse it into the object. Natural ambient mana is usually too weak to infuse into an object effectively, but this can change as mana density increases. There is no control function nor mana filters, so an oversaturation of mana or conflict between mana attribute and infused object may ur. 6.6.2 Components: Basic Circr Hornheim Magic Diagram Hornheim Basic 5-Point Star Magic Diagram (Inner Layer) Seldrick''s Ambient Mana-Absorption Array Organ Hornheim Mana Injection Node 6.6.3 Additional Items Required: None Chapter 47: Induction Chapter 47: Induction The group of dark elves stood below Styx in his throne room with terrified expressions. This was due to the natural pressure Aura gave off. The other girls had gotten used to it, considering her hostility was never actually targeted at them, but they were still tense when she was nearby. All of the current dark elves were shaking like leaves in the wind, there was even a young dark elf girl who was crying. "Aura can you leave for a bit?" Styx asked with a forced smile, feeling that this batch of dark elves were a bit too weak willed. The wolf-eared woman just continuedbing herrge tail with her fingers, picking out anything stuck in it. She acted like she didn''t hear him, but the slightest twitch of her ears in response to his voice told him she was instead ignoring his words. With a sigh of resignation, he addressed the new dark elves as a whole, "There is no need to be afraid, she won''t eat you." This didn''t seem to alleviate the sense of death they felt looming above them in the least, each one more afraid than the former. Styx sat in silence while waited for them so recollect theirposures, a domineering expression on his face the entire time. Eventually, the dark elves were still afraid, but they were at least not shaking and too afraid to answer his questions. Of the ten elves, there was one girl, five women, and four men. In the order that they introduced themselves, they were: Piri Kas''Arde, 13 years old, was a bit short for her age with her hair tied up into twin ponytails. She had only just entered her growth periodst year and was still very child-like in appearance. Asta Sen''Arde, Piri''s mother, a very womanly dark elf with her hair tied up in a rough bun. She was quite the beauty and would always where a smile on her face, except at the moment it was heavily forced to try and hide her fear. Fiore Sen''Arde, Asta''s sister and Piri''s wet nurse. Her hair was a lighter grey, the same as her sister, but cut straight at the shoulders. Her sister was t chested, while she was very well endowed. Fiore had developed issues with producing breast milk after giving birth, but thankfully Fiore had a son around the same time and produced enough for two babies. Joel Kas''Rande, Piri''s father, a dark elf who had previously work on the farms, but currently there wasn''t enough food to go around and his entire family had been cast out from the vige to make their own way. He had short messy hair and a beard stubble chin. Styx didn''t consider him to be unattractive, a trait that seemed impossible in fantasy elves, but he wondered how he got such a beauty as Asta to be his partner. Vivy Yg''Ndr, a tall exotic looking female elf who had been a night hunter for meat, although she rarely caught anything herself and was considered useless by themunity. She had long dark grey hair tied up in a ponytail and looked very powerful. Looks could be deceiving apparently, or she was simply terrible at hunting. Niah Tes''Lorde, a beautiful dark elf with long dark hair and mid sized breasts which were well defined by her tight clothing. She was in the category of dark elves who chose to be cast out under the promise of food and strength in this dungeon. She was a dancer by ss yet had developed excellentbat skills and constantly sought further strength. She had nned to use her beauty and body to entice Styx to ensure she got the best benefits, something that was proving effective with how frequent his gaze lingered on her ample thighs. Beatrice Fin''Porte, another dark elf woman with veryrge breasts. She had long hair with beads weaved into it and a stunning body figure. She had a sharp tongue and was a tailor by ss, but her talents were less and less required as more people were cast out and a general dislike towards her attitude. Arth Zac''Anthe, a male dark elf with long, silky hair ck hair and overall features of a beauty. He was someone who dedicated his life to stone masonry, and as such was extremely interested in the art and designs Styx was said to create. He was immediately enraptured the moment he entered the dungeon. Gimil Gru''Unter and Zac Syx''Landr were both males who simrly were considered expendable to their vige and were cast out. They came here along with everyone else under the promise of food and the secret desire of having a partner assigned to them. "Things seem to be getting more dire in your former vige," Styx calmly said while looking at the new group of dark elves, particrly towards Niah. Asta held the most courage and chose to answer. "Yes, the fertility in the fields is at an all time low, and we can only hunt so much meat during the nights when all the nocturnal predators are active." "It is of no matter. Your entire vige are wee here. Do you know the rules?" "That we will be expected to give birth to monsters, or work" Asta was clearly unwilling as she clenched her fists, but her and her husband seemed to have resolved themselves and were ready to ept the task. The dark elves held their own viewpoints on rtionships, and while she and her partner hade to agreeing terms on this, Styx still didn''t like it. "No, the rule is that all the females are to take a piece of me inside of them and form a bond between us. You will also be responsible over the males and serve as a bridge for me tomunicate with them when required." "As for mating, this is optional, although I do insist and will do my best to naturally help you develop your strength while also increasing your manaworks to raise gross potential storage as well as increasing level up benefits." "Should you choose not to do this, you are currently required to either choose a male partner, or one will be decided for you. You will only be assigned a partner if there is one avable, but you can still choose to share a male-" "No!" Rhea called out in a rare bout of defiance, "Theo is mine, so I''m not sharing him with anyone other women!" "Ahem," Styx cleared his throat, impressed by the conservative elf''s viewpoint on rtionships which was seeming to mirror his own more and more. "You can choose to share a male if their current partner or partners agree to it. For you, as long as you and your partner keep trying to produce more kids, that is enough." Upon hearing the rules, Asta sighed in relief and simply stated, "T-thank you." Piri, her daughter, tried tofort her mother and innocently stuttered, "I-it''s okay, mom. I will do the role of giving b-b-birth to monsters." "You are too young," Styx immediately interjected while looking at the dainty body of the still growing girl. "Wait until you grow up into a full adult and increase your body''s strength. You can then take on that task, but for now, your role will be to study and learn." "O-okay, I will grow up first." Both Asta and Joel had conflicted expressions upon hearing their daughter promising to be to dungeon''s wife for them, but they too were unfamiliar with the customs here so remained silent. Styx was actually concerned for the girl. She was too old and couldn''t attend a human school either due to being a stone elf, a species which couldn''t live under the direct sun. He would make his own learning materials for her, which would be used for other children as well, but there was a greater concern in his mind. She was the only child in the dungeon. This meant she had nobody around her own age to y with and would either be more introverted, or be forced to constantly interact with adults, which could cause any number of unexpected changes in her mentality. He secretly contacted Irie and Therina who were still in the nearby dungeon city andmanded them to purchase a few ve children, who would apany Piri to y and grow with her. Styx created his own formality for bonding with the women. He called each one up the stairs and had them stand before him as ced one hand on the center of their chest. It was partially as this was the most central core point of a person''s manawork, and also an excuse for him to fondle their breasts. Asta was the first toe up and nervously allowed him to ce his hand on her t chest. She then closed her eyes and hummed in bliss as she was enveloped by the sense of a being embraced all over her entire body, a pleasurable feeling she would never be able to forget. She could then feel Styx''s presence instinctively and unlocked mana sight as a piece of him bonded with her in the deepest recesses of her mind. Piri was next, the young dark elf girl fidgeting in nervousness. The young girl leaned in and grabbed his arm, trying to hug him back in the same way she was feeling. This gave Styx the chance to inspect what it means for someone to be and what differences there were in their manawork. Mainly why they couldn''t gain experience, sses, and even mitigated skill experience. As it turns out, Piri''s manawork wasn''tplete. It was growing and developing alongside her body. It was only a natural course of events that it couldn''t store experience or potential. Her body could learn skills through muscle memory and training, but that was about it. If anything though, it meant he had to be much more careful navigating through it as frail and weak inparison to a normal manawork. "Go back to your mother now," Styx said to the girl who blushed and ran back immediately. Fiore was next, and Styx took great pleasure in firmly grasping onto her breasts, pinching her nipple through the thin fabric. "So, you have your own child?" "A son, around Piri''s age. They used to y together quite frequently as well." "Him and the father, didn''te with you?" "We split from one another several years ago, and I am now an undesirable used woman with another man''s child." There was irony in her voice as she ignored Styx''s fingers digging into herrge breasts. All of a sudden, Styx''s mana tendrils filled her body and caused her to moan in pleasure, one arm wrapping around her waist and pulling her into himself as she intimately fell into thescivious dungeon''s grasp. "Don''t be like that. I still find you very desirable. As long as you rely on me, I will provide you with all the love you could ever need." Fiore''s body was like putty in his hands as he lodged a piece of himself in her mind, the dark elf then returning to the others with her ears red and refusing to meet the gaze of her sister. Niah was next, who took the chance to actively press her body against Styx in sexual enticement, one leg slyly rubbing between his legs and against his crotch while she pressed her breasts into his hand. He was sure she had greatly underestimated him, which he would definitely demonstrate to herter. Vivy followed afterwards and nervously asked in a quiet voice for only Styx to hear, "You said it was possible for multiple women to share a man Is it possible to have multiple men?" The question was so quiet that it was barely a whisper, yet he was astonished with how clearly he heard it through Aura''s hearing. The wolf ''beastkin'' woman detected everything nearby and even far off, causing Styx to even have to filter the feedback from her sight and hearing. "A reverse harem? Well, as long as you''re not one of my partners, that''s fine. Again, ites down to whether the others are epting of it just the same as women sharing a man. You will only have one partner assigned to you though, as adding the number of men onto a woman isn''t going to make them give birth to more of the next generation." Styx didn''t share Vivy''s nervousness, and spoke in a voice that everyone could hear and deeply embarrassed the dark elf whose breasts were being unceremoniously pinched and fondled. Gimil and Zac looked at each other from the back of the crowd, strongly contemting what life choices they should make should they be presented with such a choice. The final woman wase up was Beatrice, who stared at him with a sharp expression. She didn''t change her expression at all, save for a slight crease of the brow, as Styx strongly pressed his fingers into her fleshy breasts through her shirt and filled her manawork with himself. "Are you upset?" "At what?" "That you were discarded from your vige basically because of poprity, rather than utility?" "Naturally," She quipped sharply. "There isn''t anybody who wouldn''t be." "What will you do from here on? You decided toe here after all, so I take it you came prepared." "Of course." "Yet you still seem discontent." "This is just how I am." As Styx melded into her mind, he could tell that her feelings towards her fellow vige folk was astonishingly poor. "There are currently no males other than dark elves here. Does that mean you have already resolved yourself to be mine?" Beatrice gave a short nod of the head, but her emotions were so strong they were passing directly over their new bond. She was pained about being cast out from her vige and deeply desired love, clinging onto it the moment Styx offered. "You should take example from these elves," Styx grudgingly stated directly in Aura''s mind, causing her to turn her head and look away from him. Styx tilted Beatrice''s chin up with a finger a kissed her, prying open her lips with his tongue and entering her mouth. He felt her own tongue rise up to meet his, to lick and press against one another as their saliva mixed. She closed her eyes in bliss while her expression remained steadfast. Her burning red ears betrayed her embarrassment to anyone looking close enough. Styx''s Avatar Creation skill had reached , so his avatar was now much stronger and could push back the nervous dark elf''s tongue. "I have a question," Beatrice cleared her throat and addressed Styx after forcefully breaking their kiss. "Can you give me a dark elf child." Her expression was stern and eyes criticizingly sharp, but her heart was currently beating like a frightened rabbit inside. "Currently, no. But I may be able to do so in the future." Beatrice curtly nodded her head before returning to the other dark elves. The rest of the matter, such as their duties, was handled before they were dismissed. Of the new dark elves, Fiore, Niah and Beatrice became his women, whom would fulfil their taskster. Piri had stated that she would help her family and fulfil her duty when she grew up in the future, which made Styx roll his eyes, while Asta and Joel remained the couple they were. Vivy chose to be partnered with Gimil while also pressuring Zac to be a part of her hidden fantasies too. The two men were heavily conflicted, but she strong armed them into agreeing. She was still a virgin, so the next conflict was who would pierce her cherry, a reward she promised into their ears that would go to whomever pleased her better. Arth, the final dark elf and a stonemason, remained unassigned to anybody and also firmly rejected Vivy''s advances to be her man along with the other two. He was extremely adverse to the idea and was thankful it was not enforced. Once all the dark elves had departed, he pulled Aura and had her sit on one of his knees, herrge tail extended behind them. "Is this a brush?" She asked curiously and the wooden with manasteel spokes vanished from Styx''s hand and into hers. "It is, but I can''t use it when you take it" The wolfgirl passed the brush back and Styx held her tail in one hand while brushing it in long strokes with the other. The two remained in silence, one sitting perfectly still, the other brushing her tail. As he brushed, he slowly moved up the tail until he was getting dangerously close to its base. Styx''s gaze was filled by lust at this point, and Aura appeared to be enjoying the sensation of being brushed too, allowing him to continue. Once he got too close however, she abruptly vanished and left nothing but a warmth on his leg where she was previously sitting. ''Let''s call Elena over,'' Styx silently thought to himself as his Lusty Dungeon title was in full effect. ''I now have a lot of women too, I need arge room and bed so we can all live together as well.'' Chapter 48: Its a Dungeon Raid Bargain Sale Chapter 48: It''s a Dungeon Raid Bargain Sale Irie re-entered the city alongside Therina and a wagon carrying an enormous amount of pure manasteel. It wasn''t an excessively valuable metal, but it was still a fundamental resource that was used in countless products and applications. This was arge shipment bypany''s standard, "Does Styx always produce this much?" Irie asked while walking beside the elf, a hood over her head to hide her identity in case anyone recognized the elf. "The amount is increasing, but the main issue is ack of mana to produce it. An attributeless gem can only store enough mana for a small amount and we are alreadycking in stock, so it all has to be produced manually by Styx himself." Therina held a distaste towards humans altogether, but she held more tolerance toward Irie, whom she identified as one of Styx''s women. The elf split off from the woman after she was shown to her apartment and secured a spare key. She then took the cart and led it to the cksmith whom she metst time. The cart was a tight fit in the rear alley, but it managed to squeeze through nheless with minimal bumps against the back wall of buildings. She banged on the rear door but was met with not response. She banged several more times in session until she heard a grumpy shout. "Aye, wait a minute will ye!" Therina calmly waited until the rear door opened to reveal a clich dwarf with a soot-stained face andrge, knotted beard on his chin. "Well, if it aint the elfss fromst time. It has been a while." "You have a good memory." "It aint that hard. So, I take it ye have something to sell? Come on, she it to me,ss." The dwarf hopped and hoddled over to the back of the cart with Therina, who pulled back the sheet covering the cargo and revealed an enormous amount of pure manasteel. "I take it you can give me an even better deal thanst time?" Therina inclined in the most professional business-like manner that she could muster. "Pfft," The dwarf burst out in a heartyughter and patted his barrel-shaped stomach in mirth. "That aint happenin'',ss. For a bulk amount, I should instead be paying you less per capita." "What? But I brought you so much? Shouldn''t I get a better rate on it?" "Not at all. The value of bulk goods is lower than that of individual products." "Then. I would like to sell arge number of individual products." This brought another round of chuckling from the dwarf who led Therina in and they sat at a table to negotiate. "I tell ye what. The purity of ye manasteel is good, although ye refining is a bit sloppy. I will offer ye 6 percent less on the total value." "Take it," Styx, who had a much better idea of supply and demand than Therina,manded her to ept the deal. This was partially because it was a very reasonable offer by the dwarf, while also to curry favor. Rather than arguing over the single percents, Styx chose to increase Therina''s favorability with the cksmith. The original price was 8 silver per ingot, but those ingots were only finger sized and approximately 100g each. Therina currently had an entire 3m3 of manasteel. Going by that standard value per weight, the would be a total of 643,200 silver, or rounded up into higher coins for a total of 64 tinum and 32 gold. Because of the 6 percent less though, she would only receive 60 tinum, 46 gold and 8 silver. While the dwarf cksmith can pocket an extra four tinum coins, a small fortune for a single family, it was negligible to Styx. The dungeon had zero overhead costs in producing the manasteel, so this was 100 percent profit for him. "Why do you have so much coin on you?" Therina asked as she was handed arge pile of glistening coins. "Lass, ye have no idea how much coin flows in the business world. Although, ye are taking a big portion of me coin." "I see" Therina pocketed the coin and brought the new empty wagon back to Irie''s apartment, tying it up in a secure location behind the tudor style apartment building. ~~~~~ Irie was before yet anotherpany liaison. Not one of her ownpany, but a guest who was visiting her in thepany to purchase the confidential information on the dungeon. "30 gold! That is the highest I will go! There are plenty of others who are willing to sell the information and recoup their expense!" A particrly weaselly looking person put on an arrogant expression as he red across the discussion table. "Mr. Averic, please show us a little more sympathy. If we lower the price for you down from 40 gold, the next person will demand it for 20 gold, and then 10, and before you know it, they will be demanding it for free. We simply can''t allow that." The conversation between the two continued for another half and hour and devolved into pure insults and childish arguments, in which the information was finally sold to Mr. Averic and hispany for 37 gold. She was very happy with this conclusion given that the market price for the information was actually 35 gold, not 40. She had negotiated thirteen of these deals so far, bringing in an ie of nearly 5 tinum. Considering thepany investment in trying to acquire the dungeon was 2 tinum, this was an enormous profit. A letter had evene from the head office congratting her and cementing her position as a branch manager, cing her at the upper echelons of the Silver Wheel Investment Company. "Miss Naekle," The racoon beastkin whom had leveraged a full time position in thepany with benefits approached the new branch manager and spoke nervously, "there''s been someone asking around about the dungeon and the information on it" "Hmm? That isn''t anything unusual, why are you bringing it to me?" "Well, the thing is, it''s the person who has been asking around." "Well? Don''t keep me in suspense, who is it?" "It''s it''s the city lord''s son, Gabralter. He''s been asking around about specific information about the dungeon as well as the elf who attacked us inside." "Okay, I understand. There is no need to panic. If he approaches anyone who has purchased the information, they will most likely share it with him given his position. If he approaches us, just y dumb and ensure that he is requested to see me. The rest is of no big deal." "Eh, if you say so. I will do that, then." "Is there anything else?" "No, that was it." "Then hurry up and get back to training. Don''t forget that continued investment is determined by results, and not even I can turn around poor results." "Yes, of course!" The racoon beastman hurriedly left the office and Irie also left, returning to her apartment where she found a certain elf lounging on her bed while looking through the pile of magic books she had bought for Styx. It was unclear whether she was reading them for her own interest or so Styx could start reading them through her eyes. She was inclined to believe it was thetter. While one hand flipped through pages, the other free hand held a tantle, a red juicy fruit that was considered a delicacy this far out from the central regions of the empire. Seeing one of her prized fruits being eaten by the beautiful elf without a care, she felt a deep frustration. "Why are you eating my food?" "Hmm? You are to provide it for me, no?" "Not that food." "Oh well." Therina''s nonchnt answers irritated her even further, but that rapidly vanished as she continued. "Hus-Styx hasmanded us to procure some child ves, ones which need to be in the age range of 11 14 years old." "I know, I take it it''s not for that?" "That?" "To impregnate underage children" "Huh? Of course not. There is a dark elf child in the dungeon, but shecks other children her own age to act as ymates. Why would you even think of that?" Therina looked at Irie in abject disgust, even stating "you humans" vehemently under her breath. "Well, he is a dungeon after all," Irie began but abruptly cut off as Therina shot her a re filled with killing intent. "There are illegal ces like those all over the empire, so I had thought it may be something like that. Sorry." "A child cannot bear a monster. There is no way husband would ever be interested in one in such a way." "Of cour- Hey! Stop! Don''t take any more of my tantles!" Irie tried to stop her, but Therina was stronger, faster, and far mor dextrous than her. She was instantly subdued while the elf helped herself to the delicious red fruit. "Styx has also requested you." "I know. He wants to that, right?" "Correct, you need to go soon, too." "I still have business to take care of." "No." "That I can go after-" "Stop being rude to Styx, you were told to go." Therina red at Irie, be eyes predatory and ready to kill. "I I understand, I will go along with the ves." "Excellent!" Therina''s face instantly shifted into a warm smile, as if her re and icy attitude from before was simply a lie. Chapter 49: Epilogue: The Deepest Acceptance Chapter 49: Epilogue: The Deepest eptance Irie led Therina through the local ve markets with a hood covering her face. Therina wore a simr garb as the human under her insistence that their identities remained hidden to protect themselves. It wasn''t a crime to purchase a ve, but if a connection was made between Irie and Therina and then by association, the dungeon, it could cause a lot of bacsh for her in the public sector. The Relevant was a kingdom wide newspaper which released throughout the city twice a week. Whilst the dungeon city was far from the central hub of the Maple Dragon Kingdom, it was still near one of the kingdom''s forbidden zones. There was a well staffed office of The Relevant in the dungeon city with lots of reporters out looking for stories. The ve markets were a ce they liked to frequent, and if any high profile figure were to start purchasing ves, it would definitely be reported on. Therina paid three copper for a newspaper from a pop up stall and stared closely at it. "Read it for me," She demanded and handed the paper to Irie. "If you can''t read human characters, why buy it?" "I can speak them just fine, as pig like thenguage is. Styx should be a recent hot topic, I''ve heard adventurers and mercenaries alike whispering about a rogue dungeon lord in the area." "Fine, but it will have to wait until we arrive at the auctions." The two women didn''t stop in the public ve markets that were outdoors, but the grand halls where higher quality ves were auctioned off to the highest bidders. They paid an entry fee at the door to one hall which had pictures of some of the promoted ves for sale that night. What caught Therina''s attention to this one in particr was that one of the ves for sale was an elf. It was nobody Therina recognized, but it still caught her attention. "You know, Styx had me investigate the mercenary group that attacked your vige, and where your vige members were sold" "" Therina looked at Irie out of the corner of her eye with a cold gaze, not responding to the topic she brought up. "The elves were all enved and sold not long after they were brought back to the city. They went to various rich households and well, single bachelors who would sell an arm and a leg to acquire a beautiful elf. With the money you have along with some of my help, you may be able to buy some of them back" "That is unnecessary." "I also sold the information on Styx to that mercenary group and had an employee keep an eye on them so you will know when they depart." "Did Styx make you do that as well?" "No, that was thought on my part. I assume you would want revenge, and I need to remain in Styx''s good graces too." "You have done something unnecessary." Therina''s cold voice echoed in the gold detailed private room of the action house. The two sat down on arge,fortable sofa. There was a small table in front of it with cold beveragesid out for the VIP customers along with other sweets to nibble on while the auctions were taking ce. The private room had a one way window which allowed them to see out, but others not in. The room was very expensive, costing 50 gold to book instead of the standard 10 silver entry fee, but Irie had insisted on it. They could call out their bids from within the room if their voices were powerful enough, or they could simply use the magic panel they were provided to make their bids in a more discreet way. "Now, read me the news." "Of of course. It says:" ~~~~~~~~~~ Lastest News! Illegal Dungeon Identified! There has recently been reports that there is a new dungeon nearby Lagoon Porter City that has been reported to have been found. The discoverers of this dungeon are Silver Wheel Investment Company. As for how they located this dungeon, we are still trying to find out. Currently the youngest branch manager in the history of thepany, Miss Irie Naeckle shot up the bureaucraticyers of thepany so fast the discovery of the dungeon is suspected to havee from this young yet promising individual. Those who have the information on this dungeon are remaining tight lipped, but our sources have revealed some details. The dungeon is designed intricately, meaning there is a hidden dungeon lord hiding in the shadows. The monsters in this dungeon apparently don''t return to mana after death as well. We all know what this means They were bred, not summoned! An action both illegal and immoral to the highest degree. There is currently an illegal dungeon lord on the loose and nobody knows anything in detail. Duke Ashburn''s son, Gabralter Ashburn also appears upset by this information and is seeking any and all details on the dungeon. Duke Ashburn himself, as well as the Silver Wheel Investment Company, have both refused toment on the current situation and what they are doing tobat this act of atrocity which seems to be taking ce not far from the beautiful Lagoon Porter City. ~~~~~~~~~~ Therina raised her brow at this information and chuckled under her breath. "Has the dukee seeking information?" She asked Irie in contemtion. Irie had pinched her brow at the news article, deep in thought. "No, but it looks like he may be paying thepany a visit sometime soon. I will have to decide how to respond to him Urgh, this is a pain." "There is no need to be concerned over it." "That''s easy for you to say, you don''t understand how strong he is." "?" "The duke himself is in thetter half of the Third Step, while many of his core guards have simr levels. I have done my best to keep the information out of the hands of Third Step adventurers or mercenaries, but I won''t be able to just decline the duke if he insists." Therina pondered for a while and thought of Aura''s strength. She hadn''t met a Third Step adventurer before, but she felt like Aura should be able to fight them off or at least form a powerful deterring force should the duke decide to act himself. "Don''t worry, just try not reveal much information. If ites down to it, y down Styx''s worth." "Of course." As the two were conversing, they started to pay more attention to the auction that was taking ce. By now, many of the earlier ves had already been either sold or sent back to be re auctioned at another date. "This 17-year-old youngdy is a Apprentice Fire Mage, she is a debt ve so she also has no history of past crimes, and is very friendly towards others. As a mage ss, the starting bid is 20 gold!" Many people started a bidding war over the mage ss girl, whom was eventually sold for 78 gold and 50 silver. The next ve was a 12 year old boy who was dressed rtively nicely. Seeing someone who met the criteria she was looking for, Therina immediately grabbed the magic disy on the table and ced the opening bid on him of 3 gold. Children weren''t exactly a highly sought aftermodity in the above ground auctions, so there wasn''t a high deal of interest in them and Therina won with just the opening bid. Three more children, two boys and a girl, were also bought by Therina during the auction for another 12 gold altogether. All the ves had metal cors around their necks, but that was mainly symbolic and for the purpose of their very to be made known. An owner could remove the cor, but it was an action frowned upon by society. The truepulsion came from theplex ve crest tattooed on their bodies, each unique with the ve traders own signature lock, a magical syntax encryption key which prevented others from tampering with the crest. They then departed the private room in secret, paid for the ves and entered a brightly lit private office. In here, the ve trader used his skills to operate the children''s ve crest and bound them to Therina. "Is there a way to transfer ownership?" Therina asked curiously, intending Piri''s parents to be the ve owners. "Of course," The tuxedo wearing ve trader nodded his head. "You just need to bring them in here alongside their citizen ID so we can transfer ownership. There is a service fee of 10 silver for it, though." Realizing that Asta or Joel would have to be citizens and present, she immediately threw that thought out of mind and would simplymand the ves to follow their orders. The final documents were then signed, Therina receiving a copy of the Proof of ve Ownership while the original document was to be forwarded to the official ve registry. The man then gave a customary exnation about ve rights, ensuring their new owners were aware of thews applicable to their new ves, the owner''s requirements etc. Therina unhesitatinglymanded the nervous ve children to follow her, exining what their tasks were on the way. "So, we are required to be someone''s friends and ymates?" One of the boys asked curiously, wondering what kind of rich but socially outcast child they were to be forced friends with. "Correct. We don''t live in the city, and there is nobody else to y with her. It will undoubtable take some to be adjusted to things, but I''m sure you all will get along in no time." The children were confused, but they had no choice but to follow whatever they told him. As long as it wasn''t against the basic safety conditions in their ve crests, refusal would result in an ever growing excruciating pain. It would also force apulsion on their mind to do the task, which took an extremely firm will to resist. All the children became nervous when the group departed the city at the brink of dusk. ~~~~~ "We''ll be living in this dungeon?" The girl of the group asked while uncontrobly trembling. "Yes. The girl also lives here, we will first visit Styx, then you will go to meet Piri and her family." Styx was following everyone through their bond, so he had informed Therina and Irie to bring the children to him first. He needed to form his bond with the girl, while also exining to them their daily lives from henceforth. The children came to stand before Styx, who was sitting on his throne in a domineering manner. He thought one of them would wet their pants with how much they were shaking, but it seemed he had assessed them too soon. It was thankful the Aura was currently away to wherever she disappears to, else there would undoubtable be four children, and maybe one adult, withpletely saturated pants. "Girl,e here." Styxmanded the young human girl with shoulder length hair, who looked towards Therina for acknowledgement before walking toward the dungeon''s avatar. "Were the rules exined to you?" He followed up, to which she curtly nodded her head. "Good." Styx picked her up and sat her on his knee, cing his open palm against her stomach and letting his mana tendrils extend into her body. After a careful and slow journey through her still developing manawork, he fused a piece of himself in her mind. "Ah!" the girl eximed and begun looking everywhere as she gained the ability to see mana. "It is done," Styx stated without hesitations, his mana tendrils extracting themselves from her body and leaving her with a lonely, hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Go with Therina and meet Piri. You are to be her friends from now on, a frequent part of her life. You will go to school and learn with her as well." The children and Therina left, leaving on Irie behind. The woman resolutely looked at Styx and stated, "You promised me strength." Styx hinted for her to ascend the steps and join him before responding, "And strength you shall get. But it will be for you to put in the effort to gain, I only facilitate the possibility." Styx pulled Irie into his arms and immediately invaded her body with his mana tendrils. She moaned in pleasure at the feeling and weakly leaned against his body. "This doesn''t feel fair." "Your manawork is currently at capacity, why haven''t you levelled up?" Styx asked while ignoring her idleints. "It is a bitrger than a normal manawork though, so it looks like you''ve trained well." "I have consumed a lot of spiritual fruits previously to expand my body''s ability to absorb potential, while ensure I fill it up before levelling, but I hold no means of actively checking." Styx begun expanding her manawork channels and strengthening the walls. "This is a long process, I want you to visit at least once a week." "Ookay." Styx''s wolf like hand then slipped into her shirt, his fingers gently caressing her stomach as his hand reached further and further up her shirt. Irie didn''t resist, merely closing her eyes and nestling her head between his shoulder and head, her hot breath directly entering his ear. He felt her underboob first,rge perfectly round mounds of squish flesh that pressed down on top of his hand. He gently scratched the bottom of herrge breast before slowly running his hand further up and taking a full hand grasp of the fleshy mound. His fingers sank into her flesh and his thumb buried in her cleavage as she pressed face deeper into the crook of his neck. He could feel the erect pink nipple teasing the palm of his hand, causing him to squeeze it his palms as he gradually fondled her breasts. One hand molded her tits between its fingers while the other supporting her and simultaneously scratching up and down her back. Feeling like it wasn''t enough, he created a breeder beside his throne, the tentacles stretching out and crawling around Irie''s waist. "Yip!" Irie called out in shock and looked down as she felt far too many limbs grabbing her at once, almost scaring the life life out of her. The tentacles climbed up her torso, constricting around her and massaging her taut muscles. Mana tendril also extended from them, making her skin tingle with pleasure wherever they touched. Styx''s hand released her breast and trailed down her stomach, untying the cord and sliding into her skirt. Tentacles wrapped around and squeezed her breast while Styx''s hand reached her hot, moist crevice. His fingers rubbed the clitoris and sensitive surroundings with no mercy, sending waves of ecstasy through her body. "Haah Haah" Irie panted and pulled her head back, taking the initiative to kiss Styx on the mouth. She shoved her tongue into his mouth while her hands naively roamed across Styx''s body, eventually reaching for the veryrge rod in his pants. Feeling the girth and size with her hands, Irie started to have a cold sweat, wondering if such an object would even fit in her. "Would that fit?" She nervously asked while spreading her legs further apart to allow Styx''s hand easy ess. "Of course, but it will hurt at first." "I know that, obviously." Styx hooked a finger and plunged it into her moist hole, mana tendrils ticking the inner walls of her vagina. "Ngghhhhh Haaahhh ahhh" Irie did her best to stifle her moans as the finger pierced deep inside of her and caused her to climax, her nails digging into Styx''s chest. The tentacled begun pulling at her cloths, prompting her to cooperate as they stripped her of everyst article of clothing before assisting Styx in removing his. Irie sat on Styx''sp, her back against his chest while his arms tightly embraced her. One hand tightly embraced her and gripped herrge breasts, while the other one continued to rummage about and tease the folds of her vagina. His penis was rock hard between her firm thighs, which tightly gripped it as her vagina pressed against therge phallus and spread a slick coating of vaginal fluid onto it. Irie felt herself going crazy from the waves of ecstasy constantly wracking her body. She grabbed Styx''s cock and tugged and pulled, pushing her hips against it and rubbing her vagina up and down the thick shaft. "Rx your body," Styxmanded as he nibbled her ear lobe and his hands reached down and cupped around her ass. He picked up and lowered her waist on top of his shaft. There was resistance at first, as the tip of his dick pressed against the opening of her vagina, but it soon pierced through that due to the copious amounts of vaginal fluid that flowed out, wetter her pubes and his shaft together. Irie spread her legs wide apart and grabbed the penis which the tip had prated her. She firmly grabbed onto it and tugged in a manner as if to pull it deeper inside herself. Styx slowly lowered Irie further down his shaft, which spread her vagina as wide as it would go. She cried out in pain and a thin trickle of blood ran down his penis, but she still had half the penis to go before it was fully inserted. Her vaginal walls tightened and clenched around his penis as it pushed back and pierced deeper, one tiny bit after another. Finally Irie had been fully lowered and was sitting down on hisp again, this time with a giant meaty rod spreading her vagina wide open as her body weight ensured it prated as deeply as it would go. The tip of his penis pressed very tightly against the entrance of her womb, even somewhat forcing it open as it partially poked through and sent a sharp jolt of electricity through her body. "It actually went in," Irie said with a cramped expression as she was experiencing all the pain that came with losing her virginity, especially to something of such arge size. "It is natural, but I will help you heal. This is also the first time I will help you try feel your own manawork, which will help you in controlling your own mana to heal and recoverter." Irie nodded her head as she felt the pain from her vagina gradually weakening. There was also another sensation, which was from her manawork being used, but it was like a ghost she couldn''t see nor touch. Her thoughts were rapidly scattered as tentacles teased her clit while also making her start raising her hips before lowering them back down again. She raised her hips in a slow rhythm before forcing herself back down again, taking his penis fully inside her as her vaginal lips pressed tightly against the base of his shaft. Styx puller her waist down and moved his hips slightly in rhythm, pushing his penis against the entrance of her womb and bing threateningly close to pushing its way into there as well. "NnngghahhhhhHHH!" Irie was ovee with pleasure again and climaxed almost immediately, unable to hold in her moans, or perhaps no longer caring, as she practically howled. She grabbed onto his hands or the roaming tentacles, anything she could grab onto, and dug her nails into it as her vagina tightened around and strangled the penis inside of her. She didn''t stop moving and shook her waist in wide movements, pulling herself up and mming her hips down again with even more vigor. "Yes! Right there! It feels so GOOD!" She cried out in ecstasy, any form of restraint or embarrassment long gone from her movement. The pain hadpletely vanished and she lost herself deep in the waves of ecstasy. Styx also groaned at her excessively tight vagina forcing its way up and down his shaft. He made sure to constantly control her manawork to heal any damage from the forced actions but he reached his limit very quickly. Styx grabbed her waist and forcefully pulled her hips tight against his, her now sweaty back tightly pressed against his chest. His other hand wrapped around her and tightly grabbed her breasts in its wolf like grip. Her long ck hair covered his face which buried itself against her neck and nibbled on the flesh, and action Therina deeply enjoyed. Not being able to see was inconsequential when he had an omnipresent sight within the dungeon. He pulled on her tightly as the tip of his penis pushed open her womb entrance right before he release a giant load of dungeon seed directly into it. Styx groaned in pleasure as she constricted around him again, her vagina wringing out any remaining seed inside of the shaft. Irie felt the warmth as if it were filling up her stomach while beingpletely enamoured in the feeling. She wished they could merge their bodies into one, pushing her back against his chest while tightly gripping onto his hands. She tilted her head back while turning her neck and begun passionately kissing Styx. "That was just incredible" She spoke between showering him in kisses before sealing his mouth and bringing his tongue into her mouth for her to lick and nibble on. [ Insemination begun. Please select seed to imnt: 3x Miners Burden (1) 1h incubation 2x Gnome Burden (1) 1h incubation 1x Goblin Burden (2) 2h incubation 1x Earth Ripper Burden (3) 2h incubation 2x Goblin Burden (3) 3h incubation 1x Ravager Burden (4) 4h incubation 2x Earth Ripper Burden (5) 6h incubation 1x Goblin Mage Burden (6) 5h incubation 1x de Ravager Burden (8) 11h incubation ] [ 1x Earth Ripper selected Incubation 1:59:58 ] Irie seemed to feel something taking hold inside of her and pressed her fingers through Styx''s before clenching her hands. "If you want to do it again I don''t mind." Irie stared into his eyes with a slightly crazed gaze. Styx only considered it to be that she was being more honest with herself and less reserved, not thinking any deeper on it. "You need to give birth first, and your body can''t do it repeated times in quick session." Irie had a bit of a disappointed expression but she epted his words without rebuttal. Styx stood up while holding Irie and raised her off his cock. He meat slid out of her and unlocked the dam as a bunch of seed poured out of Irie onto the stone floor, whom blushed in embarrassment in response. "I understand" Styx then called Therina over and helped Irie redress herself. "Go with Therina and get to know the others in the dungeon. The bees also need to meet you so they can register you as someone not to attack. You will give birth in two hours, after which you will undoubtably feel exhausted. The other girls will help prepare food and aid you." Therina then led Irie away to introduce her to the dungeon and other inhabitants. Irie held one hand on her stomach as she felt it slowly begin to inte as a monster grew inside of her. She had originally felt very adverse to the idea, but currently, she strangely didn''t feel all the abject to the concept. ~~~~~ Iriey on a padded bed specifically for giving birth to monsters. The fabric covering the padding was slick and could easily be cleaned between uses, so it was currently clean and fresh. Shey in the position for childbirth with her lower halfpletely naked, legs spread wide apart. "Now, breathe, in and out in and out," Therina calmly cated her with her oriole like voice twittering in her ear. Irie seemed to not be embarrassed at all, which was partially because she currently recognized the beautiful elf as another one of Styx''s women. She had met the other women and was feeling slightly inferior when her looks werepared against an elf''s, but she took constion in the fact that her breasts wererger than most of theirs, which Styx seemed to greatly enjoy fondling. Her stomach was currently greatly erged in the shape of a bulb. She rubbed it tenderly before the seemingly thin film holding the new monster inside of her broke and arge amount of fluid flowed out of her and onto the bed. Sensing it ready for birth, her body began contracting as she forced it out of her womb and through her vaginal canal. "Unghh!!" Irie bit into the provided leather strap to muffle her scream and scrunched her eyes in pain. Therina massaged her lower abdomen and coached her through the entire process as the head of an infant monster squeezed its way out of the entrance to her vagina. Irie panted in weakness before giving several more pushes. Therina continued massaging her abdomen, even helping massage the top of her inner thighs and vaginal entrance with her warm and dextrous fingers, helping Irie rx and squeeze out the monster in its entirety. She eventually gave one final push and the monster waspletely free from her body and into Therina''s waiting hands. Irie''s stomach had now returned to its perfectly slender form, albeit feeling slightly empty. The new monster was quiterge, an earthy brown creature currently covered in thick and sticky vaginal fluid. It had two legs and two arms, but the arms were clearly out of proportion with very long fingers to match. Those fingers had the faint sheen of metal and would turn into long, deadly ws once it grew into adulthood. Therina held the monster tenderly and looked at the human woman lying weakly on the bed, herrge chest heaving up and down. Despite this, Irie looked towards the monster in Therina''s hand with a strange gaze. "Would you like to hold it as well?" She asked in curiosity. Irie nodded briefly and epted the monster just after Therina finished wiping the goop from inside of her vagina off of it. She held the tiny monster in her arms withplex emotions, absentmindedly speaking to herself. "So this is his highness'' and my child" Therina picked up on her words and grasped her face with her hands on her cheeks. She gazed deeply into Irie''s eyes as thetter stared back with a simr expression. "Hoh, it looks like you too have grasped onto it firmly," The elf said as a broad, yet slightly crazed, grin spread across her face. "By taking the piece of Styx deeper inside yourself, you take in more of his power. It makes you stronger, faster, and grow quicker, but it takes a lot of courage to unhesitatingly and without guardpletely take him into yourself." Irie seemed to understand what Therina was saying and curtly nodded. Their faces were merely several hairs apart as both women grinned. "To think you would be able to love darling as much as me on your first time. For a human, you''re not too bad. Darling justpleted his current new room which we are to all move into, we must make sure we get a good spot on the bed." The door to the room opened as Therina and Irie lightly giggled to one another, revealing Elena with a bowl of mana rich mushroom porridge. "It''s not the greatest, but this will" She began exining, blushing and turning her eyes away the moment she saw the two women being seemingly intimate while the human''s still inmed red vagina waspletely exposed. "I know we are all Styx''s women but what exactly are you doing?" "It''s nothing," Therina tittered, leaving the dark elf to deliver the food to the currently weakened human whom she was now holding a greatly enhanced impression of. Chapter 50: Over and Over Again Chapter 50: Over and Over Again Gabralter Ashburn stood in front of arge mirror in the private mansion of his father, And Ashburn. Also known as Duke Ashburn, city lord, or dungeon lord. Lagoon Porter City and all the surroundingnds were his duchy, assigned to him by King Wanther XII himself for his feats on the battlefield. He studied his curly golden locks and twined them in his fingers, inwardly sighing to himself. He was 25 this year, the remaining traces of his youthfulness finally fading from his face. "It begins again..." This wasn''t the first time Gabralter had stood before this mirror, on this exact same day. He had lived through hell and survived, only to be thrown back to the beginning for no reason whatsoever. What was to take ce in the future could only be described as a scene from hell. Lagoon Porter City was located in the south east part of the Maple Dragon Kingdom, but it wasn''t so close to any of the borders of the kingdom they were at risk if an invasion were to happen. The main purpose of this city was to be a watchguard of the Abyssal Forest, an extremely dangerous forbidden zone within the kingdom''s borders. Should a beast rampage ur, the purpose of this city was to send a warning for the kingdom to prepare while holding off the monsters for as long as they could. One year from now, several regiments of the Neth''rite Demon Kingdom, whom had been at war with the Maple Dragon Kingdom on and off for centuries, prated deep into the kingdom''snds through a less guarded area. They had avoided any significant conflicts in several southern areas of the eastern border, where their kingdom''s touched, in order to let the kingdom believe they were not dangerous areas. There was very little conflict in those areas for decades, making it afortable ce to live. Once they saw the opportunity, they attacked with an enormous army, breaking through what thin defense was present like a pack of wolves through a flock of sheep. City after city fell as rivers of blood seeped out of their walls. Eventually, the demon army reached Lagoon Porter City, and while his father had fought valiantly, he eventually toppled from the city wall just like any other dead soldier. Gabralter was a Second Step ranker by then, his ss a diator. He had charged out and fought off as many demons as he could, but people screams still filled the streets and giant sacrificial arrays were set up in public squares, where anyone not a demon was tortured and killed. They used to sacrifices to summon demonic fiends from the lowest reaches of the abyss, and once those monstrosities were summoned, all hope was lost for the humans within the city. Gabralter would have died himself, too, but he was rescued in his final moment by the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. His perspective may have been skewed given the circumstances, but that was the moment he fell in love with the elf known as Therina. She was reclusive in that she didn''t talk with him much. They had escaped the city and were fleeing from pursuit of the demon army. One night however, he went to sleep while leaving Therina to take the first watch for the night. When he woke up, he was back in his father''s mansion, a year before the demon army attacked. After finallyprehending his situation, he had set out with determination to change the future. He had found Therina in the city much earlier, warning her of theing invasion the same he did his father. The elf woman was much more receptive of the information,pared to his father who didn''t believe him. It was during this timeline that he discovered Therina''s ties with some unknown illegal dungeon lord, who used her body for all kinds of vile deeds. Should this have been his previous life, he would have immediately told his father and had him take care of it, but he was like a bull who had seen red. He gathered a group of loyal Second Step guards and charged into the dungeon seeking vengeance, only to have everyone die to a swarm of blood crystal bees. He returned to the beginning once again, this time through death. It made him think of the possibility he died during the first time too, but he had no evidence, and he would have awoken should there have been an attack on their camp. In his third life, he was much more calm headed. He got all the research he needed on the dungeon, finding out as much about it as he could. He also made preparations for theing demon army, sending fake letters of aggression to the border lords in the demon script, demanding the surrender or face death. He constantly met Therina on arranged dates. Each time, he did his best to try and bring Therina away from the dungeon and into the safety of his custody, but she only shook her head and responded that she can''t. He learned of her past, the mercenaries that had raided her vige and enved her friends, and her narrow escape, eventually tond in the hands of a rogue dungeon lord. There were reasons she always had to return, but she never exined them to him no matter how he pressed. He had wanted to charge at the mercenary group who caused the elf''s pain, but they had not done anything illegal ording to the kingdom''sws, so he could only grind his teeth together in frustration. The attack from the demon army still came, and it turned out his father had believed him more than he thought. During the attack, he had fought side by side with the elf he was in love with over several timelines, the cities defence force sessfully repelling the demon army. Heavy losses struck the city''s guard, adventurer and mercenary forces, but the city wasn''t filled with the stench of sulfer and blood. After the battle, he had sessfully convinced Therina to escape the dungeon lord who kept her tied to him through unknown means. She was adamant she wouldn''t be able to stay near the city and had fledte at night, which the people he assigned to watch over her safety had reported back to him immediately. He chased her out of the city, but hade under ambush by a group of masked figures. He was much stronger than his previous life as he dedicated more of his time to training his skills, but he was no match for these masked figures and copsed in a pool of his own blood. He had died once again, and regressed to his younger self once again. This was now his fourth attempt to do everything right. "The only question is is there a limit to the number of times I will revive? A certain number of chances I get?" He was no longer confused at waking up in his younger self, but had a will of steel after going through a battle such as the demon army invasion twice. ~~~~~ "Dad, there''s been rumors about a new dungeon appearing somewhere near the city," Gabralter spoke to his father, the duke, during dinner. The duke had neatly cut hair and a sharp golden blond beard, the same color as his son''s. His mother sat beside him, a beautiful yet regal woman with dark brown hair pinned up with a pair of long wooden hairpins. His mother gave him a curt nce and stated, "Dear, you are still only a Brawler. A rogue dungeon raid is far too dangerous for you." The only person who knew his father better than him was his mother. The duke wouldn''t personally move against the dungeon himself, but Gabralter knew that he needed his father to take an active approach in eradicating the illegal dungeon lord if he was to free Therina. "Your mother is correct, it is far too dangerous for you. Countless people die in capturing most dungeons. Not to mention, we have no need for the money." "Dad, that''s not the concerning point. The rumors are that there is an illegal dungeon lord behind it. They are using women to breed all the monsters in the dungeon." A light clinking sound was heard in the otherwise quiet dining room as the duke ced his cutlery on his te. "There have been no reports of a single person going missing. A rogue dungeon can also use monsters or wild animals to achieve the same thing. Until something has been proven to have harmed our citizens or be an immediate danger to them, leave this to all thepanies and raid parties currently seeking their own fame and fortune." Gabralter knew that women were indeed being used because of his past life knowledge, but he couldn''t prove that and it sounded highly doubtful to anyone listening when he had no evidence. If he could get even one of the women who were used toe forth, he would be able to make use of their story to cause an uproar. The problem was that he couldn''t find any no matter how he asked around, and while he knew Therina came to the city from time to time, her presence had always been like that of a ghost. "There are also rumors that the dungeon lord controlling it is a demon." "Gab, please do not go on another tirade about demons again. Superstition will only drive people in a downward spiral of insanity." "Dad let me prove it to you. Next week is the annual flower festival event, during which the flower devils will be more vicious than ever. Cold Rock City deep in the Dragon Canyons to the west will suffer a beast raid during the same time and have their walls copse." "" "I already send a warning to Duchess Euklid, hoping for her to increase her city''s defenses in preparation." Duke Ashburn sighed and pinched his brow, "Gab, you know that you can''t just make usations or warnings like these without any evidence, right?" "I''m sorry, dad, but I couldn''t see any other way. I can only hope that you will believe me." ~~~~~ The following day, Gabralter secretly contacted a reporter of The Relevant, whom he leaked some secret information about the dungeon that he learned in his previous timelines. He specifically made it into a more public issue so as to force his father to make a move. Once the reporters ced pressure on him publicly about why he is doing nothing to put a stop to a breach in the kingdom''s ethics, he would have to do at least something. Gabralter knew that if his father dug further into the truth behind the dungeon, he would have all the evidence he required. Chapter 51: Monster Lord! Chapter 51: Monster Lord! The new dark elves had grown ustomed to their new life in the dungeon in their own way. Everyone was busy with either jobs assigned to them or training, something that had be a mainstay for all the women. They still needed to be ustomed to Aura though, as they all shook like leaves in the wind when the impossibly strong wolf-eared woman was present. Theo had already fallen behind Rhea in strength as she overwhelmed him in abilities and mana capacity, something that made him feel deeply depressed. "Theo, what are you doing?" Rhea asked him with a frown as he was taking a break. "That I was just thinking of checking the fields" "They''re fine, but you are falling behind everyone else in strength. You need to be more dedicated to this." "That''s easy for you to say! You have Styx''s help in getting stronger!" He burst out in a moment of frustration. "Pardon?" Rhea''s voice became chilly and frightened Theo to the core. Rhea then beat Theo until he was battered and bruised. She had taken over the dominant position in the rtionship and he was forced to agree with whatever she wanted. He secretly thought it was Styx''s fault due to the piece of him inside of her mind somehow, but he didn''t dare say that out loud. She still treated him kindly, even tending to his wounds after beating him up, but she had developed a habit of bossing him around. His feelings to her were both deeply affectionate to her while also grieved in the way she treated him, leading to a deeply conflicted emotion within himself. On another side of the training field, where there was nobody sparring, Piri was ying with the new ve children. Styx had created various balls and even board games for the children, teaching them various games which they were immediately enraptured by. The ve girl had been ced under the custody of Piri''s family, so they were almost sisters, while the two ve boys were under the custody of Arth, the new dark elf who was a Apprentice Stonecarver. Said dark elf was currently watching over the children from the distance while working on various carvings, trying to understand and even expand Styx''s current designs that he was using. The ve girl''s name was Avora, while the boys were Felix and Thomas. They smiled andughed while kicking a Styx and Therina made ser ball around. The game was ser, except on a smaller field to amodate just four children. The ves were at a disadvantage though as they were not allowed to hurt or be rough with Piri and often had to give way to her. Despite this, the boys one in a game of girls vs boys, mainly because Piri was simply terrible at the game. This led to the little dark elf girl pouting in displeasure for the next hour. Another one of the new dark elves, Vivy, the exotic beauty with long legs and a fondness for being attended to by multiple men, was training with the others. She was known as a useless hunter back in the vige because she had terrible tracking skills, but her strength was indeed the real deal. Last night, Styx guiltily enjoyed watching her make thempete over massages her muscles and other, more erotic tasks before she "awarded" her virginity to Zac. Gimil wasn''t to be left out in herpletely raunchy night. Of all the new dark elves, she definitely seemed to be the happiest now that her long hidden fantasy had be a reality. She even made more prompts to Arth and tried to entice him with her body but was promptly turned down by the Apprentice Stonecarver. ~~~~~ Styx was currently in a personal study of his which he had made bookshelves to start storing all of the new books on magic and other, worldly knowledge. Beatrice and Aura were currently in the room with him. Beatrice''s task was to help catalogue his collection and record things down for him, recing Rhea while she was busy training. Aura was currently sitting in front of Styx with while he brushed her long, bushy tail. He was bncing this task while also studying through all the new magic books and also creating a course schedule for Piri and the ve children. Beatrice was the second clothing and other fabric maker as well. She had more experience, and was more skilled in the trade than Therina was. Thetter was far stronger than her inbat though, as she had brutally learned during sparring. Styx helped heal her bruised and battered body, several bones even fractured, but she wouldn''t be forgetting the pain any time soon. That tree elf held no mercy when training, towards herself and others. "I''m all done," Styx said as he finished brushing thest part of Aura''s tail. Styx felt the disappointment in Aura''s emotions and reached forward for the woman, wrapping his arms around her neck from behind and pulling her into his embrace, an action she surprisingly didn''t reject. "Oh? Have you finally given in?" Styx whispered as he nuzzled his face against her ears. "I need to get stronger." She responded in a nonchnt way, but he could feel her emotions and guessed what the issue was. He tilted her head back so that they were looking eye to eye. "You are at Max Level, aren''t you." "Yes." "I don''t know how much I can help you right now, you manawork channels are currently farrger than I can manipte. I may be able to help a bit though." Styx extended his mana tendril which pushed their way into Aura''s enormous manawork. He tried to control them inside of her, but it was like trying to hold an umbre steady in a cyclone one misstep and everything would fly out of control. "It seems like I can have some impact currently, but it''s very minimal. High level spiritual fruits would work better though." Styx looked at her innocent face and plump lips, feeling drawn in by her beauty. He leaned his face in closer to hers, knowing full well she could very easy behead his avatar without him even realizing. Beatrice turned her head away with a faint blush on the tips of her ears, still unustomed to seeing him being intimate with others. Despite the danger, his libido won out over reasoning and he ced his lips of the wolf-eared woman''s own. He felt like a jolt of electricity shot through him and the heavenly feeling of her soft lips pressed against his. Aura had zero experience of knowledge in kissing and merely let Styx do what he wanted, partially trying to mimic his actions. As a further feat of courting death, he extended his tongue and tried to pry open her lips. Aura froze briefly before parting her lips and letting the tongue in. Inside of her mouth was hot, and singingly his tongue level hot. His tongue brushed past her teeth and razor sharp canines that could chew metal like candy, finally finding her own burning hot tongue. Styx''s saliva ran from his mouth to Aura''s, whom swallowed along with her own without a second thought. She also started licking his tongue, but almost crushed and ripped it out of his mouth despite how gentle she was trying to be. Blood ran from his tongue from where her canines cut it, flowing freely into the wolfgirl''s mouth. Her heaven defying beauty caused him to push on regardless of the pain, but soon, just her mouth wasn''t enough. Looking down from the top, he had a perfect view of her deep cleavage and his wolfish hands tried to sneak through the cor of her shirt and grasp her very prominent breasts. Just before he could, she suddenly vanished from inside of his arms and the room together. Styx was stunned briefly, but saw through her sight that she had left the dungeon again. He was left with an engorged rod in his pants and lust which wasn''t going away any by itself. He turned and looked toward Beatrice who was still in the room, the prim dark elf turning her head and stating, "There is still a lot of work to be done." "No worry, no worry. We can do both at once," He responded with a sly grin and hinted for the dark elf toe over. Styx patted the creases out of his clothes and held a book in one had while Beatrice sat on hisp. "Do we have to do it here?" She scolded with a stern expression, yet the emotions Styx felt from her were filled with tenderness. The back of her skirt was raised and his penis was squeezed between her thighs as she softly stroked it. She also kept squirming which inevitably rubbed it between her thighs. Styx wasn''t even focusing on the magic book anymore and had put his hands up Beatrice''s shirt and was strongly grasping herrge breasts. "Mmmph." Styx groaned as Beatrice''s hands grasped and stroked his penis while her squishy thighs rubbed together on the sides and moist unblemished vagina rubbed against the underside. Thebination of all the pleasurable feelings caused him to very quickly reach a climax, and without even prating her, released a thick load of dungeon seed on her thighs, abdomen, and inside of her skirt. "Eh?" Beatrice froze in shock as she felt what happened, happen. She turned her head and looked at Styx wide eyed. "Would you like to continue?" "I need to clean myself." Secretly embarrassed with dungeon seed dirtying the inside of her clothes and running down her thighs, she quickly departed the room and headed towards the private bath next to Styx''s new room for his women only. Along the way, she had run into Rhea, Zac and Gimil, whom she had scolded for them being indecent and to go check on the fields. ~~~~~ "How is it?" Styx asked Aura through her mind as he saw her shing around the Abyssal Forest haphazardly and killing several monsters which the appearance alone deeply intimidated him. "It works, but only a little." She confessed that she had earned some more experience, but the increased amount was negligiblepared to what she needed to level up. "It is a long process when your strength is greater than mine by so much, but I will always help my things. Are you finally willing to be my woman, then?" Aura thought long about this with an unchanging expression before simply stating, "Raise my Max Level and help me be stronger. I will then." Styx was ted at this news and mentally pped his hands. She had previously been a guest NPC whom he couldn''t order around, but now he would be able to. He also knew that it was rted to thest time she left the dungeon and got into a grand battle which tore space itself apart. Or at least that''s what he thought, the signals he was getting from her at the time were so chaotic he had to filter them all out. The end result of that battle was she had to grudgingly flee, and that was all he knew about it. It was enough for him at least. "Very well, I will hold you to that. First, show me your status." "How?" "I am looking through your eyes. You just need to open it before you and I will see it." Aura nodded her head and opened her status, which caused Styx to be so frightened for a moment that even the blue glow of his core vanished deep within itself. [ Species: Phantom World Devouring Wolf Name: Aura Age: 347 Mana: 31,755/32,324 Exp: 378,420/1,088,510 Level: 83 Str: 597 Dex: 630 End: 540 Vit: 543 Int: 470 Mnd: 413 Lck: 13 Skills: Omnivore Overeating Hyperspeed Gluttony Sloth Instant Regeneration Presence Erasure Mana Burst Polymorph Spatial Movement Time Stagnation Imprable Skin Phantasmal Fangs World Devourer Phantasmagoria Titles: Kin Eater, Invader, Human Enemy, Human Nemesis, Human Cmity, Elf Enemy, Elf Nemesis, Consumer of All, World Devourer, Monster Lord, Forbidden Zone Ruler, God Defier, Phantasm Ruler ] "Aura you''re a Fifth Step Monster Lord?" Styx asked in her mind while stuck in disbelief. Her answer was simple, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Yes." He knew she was strong, but this was in apletely different level of "strong". His expectations were that she waste Third Step, maybe even a Fourth Step at most. This was so shocking he didn''t even realize that she had officially epted the name "Aura", which was also disyed on her status. As he thought about how frequently he tried to fondle her breasts or grab her ass, he realized just how close he was to causing his own death. The pressure she exerted on everyone with just her presence did nothing to give justice to the amount of power she was capable of. This was all mostly likely what was felt under the full strength of Presence Erasure, a higher level, upgraded form of the simple Concealment. Judging by some of her skills, Styx estimated that she could destroy the entire Maple Dragon Kingdom. This begged the question in his mind about why she, and the other Monster Lords in the Abyssal Forest and other forbidden zones, didn''t. This Monster Lord was also somehow willing to bepletely his should he be able to fulfil her demands. The thought of what he could do if she followed all of hismands made countless plots hatch in his mind. [ Announcement: The Myriad Flower Devil Festival is now beginning. Defeat and collect devil flowers during the following 7 days and turn them in to any public stele for points to purchase and win rewards! The points are as follows: Yellow Devil Flower 1p Crimson Devil Flower 10p Blood Gold Devil Flower 100p Brimstone Devil Flower 1,000p Tortured Soul Devil Flower 10,000p Resentful God Devil Flower 100,000p Other ???p Caution: Devil flowers will not be captured willingly. They will attack any who target their kin with a vengeance that will not end until the festival conclusion. ] "Well, this is unexpected," Styx said to himself as he saw the notification which could have onlye from the powers which govern this infinite myriad world filled with war. Chapter 52: Myriad Flower Devil Festival Chapter 52: Myriad Flower Devil Festival "Aura,e back to the dungeon," Styx informed the wolfgirl whom was currently wandering around in the depths of the Abyssal Forest. She suddenly vanished and reappeared in the dungeon next to Styx. While he still couldn''t understand how she moved, he could guess based on her status. It was likely abination of several things, such as Spatial Movement, Time Stagnation, raw stats, and possibly even Phantasmagoria. "Aura, if you are one of the Fifth Step Monster Lords, why are you and the others always within the Abyssal Forest and don''t leave?" "We can''t leave." "Eh, why?" "Goddess." Styx felt like there was a huge story behind this, so he pushed the woman to borate while enticing her by brushing her pitch ck tail and hair. "I used to go out seeking for food. Humans fought back a lot and were quite tasty, so it worked, I suppose. The kingdom has a goddess who presides over it though, and once the damage is too great, or beyond what they can contend with, she will descend to erase the problem." "Eh?! What goddess?" "I don''t know, but she was very strong. I barely survived and was then told of the agreement between her and the monster. She won''t descend as long as we don''t actively attack the humans. Once we do, we will not be able to live anymore." Styx pinched her brow and felt like the shadow of the kingdom he was in had suddenly be muchrger. He would have to ensure he didn''t cause enough damage to attract the ire of the goddess, and keep Aura out of the human''s radar. There was no issue in having her protect the dungeon from devil flowers though, which would allow him to earn a huge number of points. He also called the elves in and told them to go out and start collecting devil flowers. He was surprised to learn that a crystalline stele had appeared in the heart of his dungeon, as if it knew there were people living inside of it. With the opportunity presented before him, he didn''t see why he shouldn''t take advantage of it. They weren''t exactly flowers themselves, but a type of nt based monster which almost looked likerge flowers. Yellow Devil and Crimson Devils flowers were all over the outskirts of the Abyssal Forest, each about as tall as a person''s knee and were non aggressive until someone attacked them. Each flower devil killed was worth the same number of aggression as points from exchanging the flower they leave behind upon death. By killing a Crimson Devil Flower, you would earn 10 aggression. This would cause at minimum another Crimson Devil Flower, or ten Yellow Devil Flowers to attack you or the stronghold you were hiding within. By killing an attacker, this would remove the aggression, but also add an equal amount back, effectively bringing a null change to the amount of total aggression and making anothere from somewhere and attack at some point of time. However, this is just the minimum and the total aggression would increase over time. This continued until the end of the festival, and meant that one had to manage their aggression and not attract more devil flowers than they could fight off. One could also spend points to lower their aggression at a ratio of 1 point to 10 aggression. Anybody could safely harvest points by keeping their aggression close to zero, but this would also give them a much smaller amount of opportunities to earn points. While the elves were out earning the initial points, Styx built some fortifications in the dungeon while preparing the monsters for the devil flowers which would attack the dungeon. They were all armored and ced in defensive positions. Aura was also asked to go to a certain spot, but she just ignored that and stayed beside Styx. ~~~~~ Outside of the dungeon and in the forest, the elves scattered under the moonlight and begun killing as many flower devils as they could. Styx had the brilliant idea of making Aura also kill them, of which she could probably clean out a significant portion of the forest alone. Unfortunately, she justined it was bothersome and went back to having her tailbed. The flower devils in the forest were primarily Yellow Devil Flowers and Crimson Devil Flowers, with the asional Second Step Blood Gold Devil Flower. The Second Step devil flowers were weaker than the standard newbie Second Step ranker, so the elves could easily kill one with two of them working together. Therina''s sword shed under the moonlight as she severed the stalk bodies of countless devil flowers. The flowers gave very little experience each, but there was arge number of them, countering that issue. Elena held a shorter weapon and would strike even faster than Therina, but was less powerful with each attack. She was like an assassin in the night, weaving through the trees silently and killing whoever she passed. Rhea was more graceful and more skilled with a bow, so she had trouble with these enemies. She did know some magic though and threw water des at the weak points on their stalks whenever she could. ir and Kale fought together in perfect coordination. Kale creating dimensional des and barriers to support ir who was physically the stronger of the two. Of the new dark elves, only Niah, Vivy, and Vivy''s two men went out far to kill flower devils and return with the spoils. The others kept close to the dungeon and killed some Yellow and Crimson Devil Flowers for experience Kale could also store all the collected flowers together in a dimensional pocket, so they had a massive collection once they all returned. Styx counted a total of: [ 635x Yellow Devil Flower 635p 102x Crimson Devil Flower 1,020p 18x Blood Gold Devil Flower 1,800p 3x Brimstone Devil Flower 3,000p ] This was a total of 6,455 points, and an equal amount of aggression. He looked at the stele in the heart of the dungeon and inspected the leaderboard, rewards, and shop there: [ Mortal Leaderboard: 1st: Abyss Kings Gctic Empire........ 225,200,509p 2nd: Ulcien Regressors Universe Empire.... 223,908,300p 3rd: Laurent Intergctic Empire ....... 219,555,000p 4th: Human Intergctic Federation....... 216,207,498p 5th: Monster King Confederacy.......... 216,202,111p 6th: Star Gazer Gctic Empire.......... 215,987,509p 7th: Heaven................ 215,312,250p 8th: North Cluster Universe Empire...... 214,888,012p 9th: Geneva Explosion Conglomeracy........ 212,520,006p 10th: Juniper Intergctic Empire........ 212,255,609p . . . 6,749,344th: Styx................ 6,455p ] [ Mortal Leaderboard Prizes (End of Event): 1st: Elysium Sky Fortress 2nd: 99 Ritual ss Magic Spells 3rd: T9 Defensive Array Blueprint 4th: T9 Offensive Cannon Blueprint 5th: T6 Warp Engine 6th: SS-Tier Dungeon Core 7th: S-Tier Dungeon Core 8th: Secret Mortal ne Invasion Token 9th: T4 Energy Gathering Array Blueprint 10th: Divinity Shard ] [ Store: Divinity Shard 150,000,000p A-Tier Dungeon Core 120,000,000p Worldstone Core 115,000,000p . . . Inferno Spear 4,000p Intermediate Monster Repelling Charm 2,300p 1x Gold Coin 2,250p . . . ] "What the fuck! This is a fantasy world, right?!" Styx shouted in a tirade as soon as he checked the stele. "Not to mention, this is clearly fucking pay to win!" "What?" Aura asked while tilting her head in puzzlement at his outrage. Styx exined what pay to win was, which left Aura to ask him, "But isn''t that natural? The weak cannot beat the strong." "But this isn''t how it is supposed to go!" "How is it supposed to go?" "You know, equal chance for everyone to win." "It''s your fault for being weak." Styx understood this principle, but he was still outraged at the unfairness of it. "But how do they earn this many points, and so fast." "Weapons." "What?" "They use weapons which go boom, zap and zing. Bigger weapons, bigger booms, zaps and zings." Styx sighed and thought of the nearby dungeon city. "Does this kingdom have these kinds of weapons?" "Yes." "What kind?" "The kind that go bo-" "Okay, I get it!" Styx cut her off and pinched his brows in frustration. He knew this fantasy world was a bit too modern thanks to the integration of magic in technology and production processes, but this was too much science fiction for him toprehend. There were also other things in the leaderboard that made him both worried and curious. ''Why is Heaven in the leaderboards for god''s sake. Is it the same Heaven that I knew from my past life?" ~~~~~ Lagoon Porter City was currently in high alert mode. Hundreds of thousands of people charge out of the gates at the global announcement of this new festival. They wanted to earn points at the start when it was the safest to do so. Once the aggression against the city reached a certain point, they would be under constant siege. Adventurers, mercenaries, and any other person could sign up to take part in the city defense during the festival. A portion of the earnings would then be distributed to them equally based on their overall contribution. Duke Ashburn had currently rushed to the city wall with his son Gabralter in tow. Gigantic orbs of light were lit up above the walls and currently shedding light on all the city''s surroundings. Once everyone returned, it is estimated that the city would earn in excess of several million aggression. By this point, they would be under constant siege and it would be too dangerous for individuals to leave the city again. "Arm the manaburst cannons!" The dukemanded to soldiers who hurriedly rushed off to pass on or carry out their orders. "See dad, I told you this festival wasing!" Gabralter called out to defend his earlier case of predicting what events were to take ce. The duke didn''t say anything and just nced at his son before returning his gaze to out over the walls. Large, hidden hatches opened and giant cannons on top of iron pirs rose into the sky. They stopped a dozen meters above the walls and the cannons tilted forward to face outwards. These weren''t the kind that shot cannonballs, but giant science fiction looking monstrosities with a barrel two meters wide and four high. They were made from refined iridium superalloy and a Second Step monster couldn''t even damage one. They were to be mistaken for product of science though. The excessivelyplex arrays within the barrel and around the barrel opening came to life and lit up as mana was redirected into them from the dungeon''s manawork, which effectively turned off all the monster spawners. The cannons took almost an hour to fully warm up, and if enough mana was supplied to them, even a Fourth Step monster had to avoid a concentrated barrage else it too could die. "Hey, I''ve never seen those before," A young city guard recruit on the wall whispered to his friend. "What? Were you not paying attention in training?" His friend rebuked in mock. "Well, you know, you don''t need to be all that intelligent to get a job as a guard" "Sigh Do you remember that fad with guns?" "Oh, yeah, I remember hearing of that in school. That''s ancient history now, isn''t it? At least several centuries." "350 years ago, to be precise. At the time, there was a small group of individuals who discovered gunpowder and made what they call guns. As everything was powered by magic, there was a lot of promise and expectations in this new idea. Everyone bought a gun, excited to have one and future prospects it held." "That died though, right?" "Came and went like the fad it was. Gunpowder turned into a dead end pretty quick, but these people''s inventions inspired some of the greatest magitech engineers to create the first mana burst cannon. These cannons are a few decades old, but they are testament to nearly 300 years of research and development." "Is that so, but who wants to study all that old knowledge though." "Its basic knowledge taught in school you blockhead! Listen a bit more! But boy, wait to these things fire. Standing this close to it, even a Second Step ranker''s bones will shake." Chapter 53: Humans in the Forest Chapter 53: Human''s in the Forest Within the dungeon, there were barricades of iron and wood set up at regr intervals. Armored monsters with ws and fangsid in wait while the forest assassins, midnight guards and treant spirits all had ded weapons for cutting the devil flowers weak point, their stem body. The monsters attacked in waves, usually as a mass of Yellow Devil Flowers, which hadrge, dirty yellow petals around its head and attacked by whipping its long, vine-like arms. Crimson Devil Flowers were an agry red color, and not only attacked by whipping vines, but also released a red phosphorous powder every time it shook itsrge flower head. This powder highly irritated the eyes and nose, impacting the receiver''s ability tobat them. Blood Gold Devil Flowers were Second Step enemies and the second most dangerous enemy that Styx had tobat. They had a dark red and gold color flower as a head and their body also had a gold sheen to it. What made these flowers dangerous was not just their rank being above his elves and monsters, but they were extremely sturdy. They only attacked with vine arms, but those vines would split and blow apart stone, let alone a fleshy body. A rookie would even be split clean in half by the amount of force behind their attacks. They were just as equally sturdy, their bodies resistant to both blunt and sharp weapons. Cutting through their stem was like cutting through a bar of steel and required a huge amount of strength. Brimstone Devil Flowers were the most dangerous as they hadva like petals and vomited streams ofve from the stigma of their flower heads. They were thankfully not as resilient to damage as the Blood Gold Devil Flowers, but they did also cause the air around them to superheat and burn anyone that was too close to them. The first wave of attacks entered the dungeon as the devil flowers charged with reckless abandon. The monsters roared in response and attack with equal aggression. There were two living golems at the front of the pack to crush and fight back as many devil flowers as possible to prevent them bypassing the barricade. Stone-tailed foxes then crushed and tore any devil flowers which got further. The carnivorous vine Therina gave birth to a while ago was also taking an active position to destroy the devil flowers. It was a mass of vines with bright red thorns all over it. Whenever a flower devil came near it, it would quickly capture it in a mass of vines and tear it into shreds with its deadly thorns. The monsters with swords, sabres and daggers ganged up on quickly killing any Second Step devil flower which appeared. The blood crystal bees were mostly useless against this kind of monster which was resistant to being stabbed, and a nigh full immunity to their poison. Styxined that he needed to create a pesticide to earn a huge number of points, but he had neither the resources or equipment to make such a thing. The elves found themselves with little to do to support the monsters so Styx sent most of them back outside of the dungeon between waves to collect more aggression. Whilst each devil flower only gave very little experience, they had all levelled up and were now the following levels: [ Therina Thatcher Elena Bowman ir Apprentice Hunter Kale Novice Dimension Mage Rhea Farmer Theo Farmer Niah Dancer Vivy Apprentice Hunter Zac Farmer Gimil Butcher Still in training: Piri None Asta Novice Earth Spiritualist Joel Novice Stonemason Fiore Apprentice Hunter Beatrice Seamstress Arth Novice Stonemason ] Vivy had reached the limit of the First Step and her next action would be to ss Up, she could then be a Hunter just like the Second Step ranker from the Silver Wheel Investment Company, or another ss which he built up experience unlocked for her. Styx had already told her toe to him when it was time so he could decide for her. She was unsure about leaving that decision to someone else, but could only sigh in resignation as he insisted. "If all the ground troops decide what they want to upgrade into by themselves, most of them would make poor decisions." Or so he had stated in her mind when she asked if she could choose. He had said he will ept her input on it, but she was his, and so was the final decision. Niah stuck by Styx''s side in the throne room alongside Beatrice who stood off to the side. Aura had departed the room and nestled herself in Styx''s bed, arge, intricately designed spring loaded mattress that took a long time and both Therina and Beatrice''s help to create. The wolf-eared woman had taken a deep liking to it and would often choose to sleep in it when it was unupied. She didn''t need sleep anywhere near what she upied the bed for, she merely liked sleeping, which this bed was a new haven for. She refused to sleep with Styx and the other women no matter how many times he tried to convince her to, and would simply leave the bed whenever it was time for Styx''s avatar or the girls to sleep. Dungeon Styx never slept, but the avatar was made of flesh and bone and required sleep to function properly. Back in the throne room, Niah flirtatiously sat astride Styx''sp and ran her fingers across his chest. "Can you do it again?" She whispered with a giggle before Styx''s mana tendrils drilled into her body and begun massaging her manawork channels, helping expand and strengthen them. "Hunnnnn," Niah purred in pleasure at the feeling of being so intimately embraced while she showered him with kisses and tightly squeezed one of his hands between her thigh. "Aren''t you eager." Styx wasn''t to be outdone and stole her lips, pressing his tongue into her mouth. With all the usage of his avatar, his Avatar Creation skill had reached and be almost twice as strong as before. He grabbed onto her thigh with his constricted hand and begun sliding it up towards her secret garden. Niah kissed him more passionately as his fingers pushed through he closed thighs and reached her bare vagina. His fingertips rubbed up and down the hot slit,bing through her vaginal folds and teasing her clitoris. A slick fluid quickly covered her pink folds and his finger as he spread her juices around. "Hunnnnn~~ don''t be shy, you can put it in." Niah erotically whispered into his ear and even pushed her waist against his hand and causing the finger tip to enter her tight vaginal entrance. Styx turned his gaze and looked at Beatrice with a quizzical expression. He could feel her emotions currently spreading through their bond and to him. "Would you like to join?" "No" Beatrice curtly responded and turned her head away, to tips of her pointed ears turning fron light grey to a reddish tinge. Styx merely rolled his eyes and dug his finger deep inside Niah''s tight pussy. He extended more mana tendrils from his finger and caused her entire body to spasm and cling onto him tightly as he climaxed. "That''s no fair," Sheined as she rubbed the side of her face against his. Niah may be erotic and sensitive, and have a body Styx desired greatly, but he knew that Beatrice was secretly even more sensitive than Niah. She struggled to express herself, but Styx could feel her emotions directly through their bond. Even though she appeared displeased currently, he could tell that she was currently very turned on. "We will continue thister," He said as the first wave of devil flowers were defeated and left behind a huge number of flowers to be exchanged for points. "With you too, Beatrice." Therge breasted, yet prim dark elf briefly nodded her head while refusing to look at Styx, making him chuckle. ~~~~~ Outside the dungeon, Therina, Elena and the other elves were hunting more devil flowers when they started finding parties of humans from the nearby dungeon city also in the forest. The humans had spread out from the city en masse, and they had now also reached the Abyssal Forest where the elves lived. "What is there to think about, just kill them all." The elves flittered through the treetops under the moonlight and whispered ns to one another. Therina was the most aggressive individual in that she wanted to ughter every human. She also held the highest position among Styx''s women, so her words held the most weight too. ir thought about it and responded, "Wait, we should bring back as many as we can for Styx to kill. We shouldn''t be in a hurry to level up again if we can avoid it." Kale naturally supported her twin while Therina considered and nodded her head in agreement. "Hang on," Vivy called out while shifting her gaze around. "If there are any attractive males, can you leave them for me?" "Fine," Elena stated while sighing in resignation. "Make sure Styx agrees to anything first, or you may have zero men." "Of course, of course." Vivy hopped in tion and was instantly fully motivated.'' One particr group of humans was passing beneath them werepletely unaware of the danger when arrows flew down from above. "Attack!" They shouted and those that could still stand rapidly moved into defensive positions. Several humans had an arrow through their leg or hip, crippling their movement ability. They tries to fight back but the elves attacked without hesitation and overwhelmed them before they had a chance. They were only First Step adventurer''s and were caught byplete surprise. "Don''t move," Therina red down at the humans on the ground as the group approached them with weapons drawn. One of the humans knew magic and cast a fireball at Therina from the ground in a sneak attack, but Kale created a dimensional barrier with the wave of her hand and blocked the cannonball-like fireball, which exploded after hitting the nearly invisible barrier and sent splinters of fire all over the area, igniting several piles of dead leaves and twigs. With another wave of her hand as if it were the most natural thing in the world, that adventurer''s head was cleanly severed and fell to the ground with a soft thump. [ Henderson (Apprentice Fire Mage ) killed! + 583 exp ] "Wuu, I levelled up again. I''m going to have to ask Styx to take extra long expanding my manawork," Kale faked being sad and clung onto ir, whom rolled her eyes at her. The human clearly didn''t know that all the female elves could see mana, else he wouldn''t have tried something as foolish as using a fireball in a surprise attack. They had all already detected it the moment he started gathering mana "A shame, he was kind of good looking for a human," Vivy mumbled under her breath as they dragged the humans back to be locked away or directly killed in the dungeon. They werepletely disarmed as half of them tried to fight back to theirst breath, while the remainder were smarter and bided their time to try and escape when a chance prevented itself. The elves repeated this process and captured lots of humans. They needed around 10,000 experience points to level up anyway, so it didn''t matter that they killed quite a few of the humans. There was greater danger when a Second Step ranker appeared though, sometimes even multiple. Therina and the others had improved a lot and could handle one as long as they were under , but were forced to flee into the night when a stronger ranker cast a rain of deadly fireballs at them or a mana reinforced sword to cut them apart like stalks of wheat. They even managed to kill two weaker Second Step individuals by relying on an ambush and superior teamwork. ir did suffer a grievous leg injury and they were forced to reign in their aggressiveness towards the humans for the night. It was impossible to tell how strong a human was just from outward appearance, so that was an idental mishap in which they attacked a woman who was far stronger than she appeared. Elena rapidly healed the injury with Mana-Health Conversion, but that high levelled Second Step ranker was hunting after them and had also called severalpanions. Back in the dungeon, there was arge number of humans imprisoned in a makeshift prison. The adventurer''s and mercenaries were sly, constantly looking for a way out without fear. They were waiting for the right moment to strike while they tended to their wounds, whispering to one another with grim expressions. Not a single movement of theirs went unobserved by Styx though. He was monitoring all the elves, the dungeon''s defenses, Niah who was still shamelessly flirting with him, and the sleeping Aura because he couldn''t stop staring at her sleeping expression. "Girls," Styx spoke in an annoyed tone. "I''m happy for all the experience, but you need to be focusing on devil flowers, not just the humans." They all coughed awkwardly and shifted their gaze away from his in guilt. Chapter 54: (Regressor) The First Night Chapter 54: (Regressor) The First Night All the adventurers, mercenaries, evenmon citizens who rushed out to collect devil flowers returned as soon as they could no longer defend themselves. A lot of people didn''t return at all, either dying to devil flowers or by other killing them to loot their earnings. Gabralter stood beside Duke Ashburn, whom looked over all of the people returning with their earnings with a sharp gaze. He didn''t care that people died outside the city, as this was a dangerous world with people dying in every corner of it. There was a judicial system which people could use to use someone of their actions and seek amends, but neither the duke nor the guards would actively target criminals unless their actions took ce within the city walls or there was a public arrest warrant out on them. Once they begun filing back into the city, the devil flowers started following. A giant wave of them worth millions of points began chasing behind them. "Sound the rm," Duke Ashburn ordered the guardmanders standing beside him. "Anybody not within the gates within time will have to seek their own survival until the end of this wave." A ring siren sounded from the top of the wall, indicating that the city gates were about to go into lockdown. Another guardmander ced his hand on a voice amplification array in one of the guard towers and poured his mana into it. "All citizens, the gates will be closed in 10 minutes. I repeat, the gates will be closed within ten minutes. Anybody not inside the city within that time will have to seek their own survival." The guardmander''s voice echoed out across the ins and hills, warning all the people returning of the deadline. Many people panicked and rushed towards the nearest gate as fast as they could. The Second Step rankers had it easiest. They were much faster than First Step rankers, and had higher level skills too. They vanished into shadows and appeared from of others, rode the wind or employedplicated footwork techniques to rapidly increase their speed. As for the rare Third Step rankers, they made the Second Step rankers appear to be First Step rankers as they moved even faster, employing ground shrinking techniques or even short distance teleportation. Their movements were casual, but the very air itself around them shook when they moved. A Third Step ranker could of course defend themselves from arge number of devil flowers, but nobody wanted to be caught between an entire city''s worth of aggression and the city''s defenders. About 90 percent of the people outside managed to get in the walls in time before the gates mmed shut. The remaining people howled outside of the gate to let them in or fled in different directions to not be caught in the crossfire. Gabralter and Duke Ashburn ignored those people as the city prepared itself to defend against the iing wave. Hundreds of thousands of devil flowers charged at the walls across the ins, and while each made only a small amount of sound, the total aggregate noise was thunderous. "All defenders, attack at will!" The dukemanded and swung his sword at the devil flowers,unching a giant wind de which chopped nearly a hundred devil flowers in half and tore the ground asunder. Gabralter admired his father''s strength, which was in the upper reaches of the Third Step. He stood on the edge of the city wall and every swing of his sword sent dirt and devil flowers flying all over the ce. Chaos fell upon the battlefield as skills of all kinds rained upon the devil flowers. A First Step Apprentice Fire Mage cast several fireballs while monitoring his mana levels while right next to him, a Third Step Earth Rending Mage created a giant dragon made from rocks and dirt which trampled through the battlefield and crushed and tore countless devil flowers into pieces. Archers used area wide attacks and rained curtains of arrows across the battlefield. With such arge force, there were a lot of Third Step Tortured Soul Devil Flowers. These flowers stood approximately four meters tall and had giant, deathly grey petals. Their petals were partially transparent and offered a view into the other shore, where dead souls resided. These souls would enter the world of the living through these petals and charge at anything living, ripping their souls out of their body before carrying them back to thend of the dead, where they would feast upon them.'' Fourth Step Resentful God Devil Flowers were the leaders of the army and very sparse in number. They stood nearly ten meters tall and flicked their enormous flower heads in wide circles, releasing enormous ck spears of light which elerated across the battlefield and shot at the city walls. They were also extremely sturdy and even ordinary Third Step rankers'' skills had difficulty causing any significant damage on them. "Raise the defensive array!" Duke Ashburn shouted as the deadly attacks shot at the city. Countless huge andplex arrays lit up on the city walls, creating a thick transparent barrier over it. The ck spears of light crashed into this barrier and the entire city trembled from the force behind them. The barrier itself was covered in cracks, but it quickly started repairing itself with more mana being put into it from piles of mana gems in storage tanks. A resentful soul climbed up and over the barrier over the city wall and lunged at a Second Step adventurer who reflexively swung a mace at the enemy in panic. The mace passed through the resentful soul without affecting it, while the soul flew straight through the adventurer''s body, ripping out his own soul without any resistance. The twisted, resentful soul flew up into the air with its ws in the adventurer''s soul, biting into it with it razor sharp teeth before flying back to the Tortured Soul Devil Flower it came out of. That adventurer''s soul iled and screamed, a scream which his sound couldn''t audibly express, but the expression on his face made any onlooker feel that scream. His body was like a puppet with its string cut the moment his soul was torn from his body, dropping to the ground with lifeless, dead eyes. "Target the Third and Fourth Step enemies with the cannons! Fire without hesitation!" The giant manaburst cannons rotated on the top of their support pirs, targeting the most deadly devil flowers. The blue light inside the cannons'' barrel exponentially increased before the entire city wall shook and the battlefield exploded. Each cannon produced a thunderous boom as all the hypercondensed mana was released as a singr beam. All the defenders ducked their head instinctively as the impact point of these beams exploded in a maelstrom of mana which destroyed everything nearby. Multiple shockwaves wreaked havoc amongst the weaker devil flowers and hit the city wall, creating another quake through its foundations and causing a storm of wind to pass over the top of it that even Second Step rankers had to brace themselves for. Gabralter hid behind the battlement wall while Duke Ashburn himself resisted the shockwave and following storm with his body alone. His hair flew back, and swirls of air currents could be visibly seen around his body, yet he stood as firm as a steel rampart. Light blue smoke constantly trailed from the cannons'' giant barrels as they begun recharging for the next attack. All the high rank devil flowers and most of the smaller minions had been destroyed in this barrage though, so the city defenders were the only force to kill the remainder of them. "There will be some time until the next wave, the city guard and collection teams are to go collect the fallen devil flower loot," The duke used a personal voice amplifying device to spread hismand across the city wall and to all defenders. "All volunteers are to remain in ce until your distribution of the profits are to be divided." Along with the duke''s words, the city gates opened and hundreds of carts and nearly ten thousand workers entered the ruins of the battlefield. They quickly and efficiently collected all the devil flowers left upon the death of the monster. Many lower level flowers had been destroyed in the battle, especially from the manaburst cannons, but the overwhelming majority had survived. No amount of damage to them would devalue them either, and was only if they werepletely destroyed. The flowers were carted back into the heart of the city where they were quickly tallied and divided based on earnings. Any expenses in reducing aggression came out first, but the remaining part were then dividing into the following ratio: [ Total Points Profit: 3,475,112p 50% Maple Dragon Kingdom Earnings 1,737,556 20% City Earnings 695,023 15% City Guard Earnings 521,267 10% First and Second Step Volunteer Earnings 347,511 3% Third Step Volunteer Earnings 104,253 2% Duke''s Personal Earnings 69,502 ] The sun began to rise over the horizon as if signalling the end to the war, but this was only the first wave. The Maple Dragon Kingdom earned over 400 million points by sunrise, but it was ranked in the 10,000s as the top empires which spanned across worlds had already earned billions. Gabralter looked up into the slowly brightening night sky and wondered what those kinds of megalithic empires looked like. The Maple Dragon Kingdom was already a terrifyingly strong presence in his mind, fighting off the Neth''rite Demon Kingdom armies along their eastern border for centuries. "Allmanders are to immediately report to the northern briefing room," Duke Ashburnmanded over the city wall and to all the higher ups before turning to his son. "You too Gab. Come with me to attend this meeting." "Yes, dad!" Gabralter gave a military salute, although his father waved for him not to give him the formalities and led the way to a briefing room where all the guardmanders gathered. "Report the damages to me. How are the losses of personnel?" Themanders each reported the number of deaths and injuries. "So, there are currently a total of 27 city guard deaths, 134 volunteer deaths, and 1,248 people still seeking treatment from emissaries of the Eve Temple." "Correct, Duke!" "It''s not too bad, but I want it lower. We can have more and more people dying every wave. Reduce that number to 10 percent of the current in the next wave. Should we be unable to cope, I will lower the aggression to a more manageable amount." "Understood!" The next wave was expected to arrive in several hours so everyone rushed off toplete their tasks, ready the defenders for the next wave, and also establish a shift rotation for defending the wall. "Dad, do you believe me now?" The duke looked at his son and merely stated, "Evidence is required." "What do you mean?! I told you what would happen, didn-" Duke Ashburn raised a hand and cut his son off. "I have sent a message to Duchess Euklid that your warning originated from a highly reputable diviner currently within our territory and precautions should be put in ce. Any further promations require concrete evidence to sustain any action against them." Gabralter bit his lip in frustration. He was thankful that he had already given information to The Relevant''s reporters, so they would force his father into taking action and by extension, saving Therina. Chapter 55: Prisoners Chapter 55: Prisoners Styx automatically collected the flowers littered all over the dungeon floor where the battle had just taken ce. This was the second wave of enemies and had earned him nearly double the points of the first wave for a total of 11,559p. He still had no casualties among the monsters nor the elves, and he felt like he could easily handle even more monsters, but information from Irie caused him to halt in his tracks. He was already at risk of attracting a Tortured Soul Devil Flower, which was not only a Third ss enemy, but also extremely dangerous and would directly steal peoples'' souls, causing instant death. The only way tobat these resentful souls was with magic or another supernatural type ability because they werepletely immune to physical attacks. They even had a high level of immunity to the standard magic elements too. The only two people in the dungeon that could effectivelybat these soul based enemies were Kale and Aura. As strong as she had be, Kale was still only at the First Step. "Go keep an eye on the prisoners," Styxmanded to the elves before heading off to his and the girl''s bedroom where Aura was sleeping. The wolfgirl was curled up in a ball underneath the cotton sheets. She had awoken before he even entered the room but chose to remain in the position she had foundfort in. Styx reached under the covers and grabbed her arm, trying to pull her out, but he may as well have picked up the entire bed with how stubbornly she refused to move. "Come on, get up. I need you." Aura finally allowed Styx to pull her out from under the covers and looked at him with an usatory gaze that made him feel quite the danger from. Seeing her silence, he exined to her, "I need to protect the girls and destroy any Third Step enemies if the enter the dungeon." "I smell humans, several of them?" Aura sniffed the air as her nose twitch and she looked directly toward where the captured humans were being kept in a makeshift prison. "Would you like toe with me to visit them? They are currently plotting escaping and have been quite rebellious, so I n on turning a few of them into experience and quietening them down." "Can I have a few?" "Of course, so long as you let me kiss you and you do as your told." Although she could easily simply take what she wanted and nobody save the humans'' goddess could stop her, she had already grown fond of Styx and as such, yed by the rules he set. Styx ran his fingers through her long, thick hair and nted his lips over hers. She also opened her mouth and allowed his tongue to explore her mouth, being careful not to identally bite it off. No matter how tempting it may have been. "You''re meant to close your eyes," Styx said in between kissed and even used his hands to cover her eyes. Her mouth truly was burning hot, and even her saliva singed like small droplets ofva. Despite the pain, the heavenly feeling he had while kissing her made him keep wanting to do it despite that. He could tell how much she was looking forward to "seeing" the humans by how much she was salivating in her mouth. After a foiled attempt to grope her boobs through her shirt, he led Aura down to the deeper area where the humans were being held. ~~~~~ There were approximately 50 humans, 40 male and 10 female, locked away in ten stone holding cells. Vivy, ir and Therina were currently serving as prison wardens and keeping them all in line. Vivy entered one of the cells where there were several men with ascivious gaze. "Which one of you wants to be mine?" She directly asked them as if being influenced by Styx''s influence. "Oh, except for you four, you''re simply too ugly." There were five men in this cell, so she effectively was only demanding for one of them. She wasn''t all that smart though and didn''t understand the humannguage, so she only spoke in elvish. The humans on the other hand, didn''t understand elvish. "What is this bitch saying!? Who here understands?" One of the humans spat on the ground while looking at her warily. "Therina! Come trante for me, what did they say?" Therina rolled her eyes and also entered the cell and begun tranting for them. "Hmph, bitch, so you want to be fucked, I''ll help you with that!" One of the humans jumped at Vivy and tried to grab her. A dagger shed before the human knew it and the hilt crashed against the side of his temple with a sickening crunch. The mercenary crashed into the ground and kicked up a small storm of dirt and dust. Vivy then stepped on the side of the man''s face and begun crushing it between her foot and the ground, prompting him to futilely il his body. "Human, she didn''t demand you. Know your ce," Therina spat at the semi conscious man on the ground. Seeing their attempts at resistance fail, the other humans in the cell immediately backed off warily while those in other cells watched in silence. The better looking man in the cell, with a gruff beard and sharp, chiselled features stated, "What do you want." With Therina''s trantion, she curled her finger with a grin and called him over. "I''ve only ever imagined having a human with a beard before. I truly wonder how it feels. Start by licking my feet, when they are clean, move upwards. Keep doing this until I tell you to stop." Vivy seductively raised the hem of her skirt and revealed her plump thighs, eliciting the man to swallow a mouthful of saliva. Everyone watched as he gradually bent down and begun licking her feet, causing the perverse elf to giggle in an oriole like voice and wriggle her toes in pleasure. The man moved up to her ankles, then shins, knees, and thighs. His head was just starting to go up her skirt when Styx and Aura entered the prison. The wolf-eared woman''srge tail was slightly waving behind her as she walked, a subtle giveaway to her excitement. The elves all broke out in a cold sweat at her presence, while the humans had a strange reaction of not reacting at all. Some of them partially felt the aura of danger she constantly sent out and cautiously backed away, but most had very little response other than staring amorously at her. It was understandable for the man with his head between Vivy''s legs and was currently single-mindedly focused on the prize at the end of the tunnel, but that didn''t excuse the rest of them. "Could it be that their mana sensitivity is too low, and as such, simply can''t feel your presence?" Styx asked Aura, who clearly wasn''t listening. Vivy panicked and quickly pulled the man out from between her legs, whom had a confused expression on his face. Aura seemed to take this as an offering and appeared directly next to them without a sign. [ Ivanor (Novice Sword Dancer ) in by Phantom World Devouring Wolf! + 59 exp ] Aura''s eyes glowed with a faint violet light and begun chewing, the sounds of bone being effortlessly broken and ground uping from her mouth. The human who had previously had his head between Vivy''s thighs looked down with a queer expression and saw his entire left arm and half of his chest missing, blood pouring out without end. Even at thest moment, he didn''t realize what had happened nor that he had already died. His body began to fall but a phantom of an enormous wolf head appeared for a single moment in time and bit everything that remained of him from the knees up, leaving only two bloody stumps of legs on the ground as Aura happily chewed and swallowed. The other humans were instantly terrified to see someone eaten in such a simple matter and shook like leaves in the wind. All strength left their bodies and what remained, was used to crawl away from the monster in the skin of a heavenly beauty. Aura bent down and casually picked up the two leg stumps and they too vanished into her mouth. ''Well, that''s a pity,'' Vivy secretly grieved but didn''t darein aloud. ''I guess I will have to find another decent looking human with a beard. It wasn''t too bad at all.'' "Sigh, you need to be a bit cleaner when you eat." Styx said as he approached her. Aura still had traces of blood on her lips, which she stood still and let Styx wipe clean for her. Once clean, she then appeared in another cell and a female civilian who had entered the forest seeking a profit turned limp after her head vanished alongside chewing sounds. Her remaining body then also vanishedpletely in a couple more mouthfuls and everyone in the cell began whimpering in the corners. [ Joanna (Seamstress ) in by Phantom World Devouring Wolf! + 37 exp ] Her giant tail waved from side to side rhythmically as she contemted with males or females tasted better. She went back to Styx and let him clean her mouth for her again, an action she oddly liked. "Okay, that''s enough. I can''t have you take all my experience away from me. Now go wash your mouth at, I don''t want to taste human." Aura gave him a look of grievance, prompting the dungeon to sigh. "Fine, wash it outter, but for now, help me capture a few of these devil flowers alive in the meantime, I want to experiment with them." Styx then heartless killed several of the humans himself, which with all the minute amounts of mana from thousands of enemies during the festival and previous umtions, caused his total dungeon experience points to exceed 30,000 experience. He was currently , but dungeons required a staggeringly high amount of experience to level up the higher level they became. With his current experience points, he could only level up three or four times. When he killed all the humans, it would be another huge influx of experience points, and there was still six days of the festival left. All his monsters had also levelled up an average of two levels from killing the devil flowers too. He even had the minors and gnomes kill the weaker ones under the protection of the more powerful, battle oriented monsters. With his business here temporarilypleted, Styx then departed the prison with the Fifth Step Monster Lord happily trailing behind him, the trace of a heavenly smile on the corner of her lips. Chapter 56: Carnivorous Flowers Chapter 56: Carnivorous Flowers "I need you to catch ten Yellow Devil Flowers and the same Crimson Devil Flowers," Styx stated to Aura while exining their appearance to her. Styx waited at the defensive forts in the dungeon while Aura simply vanished from his sights and senses. The information that was sent to him via their bond was chaotic at best, and he could barely make heads or tails of it. The world twisted and turned in her eyes in ways which were simply impossible. Scenes reced others with no transition between them. Styx had also recentlye to the conclusion that he needed to be levelling faster than he currently was too. Even though he would miss out on some potential, increasing his level also increased his processing ability, enabling him toplete more tasks at a faster rate. This was demonstrated by his inability to fully share Aura''s eyes and ears. If he levelled up enough, this would no longer be an issue. Styx immediately opened up his status panel and pressed the level up button. [ 3,648 exp used to level up. Lv. 10 -> Lv. 11 umted skill experience bonus: Mana Control -> Basic Dungeon Construction -> Mining -> ] ''Hmm, if I can level up once a week to once a month, that should be a good pace. At least, until the experience required is so high that is no longer a possibility.'' It was only a small improvement, but he could feel all his capabilities improving from the level up. In the brief amount of time he took to level up, Aura had already collected the devil flowers and returned to the dungeon. "Careful!" Styx called out in shock at her neglect as she brought the small iling monsters within range to attack him. Styx controlled his monsters to block their vine arms from whipping him, a single on of which could cause fatal damage if itnded on his head or neck. "Restrain them from attacking." Styx had Aura hold them better to prevent them from attacking him and brought her to a secluded area that was brightly lit and full of already tilled soil. Styx had assumed the wolfgirl knew what to do next, but she ended up looking at him with a puzzled expression. "What now?" "I can''t get close to them without them attacking me. I need you to nt them in the ground." "How?" "" Styx gave a demonstration with a stick at which Aura nodded and proceeded to nt them but shoving the base of them into the soft dirt. It wasn''t an ideal nor graceful work ording to Styx, especially because they weren''t lined up or organized in any proper way, but it got the job done. The devil flowers appears to stop briefly, but they then started digging their ''feet'' out of the ground and wanted to attack both Aura and Styx. "Damn it, if you won''t stay still, I will make you!" Styx made Aura capture them all again, but this time, he installed stakes into the ground and had Aura tightly tie the devil flowers to the stakes. Their vine-arms were still free to il around and attack anyone that go close to them, but they could no longer free themselves from the ground. "Why are you doing this?" Aura asked while looking at the tied down devil flowers. "It''s simple. I can''t summon monsters, but I can breed them. These devil flowers are for all intents and purposes, nts. Therefore, I should be able to nt and breed them rtively easily." "Will that work?" "I don''t see why it won''t work." Styx controlled the water in his storage to safely water the devil flowers, and even used some old fruits, nt matter and faeces to produce a fertilizer, but the devil flowers didn''t seem to be absorbing anything. He also had the blood crystal bees enter the room in an attempt to gather pollen, but the devil flowers refused to cooperate and fought back against the bees. For the bees that managed to make it through the barrage of whipping vines and crimson rash inducing powder, there was simply no pollen to be found on the flowers. They were nts, yet at the same time, they weren''t. ~~~~~ Several days had passed by and Styx stood in front of the festival stele in the heart of his dungeon. He had been attacked by a wave of monsters worth nearly 22,000 points every 6 hours on average. They didn''t care whether the defenders were tired, sleeping, or prepared, and would attack at any hour of the day or night. There had even been a total of four Tortured Soul Devil Flowers that appeared during the raids, which created a very dangerous situation as monsters had souls too, and the resentful souls would tear their souls out and feast on them with little effort. Styx had been forced to have his entire force retreat whenever one showed up and have Aura take care of it. The wolf-eared woman had eyes eyes glows violet and w like nails leave behind trails of broken space in the air as she tore apart resentful souls and devil flowers alike with her bare hands in the blink of an eye. Styx had now earned a total of 426,570 points, which he was saving until the final day to purchase the best items possible. He still spent a small number of points on some books of various topics. These included mathematics, science, magic theory, magicraft,nguages, and most recently, botany. He had spent about 5,000 points in total for nearly 100 books. These would help him in creating school courses for Piri, the ves, and any other children that followed. He already had course outlines, which they would start learning from as soon as the festival ended. "What do you need?" Beatrice asked as she and Therina entered his study in the break between devil flower waves. Styx shut the thick leather bound book in his hands. "Did you know that the field of botany is incrediblyrge?" Therina tilted her head, not understanding the point he was making. "Yes?" "Not justrge, but impossiblyrge. I had restricted my knowledge to nts science could exin, but when magical phenomena is at y, the things nts can do, and how they survive, increase almost infinitely!" Styx looked at the elf and dark elf who were still confused, so he cleared his throat and got to the point. "I have been trying to raise these flowers under the assumption that they are normal nts. Water, soil nutrients, and mana to rece sunlight as an energy source. Without knowing what they eat, how do I know I am giving them the right food." "What do they eat, then?" "If I''m not mistaken, humans. Well, this technically extends to other exotic species such as elves and dwarves, even animals as well. It should be like this and they are carnivorous, but don''t forget that the rules of magic are a factor in their existence." "Should we feed them some of the humans, then?" "Yes, as well as some animals. Aura is currently in the bed and ignoring me because I''ve told her that she can''t eat any more of the humans for a while, lest she bes addicted. I still can''t understand why monsters prefer eating humans over any other meat in particr, but I suspect these nts are the same" The elves trailed behind Styx down to the prison, where all the prisoners were being well behaved. One of the better looking males was currently fawning over Vivy, who had promised to look after him while running her hands over his still growing beard. "Is it time for some more prisoners to turn into experience points?" Vivy asked energetically as soon as Styx, Beatrice and Therina entered the prison. All the prisoners quickly recoiled away from the group, cautiously looking around for the wolf-eared girl whom had be a source of nightmares for them. "Not quite, but close. I need some food for the new nts, and I suspect their particr preference is human." Beatrice held a ledger she had created, recording all the information on these adventurers, mercenaries, and several civilians whom had entered the Abyssal Forest seeking fortune. After Aura had subsequently instilled herself as their deepest nightmare, they had quickly be cooperative under Styx''s promise of safety. Safety in not being eaten alive, at least. It was also the reason why Styx had refused her in eating more of them. He had ns for these humans, who would currently do anything to live. "One of you is toe with us," Beatrice looked over the prisoners with a gaze void of sympathy. "Who will it be." Naturally, nobody was willing to volunteer to die, but in the hope that it wouldn''t be them, they quickly dragged the least popr prisoner forward and offered him to Styx. Even the women used him of being a rapist in why he was the one to be sacrificed. "Salvator," Beatrice noted as she cross referenced the prisoner with her list. "Do you have any final wishes?" "I I don''t want to die" "Nobody does, but you will," Styx emotionlessly stated. "I I have a family If I was gone, then they would" "Death will relieve you of that burden." "They''re not a burden." "Of course not, I am talking about the burden of the responsibility you have ced upon yourself." "Just make it quick please" Styx nodded his head, happy when others were cooperative. He didn''t care how corrupt these humans were in their hearts, desperate to live even if it meant others would die. Therina stepped forth and with a single, sharp thrust of manasteel, pierced his heart with a dagger. Death followed rtively quickly as life left his body. On the way to where the devil flowers were forcefully nted, Beatrice nced at the body being transported by gnomes and stated, "Styx, I have a question." "Then ask it, why hesitate or make pointless statements." Beatrice curtly nodded while blushing slightly. "Were humans like this in your past life?" "In what way?" "epting of death in the final moments. I had expected them to fight with everything they could to live." "Oh, that. Well, some do, but throughout human history, eptance of death was almost a final rite. It was moremon in the past during civilization''s development phases. It was in factmon for a prisoner to give their executioner a gold coin to ensure a quick, painless death. Even in the modern day, once they have been trapped on the road to death ande to eptance, it can be rtively the same." "I see They are utterly confusing sometimes, humans." "All roadse to an end eventually, Beatrice. Including your own and mine." "Does that frighten you?" "I have already experienced death once, it is no longer frightening." "" "Do not be so sombre, Beatrice, it is unlike you." "Of course." Therina snorted under her breath as she watched as Beatrice moved closer to Styx and silently grasped onto his hand. ''It is just a dead human,'' She scornfully thought as she nced at the corpse. ~~~~~ Styx had several gnomes cut the corpse into pieces and had Therina and Beatrice throw it into the devil flowers, which immediately became active. Several other elves brought in corpses of various monsters and threw them into different spots. Styx''s hypothesis was correct, in which these nts were carnivorous. The attacked briefly, then dragged the meat back to them and consumed it. Satiated and not currently under the influence of any aggression from the events, the nts became very quiet and stopped attacking anyone who went near them. They also ate the monsters, but they ate far more before the quietened down. "There is a qualitive difference, but thankfully they can eat monsters or animals too," Styxmented in relief. "I don''t think I could sustain feeding them multiple humans every day." The blood crystal bees then returned to the room and searched for pollen. Much to Styx''s surprise, the devil flowers were now producing it, nor did they retaliate as the bees did their work. "It looks like this counts as a sess," Styx proudly stated while smiling at the elves. Chapter 57: Death and Birth Chapter 57: Death and Birth Seeing that the flowers seemed to be taking hold, Styx immediately went and bothered Aura to catch several Second Step Blood Gold Devil Flowers as well as Third Step Tortured Soul Devil Flowers. It was a bit of a wild and dangerous n, but if they calmed down after being fed like the others, his dungeon would have some excellent defenders. There was also the thought of producing some unique and highly valuable honey with the blood crystal bees too. "I don''t want to," Aura spoke while sulking about not being allowed to eat more of the humans. Styx whispered his n into her ears to bring in more humans into the dungeon and her ears immediately perked up. "Will that work?" "Of course, you have to cooperate and not eat these humans, though. Only if they don''t coorperate or break their word are you allowed to eat them. So, are you going to help ensure they behave?" Aura''s brows scrunched together in thought. On one hand, she would get to eat them now, on the other hand, she would get a lot more humans as food in the future. It seemed to be a very important decision but ended up nodding her head and joining Styx in another trip to the prison. The prisoner knelt in terror upon seeing Aura, trying to make their presence as faint as possible in the hope she would overlook them. "All of you, stand up. You all already know Aura from your first day here. She has agreed to not eat you, as long as you do what she tells you to." Vivy had her favored human lying with his head in herp, massaging his chin and chest with her long, slender fingers. Intent on protecting this one as she promised, she petitioned to Aura and especially Styx, the only one whom the Fifth Step Monster Lord would listen to. "Please don''t eat my human again." Aura looked at the human and contemted briefly before nodding her head. All the other humans, even the several women, looked at Vivy with desperate eyes as the value of being the elf''s male toy immediately escted. Styx could see them secretly plotting to steal the boytoy position by any means and chuckled to himself. "You humans don''t need to be too nervous. We are here today to offer you the chance to be released from here and return to the city." Everyone''s ears perked up as they immediately listened closely, the bravest among them even asking, "I understand, and will do anything Please, tell me what you need me to do" Not a single person had any reluctance at betraying the city, so long as they weren''t eaten alive. "Excellent, you all understand! It is very simple, actually. Once the current festival is over, you all only need to return to your guilds or group of friends, and start bringing other people to the dungeon." "You each have a quota of one person per month, which will be recorded when you enter the dungeon, but you can bring more people to pay off months in advance." "Before any of you think you are free once you leave the dungeon. Aura here will be marking you all, and should you ever miss a month or otherwise fall into debt Well, let''s just say that dinner is served." Aura nodded repeatedly in agreement, fully intending to visit them should they fail to bring her food. With the humans submitting themselves to his desires, Styx then called forth the several females among the humans and imnted a piece of himself in them. They would be his inside liaisons for him to talk to the other adventurer''s should he need to. "Oh, and just so you all know, anyone found to be breaking the rules and misbehaving when they''ve been told otherwise may also find themselves being invited to an early banquet." Styx had intended to just make marking them a bluff and have her sniff them out with Irie''s assistance should it be required, but Aura surprised him by leaving a purplish scar to appear on their chest. This marking wriggled and twisted, but never left its position. He checked with the wolf-eared woman, and apparently, she could use this mark to drag someone into the phantasmal realm, not that he understood what that was. Regardless, she was capable of feasting on these humans whenever she wanted, while it appeared the human goddess may not even be able to detect that it was her. "Now that that is done, and you are happy, go capture me my flowers." "Yep!" Full of anticipation, Aura vanished from the dungeon and reappeared not long after with the flowers in hand and properly restrained this time. Whenever a resentful soul appeared from the Third Step flowers, her w like nails shed violet and they were torn to shreds. The Brimstone Devil Flowers also tried spittingva and attacking Aura, but she waspletely impervious to whatever was thrown at her. Styx hurriedly had them nted in their own respective areas and thrown arge amount of monsters. The Tortured Soul Devil Flowers were troublesome in which their prey had to be alive, as they received most of their nutrients from the souls which the resentful souls piged and feasted upon, a portion of which went back to the flower in some kind of supernatural symbiotic transaction. ~~~~~ The final days of the Myriad Flower Devil Festival passed by rtively uneventful. Styx had gotten the flowers under control and ensured they were fed enough on a regr schedule. Even the elves could feed the Tortured Soul Devil Flowers so long as they weren''t going out of control. Styx had a total of 632,550p after the final wave, a veryrge amount considering his young age in this world. He nced at the leaderboard once at the end and the amount of digits of the top scorers was ridiculous. They were all in the trillions, which was an amount even Styx couldn''t fathom. ''Are these gctic empires annihting entires at a time?'' Disregarding the top scorers, he simply exchanged his points for arge number of items in the store. His first, and most expensive purchase, was a 400,000p Obelyon Mana Gauss Cannon which he installed in the ceiling of his throne room. This would be his final, and most powerful, defense to protect his dungeon core. "Aura, Beatrice, Elena,e stand behind me Actually, Aura, stand in front of all of us. Just in case." Everyone moved into position as the cannon unfolded from the ceiling. It appeared to be made of some kind of stone which had a ck, metallic gloss. The barrel itself was three triangr rods two meters in length, countless magic forme and connections engraved on the inside faces. "This weapon takes a minimum of 100 mana and a maximum of 20,000 to fire. I am going to test it with the minimum first." Styx exined to the girls as the weapon came alive under the dungeon''s control and several shards split off from the barrel rods. Rather than falling to the ground though, they hummed and circled the tip of the barrel like spears waiting to fire. Blue sparks of lighting ran down the metallic stone barrel rods before instantaneously turning red and firing a burning beam of light into the ground on the other side of the throne room. Dirt and stones were blown away as a small crater formed from the impact. "This is from just 100 mana?" Elena raised her brow in surprise at the damage wrought by a surprisingly small amount of mana. "Correct, but even I haven''t the first clue as to how such an amplification was created. I''ll now try 500 mana" The gauss cannon quickly recharged and fired an even more intense beam of burning hot energy. This time, it turned the entire entrance of the room into a crater, with a meter wide hole extending another 100 meters into the earth. "" "" "Aura, if that hit you, how hurt would you be?" "A little." "A little?" "Un, like someone biting your tail all of a sudden. It would hurt." Styx felt the analogy was a little off, but he once again marvelled at the monstrosity that was a Fifth Step Monster Lord. "What if it was fully charged with 20,000 mana? Would it be dangerous then?" "If I let it hit me, it would." Styx naturally understood her meaning. It could cause grievous, even fatal harm if it hit her, but she was more than capable of dodging it. It didn''t matter how powerful an attack was if it couldn''t hit the target, after all. Styx filled the hole and repaired the room very quickly, his Dungeon Control skill allowing him to make quick work operating his dungeon. His next purchase was 100,000p on advanced materials and books. These were all much more advanced than anything else he had bought and only added up to a total of 7 books. While each were veryrge and currently too advanced for him to understand, they were a valuable source of knowledge he wouldn''t be able to acquire elsewhere. He then paid another 50,000p on assorted goods. He summoned giants rolls of cloth, many of which of a much nicer material than the clothes they currently wore. Some even had their own abilities such as enhancing mana, servings as an armor with the strength of iron, or just being resistant to certain elements. These more advanced cloths were of a smaller quantity that the standard plush variety. He summoned every daily item they could possibly need in equally enormous quantities. Of the items he was currently arranging Irie to deliver to the dungeon though, such asmon food produce and other items, he didn''t purchase them. The remainder of the points were spent on standard knowledge and experiment books, filling up Styx''s library with enough leftover that he needed to expand it. The festival finally ended and the stele in the dungeon began to fade from existence. The process took ce over only several seconds, before it was like it was never there in the first ce. "How often do festivalse around?" Styx asked the girls. Both Elena and Beatrice answered at the same time, but thetter halted her words and let Elena exin. "They ur usually once per year. Sometimes there is a year without, or two in one year, but it all evens out in the end." "Do they ever repeat?" "On asion, but it is only several ones which have, they are usually new each year. This is the first time we had devil flowers, but there have been simr type events in the past." "I se-" Styx abruptly cut his words short and shot to his feet from the throne. "Not good!" He ignored all the gnomes and dark elves moving the new items and ran out of the room. He didn''t need his avatar body to go there, but he did almost instinctively. The issue he detected, was that along with the end of the festival, the devil flowers he had captured had begun to rapidly wither and die. Elena and Beatrice were stunned by his sudden panic and ran alongside him while asking him the issue. "The flowers we captured are dying at a rapid pace. I''m injecting mana into them, but it is only prolonging the inevitable." Elena raised her eyebrows in surprise as she hadn''t expected them to begin dying either. Styx''s avatar reached the secluded flower rooms while his mana tendrils were rapidly inspecting the dying flora monsters. "It''s bad. Their entire manaworks are copsing at the same time." "Is there anything you can do?" "Maybe. I suspect the powers above had granted these manaworks to create the monsters during the event, but now that it''s over, are no longer supporting them. It''s rough, but I can also interfere with, and even create, a manawork." Styx was racing against time as he rapidly reinforced their current manawork while also filling in the holes in it to support it and prevent copse. He was working on all the flowers at once to prevent their deaths, which was an enormous strain on his mana reserves. Hemanded Beatrice to grab a bunch of the new mana gems Therina brought back from Lagoon Porter City and had them ce against his core. He carved a simple energy conduit array in the ground beneath him and transferred all the mana from the gems directly to himself. Even though he didn''t have veins, he felt like he did at the current moment. They were on fire asrge amounts of mana was channelled through himself in real time. It was thankfully enough though, as the devil flowers stopped dying. They weren''t the same as they were before either. They had lost the quality to them which made them ''alive'', and were much more like nts now. The Tortured Soul Devil Flower had retained some of its danger as resentful souls still emerged from its giant petals, but they were weak and couldn''t travel far before having to return. He was happy that they could still be used though and breathed a sigh of relief. His core still burned and his consciousness was hazy as a result. He looked closer at the mana gems in the conduit array he had used and felt like facepalming. "Beatrice, why did you use fire attribute mana gems?" He spoke into the dark elf''s mind directly. "Is that an issue?" "It is." "My apologies, I won''t let it happen again." "Come to the study, immediately." "Yes." ~~~~~ Beatrice strutted into Styx''s study with an apologetic expression. She was truly unaware that using attributed mana would be an issue for Styx, especially given that he could handle all kinds of mana as naturally as breathing. She made a mental note however to ensure she didn''t directly insert such mana into him in the future though. The dark elf halted in her footsteps when she saw Styx sitting behind his desk,pletely nude. "Hus Styx?" "It took you long enough. You started this problem, now you are going to help me push out this mana. The festival had also prevented us from sharing more intimate time together and we were cut shortst time, but we are nowpletely free." "I understand." Styx watched closely as Beatrice unhesitatingly begin taking off her clothes before folding and cing them neatly on the end of the desk. It wasn''t long before she revealed herplete nude body, not a single strand of body hair to be seen anywhere. Her breasts truly were veryrge, shaking and bouncing slightly as she walked over to Styx and courteously sat on hisp. She had thought wanted her to squeeze his burning hot rod in between her thighs again likest time, but she hardly had the opportunity before he wrapped his arms around her body and pinned her back against his chest. "This time, we''ll be going all the way," Styx said as he erotically bit and licked the ends of or long, slender elvish ears. Beatrice nodded slightly and ovepped her hands with his, one of which was tightly grasping her breast, the other running its fingers down the pink inner folds of her vagina and tightly circling the entrance. Her anticipation assaulted Styx through their bond like a raging wave, theplete opposite to her expression. "Do you have difficulty expressing yourself?" "A bit." "I can feel your emotions, you know." "" "And that is embarrassment." Styx pressed his fingers tightly against the entry to her lower cave and it immediately slipped inside with a faint squelching sound. "Mmm" Beatrice slightly moaned as she raised her legs up and clenched her muscles in pleasure, he vaginal walls tightly constricting and tightening around the invading finger. She rested her head back against Styx''s shoulder and let out light, faint pants as his finger begun digging around deep inside of her, pressing and rubbing against her most sensitive spots. She also grabbed his cock and begun stroking it in long, steady strokes. "Before I stick it in," Styx whispered into her ear while kissing and licking her neck, "use your mouth and make sure it''s wet enough." Beatrice visibly blushed but got on her knees in front of Styx''s seat and quickly wrapped her lips around the tip of his penis. She was nave, but very turned on and passionately began sucking on it and even wrapping her tongue around it. Styx ran his fingers through her hair and guided her to bob up and down as he also moaned in pleasure. Her plump ass was swaying slightly while herrge breasts squished against his legs. Styx wanted her to go right to the base with her mouth and tongue, but even he had to admit she would need to practice a lot before she could effectively swallow it. Styx raised Beatrice up, and had her bend over the desk with her ass in the air. He firmly held onto it and spread her cheeks, reveal her button tight asshole and pink slit which was undting in expectation. With her cheeks spread apart, he pressed the tip of his erection directly against the small opening faintly visible from this angle. Beatrice clenched her fingers on the other end of the table and stifled a moan as Styx pushed his rod directly inside of her. It was still wet with her saliva and she was also very wet, so he pressed through the tight inner walls with a single thrust. "Wuuu A bit gentler please," Beatrice faintly cried in pain as a trickled of blood ran out of her vagina and down Styx''s penis. He paid little mind and helped aid her in her recovery via her manawork as he begun pushing himself deeper within her. Styx held her meaty waist and pulled as his cock was like the de of a sword entering the final part of the sheath with a slight click. Her vagina was forced wide open around the base of his shaft and even her thighs were squeezing against therge object fully prating inside of her. Styx leaned against her body and bent over to whisper to her, "Anyments?" "It is nice," She whispered back with her ears visibly turning red. Styx chuckled to himself as he could feel through his bond that she was feeling far more than just ''nice''. Her vaginal walls constricted and clenched around his penis as he began pulling it halfway out before thrusting it fully inside again. He pressed her back down against the table with one hand and thrust into the entrance of her womb again and again, sending electic shocks of pleasure through the dark elf''s body every time and causing her to make faint ''iip'' sounds. Styx then pulled himself all the way out and turned her over, some faint impressions of the table still visible on her breasts and waist. She looked at Styx while doing her best to maintain a steady expression, but she was unable to control her blush which had covered most of her face by now. He repositioned his cock against the entrance of her vagina and plunged it straight in. She climaxed immediately and bit her lip to stop herself moaning, while her inner walls constricted and squeezed with all their strength. "You should let your voice out," Styx passionately said while his hips pped against hers, his hands rubbing up her stomach before grasping her breasts in a firm hold. "If you kiss me." Seeing her rare tenderness being expressed, there was no way Styx could not follow through with her request. As his urge to cum increased to point of bursting, his leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers, the two passionately exchanging their saliva as her tongue weed his domineering entry into her mouth. "I''m going to cum." "Y-yes, please do." Beatrice''s legs wrapped around Styx''s waist and forced him deep inside of her while her vagina grabbed tightly onto his shaft. "Mnnnnyyaaaahhh!!!" Beatrice loudly moaned in the study, a trace of saliva on the corner of her mouth as she no longer held herself back. Styx also thrust before releasing a huge load of dungeon seed,ced with fire attribute mana, into her womb. [ Insemination begun. Please select seed to imnt: 3x Miners Burden (1) 1h incubation 2x Fiery Gnome Burden (2) 1h incubation 1x Fiery Stoneater Burden (3) 2h incubation 1x Lavarat Burden (4) 2h incubation 1x Midnight me Guard Burden (5) 4h incubation 1x Lava Fox Burden (10) 12h incubation 1x Brimstone Bramble Queen Burden (12) 24h incubation 1x Living Brimstone Golem Burden (14) 24h incubation ] [ 1x Lava Fox selected Incubation 11:59:43 ] Styx was shocked as he discovered a new list of monsters he could breed in her womb, a clear result from the fire attribute mana. ''Perhaps I should absorb raw attributed mana more in the future,'' He silently mused to himself. Beatrice locked her legs around his waist and refused to release him. He was also in an exceptional mood, so he merely wrapped his arms around her and picked her up, her breasts squishing tightly against his chest. He sat back down on his seat with her on hisp, his penis still engulfed within her and stopping the excess dungeon seed from flowing out of her. Beatrice wrapped her arms around his and pressed her face tightly into the crook of his neck. "Well, at least you aren''t a biter," Styx chuckled lightly while running his fingers up and down her spine. "Ah, I take that back" Chapter 58: Knowing Too Much Chapter 58: Knowing Too Much Beatricey on her back with her legs spread wide apart. Her stomach was swollen and her entire body was sweating. Even her lower garden was currently dyed red, an oue Styx viewed as being because of the fire attribute of the monster. "Breathe in and out in and out" ir coached the dark elf as Kale offered her own supportive words on the other side. Both ir and Kale had swelling stomachs too, but they wouldn''t be giving birth untilter, so they were helping Beatrice with her first experience. Kale had Styx help aid Beatrice in learning to control her own manawork, so she could naturally heal herself. "It''sing" Beatrice stated while trying to maintain a steadyposure. She red at ir, Kale and Styx, but thetter could tell that she wasn''t angry at anyone in the slightest. He tenderly brushed her hair out of her face and caressed her cheek. "It may not be the dark elf child you wanted, but it still technically is our child." Beatrice nodded and he felt her tender feelings overflowing through their bond and silently chucked to himself. ''You may not show it on the outside, but your emotions are the strongest out of everyone, including your affection.'' Beatrice''s body constricted as arge amount of burning hot fluid burst out, causing an erotic smelling steam to permeate the room and caused everyone''s eyebrows to raise. "Hot!" Kale cried out as she touched the fluid with her finger and recoiled as it singed her finger tip. Right after that, Beatrice began pushing the new monster out of her vagina. The head of the infant fox appeared first, its eyes squeezed shut and red fur slick with fluids. Her cervix throbbed and expanded as it pushed out its body next. The tail came out the easiest, sliding out in one smooth motion. Beatricey there panting and sweating, her stomach restored to perfect smoothness as if it was all an illusion. "You did well," Styx nodded his head in approval before she grabbed his cuff and pulled him in for a kiss in front of everyone else. Kale wasn''t to be outdone and stole Styx''s lips away from Beatrice, whom ignored their further interaction while closing her eyes peacefully. Styx then helped heal her body and was surprised at the damage the fire attribute mana had done in her womb. Hepletely understood why such actions were illegal by human society as without his ability to nurture and heal the women''s bodies, they truly would be worn out, unable to give birth anymore, and eventually copse in poor health conditions. "It looks like there are some benefits though," Styxmented while his mana tendrils were spread throughout her body. "Your mana has adopted some of the fire attribute traits. Perhaps this could be affinity?" Beatrice felt like her body was hotter and agreed that her body had some changes. It wasn''t ufortable, but felt a bit different. The newbornva fox was cleaned and Beatrice held it in her arms while barely being affected by the scorching hot temperature of its body. She could feel how hot it was and was secretly shocked that it didn''t burn her. ~~~~~ Irie sat in her office in the Silver Wheel Investment Agency, going over list of materials and making several things "disappear", which wouldter be delivered to Styx during the night. *knock* *knock* "Come in," Irie answered the tap of knuckles on the wooden door without looking up from her paperwork. "Miss Naeckle," The racoon beastmen who was under her employ nervously entered the room, "Duke Ashburn is currently waiting in the lobby with several guards here to see you There are also reporters from The Relevant outside with recording crystals." "I understand, go call the duke in and wait in another room. Do not leave thepany office." Irie ced her quill down and sighed. She knew this day would being, but didn''t expect it so soon after the festival finished. ''It looks like that news article really has forced the duke into making some movements.'' The beastman bobbed his head in understanding before quickly departing the room. Irie sat there and spoke in the room which only she was present. "Styx, are you sure this is fine?" "Of course, with Aura here, it doesn''t even matter if the duke physically throws the entire city at us, we will be fine," Styx''s voice immediately emerged in her head. "What should I do if I''m arrested." "Simply cooperate. I will have Aura bring you out of the city overnight should things turn bad." "Thank you." Irie heard the iconic ck of iron boots getting loader before the racoon beastman opened the door to her office again and let the duke along with four heavily armored, Third Step guards into her office. She immediately felt the room had be cramped and even slightly intimidated. The duke looked at her with an expression that did nothing to hide his opinion of her. He took a seat on the opposite side of her desk, his back perfectly straight as he gave her some basic formalities. "Miss Irie Naeckle, thank you for seeing me on such short notice." "Please, having the duke personally visit is an honor." "There is no need to lie. I take it you understand why I''m here?" "The dungeon, right?" "Correct. I have been doing my own investigation into it recently due to public attention on the matter and held some questions." "If you have the information on the dungeon already, I don''t understand why you came to me." "Do not y me for a fool, Miss Naeckle." Irie did her best to maintain herposed expression under the cold gaze of the duke, especially as the guards behind him rested their hands on the pommel of their swords. Irie could even see the enormous mana swirling in their bodies like a tiger preparing to pounce. "I acquired the information from other sources, and even paid a visit to several of the other branch managers. The information you provided to those people was riddled with traps, missing information, and even direct lies. Would you care to exin?" "" Irie was frozen in fear, but Styx quickly stoked her bravery and told her what to say. "Apologies, but but, did I break anyws?" Duke Ashburn snorted and refused to answer. Whilst being less than honest or even ethical, she indeed hadn''t broken any of the city''sws. He also already came to the conclusion from his sources that she was simply using them to wear down the dungeon''s defenses before swooping in for the reward. The duke waved his hand and the guards instantly took their hands off their swords, returning to a leisurely posture. "I want the full report on the dungeon. The one which doesn''t contain wrong or missing information. This is not up for debate, but I will purchase the information at its correct price." "Of course" Irie nervously got up and retrieved a file which she ced on an array along with a bottle of ink. The array shone to life and a perfect copy of the pages was created on a fresh set of paper. "Are you sure this is all of it?" The duke raised his brow and returned his icy gaze to the busty businesswoman. "What about all the nationless elves currently being used as breeding grounds for monsters? The human captives within it?" Irie blinked her eyes in surprise while Styx was also taken aback. "How to heck did he know that?" Styx spoke directly into her mind again. "There is nobody who should know that information. Ask him where it is from." "Pardon me, but that is all the information we have. Not to mention, I haven''t heard of anyone else selling new information on the dungeon. Where did you hear that, if I may ask?" "It was in the most recent edition of The Relevant. As someone dealing in information, I had suspected you would have already known this." "I must apologize, I have been busy all day and have yet to read thetest news." "Then I will take my leave, Miss Naekle. Also, while selling misleading information isn''t against any currentws, please do be aware that killing a colleague in order to advance your own career very much is illegal." Irie pursed her lips at the duke''s thinly veiled threat right before he departed with his guard entourage. "Is this really okay?" Irie asked into the air. "Of course. I am disconcerted that they have information which should be otherwise impossible to know, though. I am sending back a batch of humans toplete tasks in the city. I will have them investigate where this newspaper gets their information from." "Please let me know too. I didn''t even know you had human prisoners." Irie walked to the shutter window and pushed it open for fresh air. On the ground, a bunch of reporters were practically interrogating the duke about what he is going to do about the dungeon. His voice was so powerful Irie could hear him all the way at the third story window. "Please rest assured. As the Duke of Lagoon Porter City and all the surroundingnds, I am doing everything to ensure that there is no citizen who will fall victim to an illegal dungeon lord." "" "There is currently no evidence to support those ims." "" "We are currently still evaluating the situation. I don''t wish to take away the potential rewards of our adventurers and other fortune seekers if I can avoid it." Irie rolled her eyes at the duke''s nonmittal answers before he mounted his magic propelled carriage, a true luxury, and departed back toward his mansion in the upper district of the city. Chapter 59: Return to Normal Chapter 59: Return to Normal "Therina, I want you to go as well," Styxmanded while releasing the human prisoners. "Of course, it would be good to see Irie again as well." "Is that so? I thought you hated all humans." "For a human, she''s not too bad." Styx squinted his eyes at the stubborn elf who cheerfully smiled, wondering what exactly it was about his human woman that managed to make her slip through Therina''s tant prejudice. All of the prisoners knew most of the main elves, Therina included. They quickly tried to leave a favorable impression with her without knowing that nothing they could do would improve her opinion of them. The group then departed the dungeon, the humans squinting their eyes due to the long missed natural sunlight. Even Vivy''s human boytoy was with the rest of them, and had adopted a marginally arrogant leadership attitude. The females of the group were directly higher than him in the hierarchy as they were directly connected with Styx himself though, so he remained humble towards them. "Humans," Therina gazed at the humans in disgust, "you still have time before you need to bring other people into the dungeon, you can organize yourself into groups or work alone individuallyter. The current main priority is locating the information source of The Relevant''s reporters. Is that understood?" "Yes!" All the humans nodded their head while they exited the forest and made their way to the main road before entering Lagoon Porter City. Therina let herself into Irie''s apartment with her spare key and immediately checked if she had any new, exotic fruits to help herself to. She was very fond of the tantles she hadst time and was anticipating having them again. ~~~~~ With the new shipment of mana gems, Styx hadpleted a steady rotation of using them as batteries and recharging, so his current production line had be much more efficient. He could even produce mana steel without having to infuse his own mana into the iron, greatly increasing the speed in which it was produced. The raid parties of those seeking their own fortune or enterprisingpanies investing in adventurers and mercenaries had begun again too. With his recent limelight in the nearby dungeon city, they wereing almost every second day. A group of four eager adventurers entered the dungeon, three at and one Second Step knight at . The monsters immediately moved into position and were awaiting the right moment to pounce. One of the stronger monsters was the red furredva fox, now fully grown into adulthood and evenrger than the standard stone-tailed fox and at . With Styx''s title boosts and its advantages as a bred monster, it could battle a weaker Second Step ranker on equal grounds. Once the adventurers ran into the monster''s ambush, the battle was over almost immediately. Theva fox spat a cloud of me at them, which the Second Step ranker blocked with arge shield and mana infused defensive skills. It cut their sight off at the same time, so they didn''t see as its tail flicked through the air with a series of embers and smashed down on the defender. He could barely defend himself before the extremely powerful tail wrapped around and constricted his entire body. The needle like fur on the tail began melting through the armor, causing the adventurer to turn more and more red and start screaming as he was cooked within his own armor. Those screams were cut off abruptly as theva fox bit his head, still in the helmet, off with a single, devastating attack. The armor on his body soon melted into deformity and his body was turned in a bloody mess of torn apart flesh and muscle. The carnivorous vine made short work of another adventurer while the final two were overwhelmed by numbers and had their cries silenced shortly afterwards. There was another party of eager entrepreneurs on the same day, which Styx was more lenient on. He secretly controlled things from the shadows so they found a treasure chest with a couple piece of equipment with high level engravings of his own on them. Two of the them died before the others retreated with their spoils, eager to boast about it at their local taverns. Whilst controlling all the monsters to do this, Styx was sitting down with Aura''s head resting in hisp. His mana tendrils extended through her body as he navigated to enormous mana channels while trying to expand them. His fingersbed through her long, thick hair, asionally massaging her ears too as he hummed to himself an old tune long lost in the annals of time in his past life. Due to his efforts over the past week, her maximum experience capacity had increased from 378,420/1,088,510 to 392,180/1,088,510. It also helped Styx learn a bit more about Max Level, as it meant that not only could inadequate expansion when levelling up lead to them being of an insufficient size, but it could also lead to them suddenly shrinking. For instance, she required 972,515 to reach , meaning the had suddenly shrunk to approximately a third of their original size during the level up process. With her mana channels expanding again, she had eagerly been hunting to keep filling them up again, as if in fear they would contract again. This created an unprecedented fear among parts of the massive Abyssal Forest among the monsters. It wasn''t as simple as killing a few higher level monsters for that near 14 thousand experience points. Killing a monster or even an opposing exotic lifeform which was of a lower Step than the killer resulted in a serious reduction of experience. It decreased by a factor of ten for each Step. This meant that as a Fifth Step Monster Lord, Aura only got 10 percent of the normal experience of killing a Fourth Step enemy, 1 percent of a Third Step enemy, 0.1 percent of the Second Step, and 0.01 percent of a First Step enemy. Due to this restriction, the number of people and monsters drastically reduced for every rank increase. Third Step and above monster had very powerful instincts due to how much they had evolved to be closer to mana itself, and would hide almost the moment Aura went hunting. Therefore, almost all of her experience hade from an astronomical number First and Second Step monsters. There wererge swaths of the forest currently almost as silent as a graveyard as a result. ~~~~~ The devil flowers had begun proliferating throughout their room in the most wonderous way. Whilst therge devil flowers had been saved, or at least retained a shell of what they once were, the offshoots were just like a field of normal flowers except for having their own unique characteristics. They could also be used in alchemy to extract their essence, which could be used in more ways. The new flowers were only palm sized, but they were still a beautiful sight to behold. The yellow flowers were the most normal, but their petals could be ground up into a powder which had a high mana conductivity, even higher than mana steel. Higher ranked devil flowers were even more impressive in this regard, but they tended to have mana affinities, and would cause mana to refract into traces of odd attributes. Crimson flowers had a strong fire attribute, while blood gold focused on firmness and hardness whilst having a beautiful reddish gold color. Above these were when the flowers became even more exotic. The brimstone devil flowers kept constantly releasingva, increasing the temperature of their room to a blistering heat as rivers ofva flowed through it. Currently, nobody could be in the room for longer than five to ten minutes except Beatrice and Aura. The brimstone flowers didn''t grown on the normal ground, but grew in theva, sprouting on top like stunning crimson water lilies. They also kept theva hot and prevented it from cooling down, cycling mana through themselves, theva, and the air as they created a unique ecosystem. The final tortured soul flowers were an exotic, almost ghostly, violet shade withrge petals that swayed despite no wind blowing. They were also extremely dangerous and caused injuries to the soul itself. Styx found this out when he had a gnome enter the field to pluck a few flowers. It quickly lost feeling in its feet and the ability to control them altogether. It then copsed face first in a small cluster of flowers which gently brushed its head while swaying, taking its life over a period of a dozen seconds. This field was immediatelybelled as a danger zone more so than ever, and the only way to harvest the flowers is with tools and not touching them. They didn''t even die once they were out of the soil as they would feed on the mana in the air instead. "What are you doing?" Aura curiously asked as she hovered around him in his workstation, staring intently at what he was working on. "I am testing the properties of the flowers, and seeing how they can be used." Styx ground up flower petals of the first three devil flower types into powder, dissolving some into liquids and turning others into thicker pastes. He crafted several beautiful dyes with them, but more importantly began moving onto using them in the forge and new alloys. "Take this for example," Styx indicated to the ground up brimstone flower petals which had caused grievous damage to his mortar and pestle. "It has an extremely strong fire attribute no, let''s call it ava attribute as it is a bit different in nature than just in fire." Styx had a pile of molten iron bubbling in a furnace which was in the middle of arge, advanced lutherion infusion array. Styx had arge neutral quarts mana gem which was floating above one corner of the array, powering the entire thing. This was his 24th attempt at this action, which he had constantly adjusted after each failure, even creating new mortar and pestles out of materials he hoped wouldn''t get destroyed. The mixture in the furnace, which was at the eye of the array, bubbled and spat at Styx. Thankfully, Aura''s hand shed and blocked the molten iron which was momentarily superheated by theva attribute of the brimstone flower. [ New alloy created. Testing against existing records Record doesn''t exist. Evaluating alloy Please choose a name for the new alloy: ] [ Award for discovering new alloy: Magmasteel. + 720 exp ] "Sess!" Styx shouted in celebration. "By infusing its powerful attributes into metal, I can create new alloys. There are a bunch of variants I can create from that base alloy too, but the base alloys are the most important." "Ohhh~" Aura put her head directly in the furnace as if it was nothing, watching the white hot molten metal. "Move out of the way! I don''t have much time!" Styx hurriedly pulled the liquid out with extra thick tools made from manasteel. He poured it into a y brick mold inscribed with heat resistance runes from the Gileron Magic System. The remainder was poured into a basic dagger de mold. He turned his head to look at the curious wolfgirl and exined his actions. "Unfortunately, I learned from all my previous attempts that this alloy has a very high melting temperature, and the current furnaces can''t produce a temperature high enough to melt it again. I have yet to figure out how to use brimstone flower powder to bring its temperature back up to over 4,000C to reforge." "Can you have the elf ask?" "The elf?" "Yes, the one that hates humans." "Do you mean Therina?" "Yes." "If you know her name, why don''t you use it?" "Should I?" "Of course, that is what names are for." Because her entire life had been revolving around referring to others as what they are, such as how she was always simply called "Wolf", Aura instinctively referred to all the elves as "Elf". She nodded in understanding, as if learning something new. "Anyway, have the elf ask whom?" "The humans. They make lots of interesting things." Styx raised his brow in surprise and nodded his head in agreement. "That is indeed a good idea. There is lots of knowledge in the books I haven''t gone through yet, but asking someone directly would definitely be much easier. She can also ask about soul based constructs, since I have yet to manage to infuse the tortured soul power into any form of metal." Styx had created two more alloys which were entirely new discoveries. They were firesteel, which was created with the crimson flower extract, and obsidum, a strange alloy from blood gold flower powder, ck sand, iron, copper and a trace of refined brimstone flower powder. Obsidum was the most valuable alloy so far. It had an extremely high hardness and estimated melting point. Styx had thought it was so hard it was nigh indestructible, but quickly changed his opinion when Aura snapped a bar of it in two with her teeth, although even she had to put in a bit of effort. Chapter 60: Soulforge Chapter 60: Soulforge Three months passed by with no significant news, yet Styx had been constantly progressing. He stood before a giant furnace six meters tall, the bricks glowing with violet runes andplex array lines. Therina had asked the cksmiths in the town, but none of them held any idea about infusing a spectral, soul-like attribute. ording to them, the tangible and intangible couldn''t mix, but Styx astutely felt differently about this. Whilst he was unsessful for months and held no knowledge on how the body and manawork were connected, the prime example of intangible affecting the tangible, he was certain it was possible. This led to creating what he referred to as the soulforge. The easiest way to utilize the special nature of the tortured soul flowers was to use their own attribute. Arge number of the flowers were carefully harvested and ground into powder, which was then mixed withdine y and fired into bricks. More powder was used to inscribe Gilderon Magic System warding runes into the bricks. Because the runes were created from the powder of the flowers as a conduit, the mana which flowed through them adopted the intangible soul/spirit attribute. The main chamber of the soulforge was then inscribed with more arrays to control and alter the mixture inside without actually touching it. This was necessary as resentful souls lurked inside the furnace and caused many of the changes in the mixture inside. If anyone where to stick their hand in the furnace without the correct protection, they would almost certainly have their souls ripped from their bodies. The resentful souls couldn''t leave the furnace though, as all the warding runes and arrays used as a safeguard held the soul attribute which then trapped them inside. Woe forbid whoever identally broke the furnace open however. The soulforge was them situated in the center of another array, this one extending all the way to the walls and held the shape of two interlinked squares fill with forme and various array organs. Flowerbeds of tortured soul flower grew in the room too at specific locations of the giant array, providing the attribute and driving force of the forge. Large tapestries banners hung from the ceiling around the edges of the room, each having focus runes dyed into them out of a paste made from tortured soul flowers. This focused all of the ambient energy in the room into the central crux of the formation, specifically, the center of the forging chamber in the soulforge Styx had found iron to be too rigid in nature and unable to adopt such an intangible nature, but there were alternatives. The final product was an exoticbination of tortured soul powder, copper and gold. With the exception of Irie and Therina who were currently in Lagoon Porter City, all of Styx''s woman were in the room while watching this giant furnace work. They could see the powerful concentration of strange mana in the center of the soulforge, pulsating as if alive. Styx used mana gems and moved them around arrays to control the reaction within the furnace, all of the magic powered inscriptions lighting up with a gloomy violet hue. Violet ghostly mes burned at the base as all the metal was quickly turned into its molten state with a light but high pitched screeching sound. All the tortured soul flowers in the room swayed and leaned toward the center of the room as spectral motes of violet light appeared and floated into the giant forge. Resentful souls circted through the giant, flying through the molten metal and causing it to warp under the influence of pure magic. They released silent screams along the surface of the soulforge yet were unable to escape it. The concentration of mana inside of it was dense enough that the resentful souls no longer even needed to return to the other shore in order to survive. As long as they trapped in the furnace and asionally fed souls, they would continue existing. Under Styx''s control of the arrays, the molten material begun changing, finally turning into a light violet glowing molten metal. [ New alloy created. Testing against existing records Record already exists. Award for discovering existing alloy: Soulium. + 240 exp ] Styx was greatly surprised it already existed, but there are a seemingly innumerable number of kingdom''s out there, some of which were even intergctic empires, so it wasn''t so strange it already existed. While other almost definitely haven''t used tortured soul powder, any alternative product with a simr attribute should theoretically create soulium. It was then cast into weapons, which seemed to be the best option. It was around the same hardness as manasteel but had a bit less mana conductivity. What made it truly dangerous was its soul attribute. Soulium was safe to handle with bare hands, but any injury caused by it also injured the soul. "Is it that dangerous?" Kale perked her head up while looking at the new soulium dagger in Styx''s hand. "It is. Damaging the soul is not like damaging the body, allow me to demonstrate." On cue of Styx''s mental message, Rhea entered the room with a helplessly iling goblin. The short monster spat and cursed in goblish at everyone around them. Styx had recently been studying theirnguage, so he could understand what it was saying. "Vile elves! Unhand Jo''puk''den, son of Pok''puk''pen! Jo''puk''den will ****, impregnate you all!" Styx red at the vile little creature with an expression of disgust and responded in barely legible goblish, "Vile Jo''puk''den, dare to want my women. Death." He didn''t even cause a grievous injury, he merely caused a gash on the goblins arm about a finger width deep. Despite this, the goblin begun hysterically screeching and thrashing, whilst the injured arm seemed to be having trouble moving. "As you can see," Styx said after switching back to elvish, "not only is the pain of damage to the soul tremendous, but even the function of the limb is hampered significantly. With a deeper cut, it probably wouldn''t be able to move its arm at all." "As an added bonus, the damage to the soul means the body can''t recognize the damage and by extension, not knowing how to heal it. This means any wound will continue bleeding until the soul heals or is treated for the damage." Goblin blood ran down the creatures arm in a constant steam without any sign of stopping or even slowing down. The creature began to get woozy as its curses and screams began to die down as it died from excessive blood loss. [ Goblin killed! + 45 exp ] "And that is the demonstration," Styx gave a yful bow to all the girls who cooperated and gave a light p. "How about enchantments?" Elena asked this time. "Speed and sharpness, the most important two factors in making wounds. It can store some mana in the de, but it still relies on your own mana pool. Not that any of you arecking in mana anyway." With the demonstration over, Styx assigned everyone new tasks and used the dextrous forest assassins to control the soulforge to create weapons for everyone. He also reced all the existing furnaces with magmaforges, a more advanced forge crafted from magmasteel bricks. Magmasteel was constantly extremely hot, feeding off the ambient mana. Without enough ambient mana, it rapidly coked and turned inactive until it was fed mana or ced in a mana rich environment again The magmaforges didn''t have open mes either and instead contained chambers ofva with brimstone flowers floating on them. The temperature inside the furnace reached as high as 6,430C, hotter than the surface of the sun in his former life. Because of this, a multiyered heat shielding array was created for each furnace, which would redirect heat into a series of vents that would warm the rest of the dungeon to a nice temperature and provide a constant supply of hot water without the need of local heating. There was the risk of base metals evaporating and recondensing in the vents though, so each furnace had their own temperature controls for various metals. The dungeon expansion project hadpleted as well. The dungeon was much more open now, with a floor approximately ten meters below the original bridge adventurers were confined to unless they decided to drop into the river below it. Colossal stone pir with obsidum reinforced cores supported the dungeon ceiling and blocked vision of deeper parts of the dungeon. One the loweryer, grass was spreading as well as the ever increasing number of vibrant modified flowers. Styx had managed to create redwood trees with light blue and green leaves which grew underground and would breathe the underground mana and further increase the ambient mana density. They were still saplings though and would take years to grow. The blood crystal bees were extremely happy though as they spread their activities throughout the dungeon. They even produced yellow honey, crimson honey, and blood gold honey from the new flowers, each a mana rich luxury that only Aura could eat as well as Styx''s women who had good control of their manaworks. Many of the elves had gotten better at eating mana rich food and could eat the yellow honey without consequence already though. The final change was the overall improvement of life standards in the dungeon. Now longer did the elves have rooms, but cobblestone and wood houses were created in a small vige in the heart of the dungeon. Stores were also made which any resident were free to request any avable life items or other objects through. Board games in particr were currently a poprmodity as well as various types of balls. This was a side effect of all the fun Piri and the three ves children were having with games and others also seeking quality of life improvements. ~~~~~ Next on Styx''s agenda was a ss to teach to the children, which Rhea also joined in as a prospective future teacher. She was very studious in both her training and studies, making Styx very proud of her. Whilst she wasn''t one of his women, she was still his. Two months ago, Theo and her seed had finally sessfully taken hold in her womb and she fell pregnant. Styx stared at her slightly swelling stomach frequently, his gaze intent and unwavering. "It feels odd, seeing a pregnancy taking its proper length. I am still happy you are pregnant." "Thank you, Styx, but I am just doing my duty." "Mmhmm, you are doing well. I know how much effort you have put in." Rhea thought of how Styx could hear and see everything she did, as well as the fact there was technically no privacy in the dungeon from him and deeply blushed. Vivy may be epting of it, even oddly excited of the thought of a hidden watcher, but she was always embarrassed when actively thinking about it. "Can I touch it?" Rhea was still embarrassed but still directly answered. "Do you need to ask?" "No, but it''s supposed to be polite. Come here." Rhea walked over and rolled up the bottom of her tunic so her pregnant stomach was exposed. Styx ran his hands over it, mana tendrils entering deep within her body and making her mentally moan in pleasure. "It''s perfectly healthy, so I''m looking forward to its birth. Make sure you look after yourself, elves already have enough difficulty getting pregnant." "Of course, I constantly adjust my body and heal any exertion. The baby is also quite demanding," In the ssroom of the recently build school building, Piri and the ves, Avora, Felix and Thomas, sat at their seats with pencils and notebooks ready. Rhea sat in a special teacher''s assistant spot at the front of the ssroom, overlooking the children. "Avvy," Piri cheerfully whispered to the female ve girl, "do you remember the timestables?" "I do. It was hard, but I have learned it as best I could. Felix and Tom are having a harder time though." "Good, good. Can you please help me with them after ss? I need to be able to answer them when my future husband asks me questions about multiplication." "Of course I will, but should you be referring to Styx as your future husband?" "How else should I refer to him? I promised to do the duty for my family in the future. I want to do what I can to have mum and dad be looked after. They have done so much for me in our old vige." "You''re surprisingly mature but do you really understand what that means." "Hmph, of course I do. Once I be an adult. I will move into future husband''s house with the others and also give birth to the monsters which protect us all." Felix was sitting behind the two girls and leaned forward as he also whispered, "But aren''t you afraid?" Piri didn''t have time to reply before Styx began the lesson. "Ahem, be silent now that we are starting today''s lesson. Today, you will be learning the basics of mana theory. I will teach you about several different magic systems and what they are based on. For starters, let me show you a couple of basic magic formations, and we will discuss how they work, and why they work." Styx had pre prepared several parlor trick magic array and Gilderon runes for this lesson, which he demonstrated before going over the basic matters of what magic was, and how these different systems interacted and changed it to produce a result. The children were confused at first, but he had plenty of assignments to help them learn more about magic, and not just basic skills which were instilled into their bodies when they received a ss. In the middle of the lesson he was suddenly alerted by his connection with Therina. He saw and heard everything she did, but she still had a habit of exining to him anyway. "Styx, we have discovered The Relevant''s reporter''s source for information that nobody should know." Immediately afterwards, Irie also stated in outrage, "Hey! It was my source who found out, I should be the one to tell him!" Chapter 61: Mistress Aura Chapter 61: Mistress Aura Therina and Irie walked into a dim, shady tavern in the back streets of the slums. Even the city guard only patrolled here on the rare asion, often leaving as fast as they came. In here, those that lived off the scraps of others lurked in the shadows, an ever-present stench of rot and faeces lingering in the air. Both of the girls wore thick robes with the hoods pulled deep over their faces to hide their identity, as this meeting was arranged in secrecy with the adventurers under Styx''s rule. They were expendable, but Therina and Irie held much more sensitive positions. Styx had partitioned off a small portion of his core and information processing abilities to serve as amunication function between the women whom he was bonded with. This way, they could actively contact each other regardless of distance and Styx himself didn''t have to spend his attention being a gopher of messages. Two female adventurers were in the tavern awaiting the two dungeon wives an hour before the meeting. They had the male adventurers stand as lookout in case they were followed, following them from a distance with their eyes outside, even drinking in dark corners of the tavern while keeping their gaze on the other customers. "Styx also captured civilians, couldn''t we have just met them in their private residence?" Therinained while resting her hand on the hilt of her sword, ready to draw it at a moment''s notice. Breaking thew was a severe punishment in the city, especially killing someone, but people in the slums cared far less about the iron dws than they did gold or food. "You assume they had nice homes like mine. Half of them probably lived in the slums, or shared a property with several others." Therina nced around the tavern and curled her nose the filthy, rot smelling humans inside of it, "How does Aura even stomach these things. It''s like they''re living in their own filth." One of the human adventurers, a woman, waved for them to sit down. "This I guess I will have to wee you to the bottom of human society. Unfortunately, we can''t all live as clean and pure as an elf. If pure is what I can call you." "Watch your tongue, human." Now that they were no longer trapped under the constant threat of being eaten any day, the humans had regained their crass attitude which came hand in hand with their lifestyle. Whilst they wouldn''t dare go against Therina or Irie due to their position, they were still cynical. The woman shrugged her shoulders and pulled out a dirty and torn folder. Irie scowled and struggled to decide whether the quality of the paper inside of the folder or the handwriting on the paper was worse. "What is this? It''s basically bark. Surely you could have at least bought some proper paper. Paper is cheap" "For you, maybe. I have more important things to spend what little money I have." "Next time, buy better paper. I will reimburse you for any costs incurred." "Really?" Therina red at the woman a hissed under her breath, "Don''t think you can take advantage of that. Styx sees everything you do, and should you try scam us, you know what will happen." "I get it, alright. No need to be such a prude about a few coins. It''s pocket change to you, at least let me earn something for my time." "You earn your life," Therina mercilessly stated. The human woman broke eye contact and looked elsewhere, fully aware of the fate of anyone who disobeyed. Therina and Irie didn''t stop to enjoy the sorry excuse of what they called alcohol in this establishment and directly left. One the way out, Irie bent over the female adventurer''s shoulder and dropped a small sack of silver coins into her hand. "Don''t worry about her, just do as you''re told and don''t question. If you do your job well, I will ensure you are remunerated. Share this to the other women, and you all decide who gets what." The adventurer silently nodded and drank her ale as the two walked out of the rundown tavern. "That wasn''t necessary," Therina coldly stated to Irie as soon as the two stepped outside. Irie shrugged her shoulders and hunched her back as the two silently departed the slums. Back inside the tavern, the female adventurer gulped down thest of her ale before motioning the herpatriots. "Move it, you bastards. We''ll go meet up with the others and split the earnings." One of the male adventurers, twice her size and covered in muscles pped his hand on the table. "Who are you calling a bastard? I''ll have you know that my ma'' and da'' were married. How bout you hand the money over to me and I''ll decide how its split." The man was much stronger than her and also higher in level. She looked him directly in the eye and questioned in a frigid voice, "Son of a bitch, are you telling me what to do?" "So what if I am? Hand over the money." "Stop making me waste my breath and get a fucking move on. You''re in no position to tell me what to do." The man had a sinister look in his eye as his hand inched towards his waist. "Go on, do it, you bastard. You''ll have a far worse fate than me, and not even a cell will stop hering for you." The man visibly flinched at this and touched the phantasmal scar on his chest through his old clothes. He spat on the ground in anger, but no longer dared demand the money. ~~~~~ "What is it, exactly?" Therina asked Irie while looking over her shoulder at the dirty, coarse paper. She could speak the human tongue, but couldn''t read thenguage, especially one so terribly written. "It is the information on the Duke''s son, Gabralter." "Oh, The Relevant''s mysterious informant of information he shouldn''t know. What information on him?" "Nothing private, just what he has been up to when going out. The things he has done, who he has talked to, what he has asked oh my, this is interesting." "What is?" "He has been looking for an elf. With waist length long gold hair intricately id, vivid green eyes, and looks just like you. Also, this elf''s name just happens to be Therina." "" Styx''s voice directly entered their mind at this moment, "Therina, have you ever met the duke''s son?" "Of course not." "So how does he know you?" "I don''t know." "Then you should go find out, shouldn''t you?" Therina hurriedly agreed and asked Irie in an unamused tone, "Where should I go to find this person? Perhaps I should head back home to get one of the new soulium daggers? I''m sure that would make him talk very quickly." "There is no need to torture him! Not to mention, he is the duke''s son." Irie grabbed the elf and yfully pulled on her hair. "If he is harmed or even dies, it will bring an enormous amount of danger to Styx and the dungeon. It may not be just the Duke as well. If the matter bes too serious, he could inform the royal faction of the Maple Dragon Kingdom itself." "There is no need to worry," Styx''s calm voice stated to the two in their heads. "With Aura here, the kingdom would find any intervention to be a useless endeavour. As long as she doesn''t attack the kingdom and only defends, the human goddess, Eve, won''t intervene. That being said, don''t kill or harm him until I have given you permission." "What should I do?" Therina asked obediently, not showing any displeasure in being forbidden from hurting him. "Get close to him. He obviously knows you and doesn''t want to hurt you if he''s looking for you in secret. Find out what he knows, and how he knows. But you will have to be discreet about it and make a good impression. He''s a human... can you do that?" "For you, I would do anything~" Therina happily giggled to herself while Irie smiled wryly. "Why can''t you ever listen to anything I ask like that?" Therina cupped her hands on her Irie''s cheek andmented, "I like you, but not that much." She merely rolled her eyes and rebutted, "Don''t forget halfway through and remember, it''s his highness''mand." "I always listen to darling~" ~~~~~ In the dungeon, Styx was constantly running simtions in his mind on how the duke''s son could have learned about the dungeon and also Therina. No matter what he tried though, it simply wasn''t making any sense. He felt like he was missing an important key piece of information but simply couldn''t figure out what it was. Currently, Aura was sitting in hisp with her back against his chest while he was working on her manawork. He had increased to level 15 over the past three months and most of his skills had levelled up too, making the work slightly easier. Her current experience bar was at 717,995/1,088,510. It was a huge improvement from what it used to be stuck at and was reflection of the countless hours he put into helping increase the size of her manawork. The time together had also brought them together closer, Aura now letting Styx take slight advantage of her body with his hands. Those wolfish paws were currently sliding into her shirt, caressing her slender, bare stomach before making their way further up. This kingdom had both corsets and bras, but Aura naturally didn''t wear either. Styx first felt her soft underboob, running his fingers around her soft curves before sliding upward and taking full grasp of her breasts. Her thick tail wrapped around his waist and locked him in tightly against her with an iron-like grip, a form of affection she showed to him. He felt the pointy nubs of her nipples pressing against his hand as he grasped and massaged them, humming to himself lightly in pleasure. Her breast head the perfect firmness and with her monstrous body strength, he could grasp them as hard as he liked. His fingers ran through her tight cleavage and his head against the back of hers, closing his eyes while enjoyed the grand feeling of his fingers sinking into her buoyant flesh. He pinched her rosy nipples between his index and middle fingers, slowly rubbing them. Styx secretly thought of her southernnds, and also wanted to try and sneak a hand into her pants. Thest time he tried though, she had released a low, otherworldy growl which warned him of the consequences if he went any further, made him freeze in abject terror. Just as he was secretly sniffing her hair, he detected six adventurers entering with four prisoners. These prisoners were Aura''s recent favourite food humans. Aura also detected this and immediately looked towards the entrance of the dungeon as if the walls weren''t there. Despite how careful she was, she almost crushed Styx''s waist in her tail due to her eagerness. "Go," Styx said with a sigh. "Make sure you record whom is making the delivery and add it to their debt." Aura was only interested in the food but Styx had taken this as a chance to teach her how to read and write, as well as a bit about management. She had incredible learning capabilities and learned to read and write very quickly, but her limited attention span and interest in it caused her to often forget things or make otherwise simple errors. Styx was left with nothing but a warm spot on hisp from where the wolfgirl was sitting before she vanished to collect her most recent meal. The adventurers entered the dungeon with nervous expressions on their faces, their fears rapidly surging to the surface. The four people they were carrying, four mercenaries who signed up for a dungeon raid, were heavily dosed with a sleeping tonic andpletely unconscious. They never expected they would have their food drugged right before getting to the dungeon, only to be offered as a sacrifice for the others'' wellbeing. Without a sound, Aura appeared in front of the group like a ghost, her obsidian eyes glowing slightly violet glow around the iris in anticipation. "MissMistress Aura, these are our offerings," The party leader hurriedly bowed and indicated to the unconscious people. Aura did a quick count and responded, "There are four offerings, but six of you." "P-pl-please forgive us, we could only bring four today. W-w-we will bring more before the end of the m-month." Aura looked at them in disappointment and secretly considered just eating one of them anyway, but Styx had demanded that she must follow the rules, or it will do harm to any future food quantities. "Okay," She ndly said, but the adventurers felt pure fear upon seeing her unhappy expression. The wolf-eared woman then opened up the ledger in her hand and squinted her eyes at the sheets of paper inside of it. "Who''s offerings?" Four of the adventurers identified themselves once again as Aura never bothered to remember them. The wolf girl held a pencil in her long fingers, carful not to tear the paper with her w like nails, and marked off their offerings on the paper. She treasured this ledger a lot, as it meant that should anyone ever not offer her food on time, she was allowed to go eat them. "You can leave." "Y-yes. Th-thank you, Mistress Aura." Chapter 62: Daily Life of a Harem Lord Chapter 62: Daily Life of a Harem Lord Deep behind the throne room was anotherrge cavern. Bright crimson and violet flowers covered the ground and caused the air to be very rich in mana. Just by breathing it in, one could feel their body filling with vigor. Finger-sized blood crystal bees asionally buzzed around to tend to the flowers, both helping them breed and also brining the harvest back to turn into honey. A small creek ran through the middle of the cavern with a small arched wooden bridge over the middle of it. A broken cobble stone path formed walkways in this peaceful ce, either to a small hill overlooking the cavern off to the side, or the wood and stone mansion where Styx and the girls lived. Styx was currently lying on the extremelyrge bed whilst surrounded by women in cotton pyjamas, some in disarray from sleeping. Heid in the center of the bed while Elenaid on his left and Fiore on his right. Styx''s left arm was wrapped around Elena as her head rested on his shoulder. One of her arms was wrapped around his waist and one leg interlocked with his as she tightly pressed her body against him. What was more erotic was Fiore, whose shirt hade half undone and her breasts almost dislodged from the loose fabric. She grabbed onto Styx''s arm and held it tight against her body, herrge melons pressing against his shoulders while she released steady, shallow breaths in the crook of his neck. She also squeezed his hand between her supple thighs as she clung to his arm like a ko. Styx deeply appreciated the feelings his hand was giving him, even if her secret garden was just out of reach. He still pinched and rubbed his fingers across her inner thighs where they could reach, dangerously teasing to close the final distance and caress herdy downstairs. These spots beside Styx were the two most coveted positions in the bed and were fought over every night. There was an unspoken rule that whoever got it the previous night couldn''t contest, while the others wrestled, gambled, or held variouspetitions to decide two winners. Irie was also given an automatic spot as she was only ever here one night each week, sometimes not even the night, but that was the only exception. Therina nearly always won whicheverpetition, so she would upy one of these spots every second day. She was currently in Lagoon Porter City with Irie however, so thepetition for the top spots became even fiercer. The girlspeted with cooking, Fioreing in first by Styx''s judgement, while Elena was in second. Niah had tried seducing the judge during thepetition to get a more favorable score, but had only ended up being disqualified and left to take the outermost position on the bed. The others, Kale, ir, and Beatrice, were sprawled out on the bed in whichever position they foundfortable. Limbs crossed and heads rested against one another as the only sound were the shallow breaths of Styx and the sleeping dark elves. They quickly woke up once Styx started stirring, Fiore being the first as she tightly squeezed her thighs around Styx''s hand. "Good evening," She giggled while leaning over and kissing him before getting out of bed and straightening her clothes. Being dark elves, they normally sleep during the day and be active at night, but they asionally still changed this schedule as many of Styx''s activities coincided with the day. As they levelled up, the necessity of sleep also lessened, so they could easily stay up for 36 or 48 hours without any detriment. Elena followed shortly after wards and gave a brief peck of her lips before Kale and ir pushed her face into the pillow with a grunt as they climbed over her and started showering him with kisses. "Show some dignity, you two," Beatrice sternly reprimanded them before also kissing Styx, yelping in surprise yet not resisting as he pulled her on top of himself. Niah also flirtatiously stole some kisses before departing the room with a seductive sway of her hips. Fiore was in charge of breakfast this morning, but Niah was helping out to improve her skills and try not lose the next time they did a cookingpetition. Styxid in the bed with the remaining girls sprawled over him and looked over his status. He had been getting huge amounts of experiencepared to his early days, but even with this amount, it was only enough to level up three times. [ Species: Dungeon Core (Dungeon Master: None) Name: Styx Mana: 1,980/1,980 Exp: 57,432(+) Level: 15 Abilities: Dungeon Creation Mana Control Mana Infusion Mana Vein Creation Remote Control Mana Logic Construct Dungeon Control Dungeon Facility Construction Biomass Converter 100 mana Breeder 50 mana, 20 biomass Storage Crate 10+ mana, 10 physical material st Furnace 100 mana, 20 stone Storage Tank 20+ mana, 20 physical material Rotary Mana Engine 40 mana, 10 stone, 1 iron Material Refiner 150 mana, 10 stone, 2 iron, 1 emerald, 1 ruby, 1 amethyst Alchemy Table 200 mana, 5 stone, 10 iron, 1 ruby, 10 quartz Mana Constructor 400 mana, 30 steel, 1 manasteel, 120x gears, 450x screws Stable Storage Crate 100+ mana, 20 physical material Stable Storage Tank 100+ mana, 35 physical material Magmaforge (BP) 250 mana, 40 magmasteel, 5va, 0.2 brimstone powder, 5x brimstone flowers Soulforge (BP) 1,125 mana, 80 stone + 5 tortured soul powder (*Soulium upgradable), assorted items High Pressure Water Cutter (BP) 730 mana, 50 stone, 5 steel, 0.2 manasteel T1 Conveyor Belt: 1m (BP) 40 mana, 2 stone, 1 steel, 8x gears, 12x screws T1 Item Picker (BP) 70 mana, 2 steel, 0.1 manasteel, 30x gears, 50x screws Obsidum Mana-Saw (BP) 550 mana, 3 steel, 1x obsidum de, 1x engine, 20x gears, 30x screws High Speed Turbine Engine (BP) 680 mana, 0.5x manasteel, 1x steel, 5x gears, 10x screws Basic Dungeon Construction Scan 10 mana/m3 Blueprint Creation 275 blueprints Blueprint Manufacturing 275 blueprints Mental Projection 1 mana/min Visible Projection 5 mana/min Autobuild 4 mana/s Trap Construction Bait 5 mana, 5 biomass Spike Trap 20 mana, 10 stone Pitfall Trap 10 mana, none Arrow Trap 20 mana, 10 stone (5 on reload) Weak Poison Gas 50 mana, 1 stone, 1 biomass (expendable) Chaotic Space Trap 200+ mana Crushing Wall Trap 30 mana, 20 stone, 2 iron Internal Resource Storage (190,071/614,400) Physical Material Stone (70,000), Dirt (50,000), Biomass (27,450), Ardonite (5,200), Manasteel (485), Wood (105), Steel (5,145), Obsidum (127), Gold (20), Celendine y (575), Copper (7,459), Tin (1500), Firesteel (115), Magmasteel (72), Soulium (2) Liquid Material Water (21,458), Lava (358), Mining Basic Material Identification Mineral Detection Auto-mine Overdrive Earth Fracture Avatar Creation Resources: Stone 2.5m Ardonite 1.1m Oltrite 18,452 ck Sand 2,470 Dirt 1.0m y 184,205 Celendine y 748 Wood 2,452 Water 27,450 Iron 72,102 Copper 27,362 Tin 7,558 Gold 1.2 Steel 34,847 Manasteel 2,734 Wolfbone Steel 102 + Expand for more Monsters: 134x Miners ( x1, x78, x55) 14x Shroom Gnomes ( x3, x2, x9) 72x Dirt Gnomes ( x37, x35) 12x Forest Goblins ( x12) 27x Stonerats ( x27) 14x Forest Assassins ( x1, x5, x8) 47x Midnight Guards ( x3, x44) 9x Treant Spirits ( x3, x6) 4x Carnivorous Vine ( x1, x3) 15x Stone-Tailed Foxes ( x1, x5, x9) 2x Harpy ( x2) 6x Stone Bramble Queen ( x1, x5) 3x Lava Foxes ( x1, x2) 4x Living Golem( x4) 4x Shadow Leaper( x1, x3) Inhabitants: 1x Blood Crystal Bee Queen 185x Blood Crystal Bee Royal Guard 5,680x Blood Crystal Bee Worker/Warrior Titles: Level Suppressor, Lusty Dungeon, Dungeon Lord, Monster Breeder ] [ Monster Breeder Effects: + 1 initial level of bred monsters + 10% Stats to all bred monsters + Increased breeding options ] Piri was ying tag with the three ve children in one of the dungeon''s farnd areas, arge cavern with long stalks of faintly blue tipped wheat covering multyered fields. Stone paths led through these fields with wide roads to allow monster drawn carriages to pull wagons through. There were lots of dark elves tending to the fields, checking on the health of the crops and controllingrge arrays to feed water into an overhead aqueduct. These array were extremely simply for Piri, whom already had a better education than the others, so the farmers often asked her how to use them when they were confused. At the moment, she was running through the wheat field with her head ducked low, the only sign of her whereabouts the shuffle of wheat as she ran passed by. "I''m going to catch you!" Felix called out whileughing, frequently popping his head above the head of the wheat to see where the where someone was moving amongst it. Piri stifled a giggle to avoid exposing herself even more and fled in a different direction. She broke out of the wheat field and rapidly nced around for a spot to hide. On the other side of a blue tipped grassy field was a harpy''s nest, a construction of sticks and even entire branches forcefully bent into shape. Her eyes gleamed with light as she sprinted across the field as fast as her legs would take her and dove into the nest. The harpy, an almost humanoid bird like monster with wings for arms, razor sharp talons and a screech which could cause a person''s brain turn to paste, tilted its head and looked at the young girl in its nest. It quickly observed her as a dungeon resident and went back to pruning its feathers. Felix, who was ''it'', burst out of the wheat field shortly afterwards and looked at the harpy nest with obvious fear. The harpy looked back at the boy, wondering whether the human wanted to get into its nest as well. The boy was spooked and quickly went in a different direction, not checking the nest for the hiding Piri. "Hehe, thanks Mr. Harpy or is it Miss Harpy," Piri cheerfully said and hugged the monster before departing. The harpy barely paid it any mind and continued about its daily life when not hunting or killing intruders. ~~~~~ "I can''t believe you were hiding in the harpy''s nest! That''s so unfair!" Felixined with a look of grievance stered on his face. "Well, you are the loser, so now you need to ept your punishment~" Piri giggled mischievously to herself while the other two ves, Avora and Thomas, looked at her in confusion. "Okay, okay, what is the punishment?" "You just need to eat these." Piri presented a small cluster of raw wheat kernels. These weren''t normal wheat grains, but the ones filled with mana. Felix looked at her in shock. "W-wait a second. We''re not allowed to eat those, they could kill us." "Don''t worry, a little bit won''t hurt. You may have an upset stomach though, hehe. I''m telling you to eat them." Avora opened her mouth to say something, but Felix''s ve crest had already activated and he was forced to eat the wheat grains with a pained expression. The ves were told to do whatever Piri told them to, so naturally when she told Felix to eat, he had to eat. "Hey, what are you kids doing?!" One of the farmers ran over in shock after seeing Felix eat a mouthful of raw wheat grains, which was actually more dangerous than eating cooked wheat. "Damn it, get him to see Styx or one of his wives immediately!" Felix''s face began sweating heavily as his face rapidly flushed red. Piri stood back and watched with a stunned expression as he was carried off by the farmers. Avora and Thomas looked at her guiltily and were about to say something when Piri ordered in panic, "You two are not allowed to talk about this, okay?!" Their ve crests activated and they both silently nodded their heads, unable to say anything about the incident again unless Therina, whom they were technically the ves of,manded them to. ~~~~~ Styx entered the production side of the dungeon, which had increased in scale once again with all the new inventions. Aura was sitting inside simply staring at everything in endless curiosity, and action which have been going on for the past ten hours. "Surely it can''t be that interesting," Styxmented with a sigh. "It is." Most of the processes were now automated. Raw ore was shipped in on the final,plete T1 conveyer belts, where long lines of magmasteel furnaces where waiting. T1 item pickers waited for the raw materials to arrive. They were arm-like contraptions on top of a doubleyered, six-pointed magic array. This magic array detected when new materials arrived at the designated location, which the conveyer passed over. The arm was then controlled to grab this item and move it to the designated location on the other side of the array. This sounded simply, but each array had to be fine tuned for how the particr item was to be picked up, and how it was to be ced back down, along with everything in between. Automatic arrays were installed in the furnaces next, which melted down all the raw metals and refined the product. Before pouring it out a shoot into a shallow, flowing pool of molten metal. Runes engraved on the side of this vat controlled the metal as it flowed into other area and was hardened and rolled intorge tes and sheets of various sized, or turned into rods for further processing. Styx had more T1 conveyers take these to different areas, where they were further processed into screws, cogs, and other items. Giant high pressured water cutters had a tripleyer array around the water jet, which created enough water pressure while protecting the nozzle to even cut through obsidum, which had proven notoriously difficult to work with due to its hardness factor. It was even harder than diamond, making Styx employ multiple preparation processes to enable him to simply fabricate cutting des out of it. Large high speed turbine engines rotated and functioned asthes, multiple triangr arrays rotating around them and controlling them toplete merely several processes each. From where Aura was watching, she could see all the arrays light up like stars in the night sky as materials were constantly refined and processed, the finished products being shipped off elsewhere for storage. These were items that Styx either set aside for future use, to sell, or to be freely avable to the elves. There were a couple of dark elves whom had taken up interest in being magic engineers, but they had very little knowledge on the subject and were merely blindly fumbling in the dark. It wasn''t so simple as a few processes though, as conveyor belts ran throughout the processing area in an orderly fashion, item pickers constantly grabbing items in constant rhythm. Giant stone pillers were spread throughout the area, and it appeared Styx would have to replicate this room several times as output of the base materials increased. There were arrays which served as sensors to prevent the conveyors from overflowing and making a mess, but clogged up conveyers were highly inefficient. As for the gnomes and other monsters. All these conveyers and magic arrays required power. While fields of flowers behind heat repelling wards constantly released mana into the air, it was nowhere near enough. The gnomes worked on routine in changing all the mana gems installed in the conveyors and the central battery construct, an octagonal pir with slots for mana gems over all eight surfaces, while mana lines were installed on the ground and rant to every machine. When they weren''t recing the gems with fully charged ones, they observed all the machines and ensured there were no errors. They wouldn''t be able to tell anyway, but Styx would, and he could immediately control that monster to correct the issue. The soulforge still had its own room and was manually manned by more advanced monsters, but Aura had more interest in industrialism rather than anything else. "As long as you''re happy." Styx sighed to himself once again and secretly wondered what kinds of thoughts ran through the wolf-eared Monster Lord''s head. [Pictures attached in paragraphments] Chapter 63: (Regressor) You Dont Know Me, But I Know You Chapter 63: (Regressor) You Don''t Know Me, But I Know You Gabralter was visiting the lesser renowned parts of Lagoon Porter City once again while asking local residents and passing by adventurers of any information they knew about Therina. Empty pallets leaned against walls, bags of rubbish down alleys, and people in worn clothes bumped shoulder to shoulder as they haggled with local shopkeepers, hung washing out of windows or busied themselves with minimum wagebor. It was in these streets where Gabralter had met Therina in the second and third timeline, so he naturally replicated that during the fourth. The time in which he met her had changed each time, which he knew was the butterfly effect from his actions. "Excuse me," Gabralter tucked in his shoulders and approached a bar maid on her lunch break smoking a pipe of tobo outside of a shanty tavern, "I''m looking for information on a particr woman, an elven woman to be exact. I''m willing to pay good coin if you know anything." The barmaid looked him up and down and blew out a puff of smoke, "You''re not from around here, rich boy." Gabralter had a strained expression on his face. He had worn cheap clothes to fit in with the poorermunity in the area, but anyone with a keen eye could tell that they were too clean. He was also clean shaven and had the looks of someone who either paid a lot of attention to his appearance, or paid a lot to maintain his appearance. "No I''m not, but coin does not distinguish between where ites from." "That''s true. Step on inside, hun. If you pay well, I may even give you some extra service." The woman tapped the ashes out of the pipe before entering the tavern with a seductive sway of the hips. Gabralter followed her inside and sat at a table while the barmaid brought over a jug of some of their establishment''s finer beer. The duke''s son looked at the yellowish liquid which he was essentially being forced to buy and only took a sip of it. The beer burned his throat as to barmaid sat intimately close next to him with her elbow on the old wooden table, her tobo smelling breath hot in his ear. "So who are you looking for, hun?" Gabralter turned and faced her without batting an eyelid and ignored her obvious seduction. "Her name is Therina. She''s registered as an adventurer and is often in an out of the town. She has a very faint presence, likely from a skill or title" He went on to describe her appearance in detail, at which the barmaid nodded her head and tucked a ck lock of loose hair behind her ear and nodded her head. "You came to the right person, I know the one you are talking about." "How much do you want?" "How much is she worth to you?" Gabralter pulled out a gold coin, at which the barmaids eyes lit up in eagerness. "There''s no need to be shy, hun. How about we discuss the price in a private room?" She pressed her chest against his arm and slowly ran a finger in circles on his abdomen. Gabralter ced one hand against her shoulder and pushed her back to arm''s length before shoving the coin into her hand. "There is no need. Just tell me what you know." "Are you sure, hun? I''m not giving the money back, you know." "Speak." "Fi~ne. This elf you are looking for frequents the local marketce the blocks north from here. She is quite the eye catcher, but most people don''t even notice her. I hear she delivers metals and other materials to a couple of cksmiths in the area in quantities that several merchants have taken a strong interest. She frequents fruit stalls more often than anything though, which may just be an elf thing. Is this what you want to hear?" "Yes, that is greatly helpful to me. Thank you." Gabralter stood up without formality and went to leave when the barmaid called out again. "You can''t leave without paying for your drink, hun." Two bulky adventurers sitting beside the door looked at him dangerously, threatening to interfere should he try to leave without paying. "Take it out of the information fee." "Hun, this and that are two different things. You have to pay for your own drinks." Gabralter scowled at this woman whom was offering sexual services for the gold coin, but wouldn''t even take a few copper out for his drink, which was still 90 percent full and sitting unattended at the table. "How much is it?" "This some of our finest stuff, it''s 11 copper a mug." The duke''s son pulled out his coin bag from his inner clothes and looked inside with a frown. He pulled out a silver coin, which was the smallest denominator he had on himself at the moment and flicked it over. "Keep the change." The barmaid dextrously caught the coin and immediately slipped it down her cleavage along with the earlier gold coin. "Hun, make sure youe back to our establishment should you need any other services, or perhaps, my services~ We provide the best of both kinds." Gabralter scoffed and stormed out of the tavern, immediately turning toward the north and walking toward the mentioned markets with determination. Just after he left, the barmaid poured his beer out in the sink. She nodded to the other barmaids to keep doing their job and entered a private room behind the kitchen. "Hilda Ichilda requesting to connect with Miss Therina." "Approved," The voice message Styx left in the automated messaging partition of his core responded to her request. "Miss Therina, can you hear me?" There was a brief pause before the Elf''s beautiful voice responded in her mind. No matter how beautiful it was though, there was a thinly veiled intonation of distastecing it and disying her unwillingness to talk to a human. "I can hear you. What is it?" "The duke''s son hase searching for information on you and I have let him know what you requested. I almost got him in a room and could get some more information out of him, but he was surprisingly resilient." "That was unnecessary. Just do as you are told." "Ye-yes, of course." "If that is all, go back to work." The barmaid, Hilda, had originally been a standard barmaid who served drinks and fought off drunkards'' loose hands. When the Myriad Flower Devil Festival begun, she had taken leave from work for a day in order to seek her own fortunes like many others. She was by no means weak, but that served no purpose when she was subsequently be captured by Styx and his elves. When she was released form imprisonment into servitude, she returned to her work and a furious innkeeper who flung empty mugs at her. He grabbed her by the hair and dragged her into a private room, a fate that befell many workers in the past. The fear of being eaten alive was far greater than anything he could throw at her, and she had stabbed him in the shoulder before knocking him unconscious. She now had more courage and broader connections, so she had him secretly shipped out of the city by some of the other adventurers who were captured and delivered to Aura. None of the other barmaids had liked him and had desperately needed the job, so several of them had been forced to sleep with him in the past. With the innkeeper currently gone, she had won the other barmaids over with the allure of money and the opportunity to get rid of any unsavoury characters in their life. They didn''t know the specific of what happened as they turned a blind eye to anything that transpired, but they all knew these people weren''t going to being back. The adventurers who served as guards were also captured by the dungeon and a part of her ''party'', taking on the paid protection for the tavern while also being deliverymen. Hilda even caught their monthly targets for them, giving them an easier life and making them be more loyal to her. She was currently Aura''s favourite due to being the person who had sent her the most people. She would asionally send the adventurers back with items from the dungeon, coins, or even the pelts or bones of Second Step and higher monsters as a reward. All of these rewards were highly valuable to her and made her strive to remain in the wolf-eared monsters graces. She also sent beer and other foodstuff from the tavern for her, but she definitely had a preferred taste. She reached into her cleavage with her fingers to fish out the two now warm coins, one silver and one gold. She didn''t miss the long, violet scar which was exposed when her cleavage was pressed apart, a strong reminder that no matter howfortable her current life, she had rules to live by. She slipped those coins in a small purse which was then tucked back away in its concealedpartment in the wall. There were lots of these bags hidden away, and she was rapidly bing one of the wealthiest people in the district. ~~~~~ Gabralter stalked through the markets, closely examining every person in case he missed the elusive elf. This brought back a bunch of displeased res from people who found being scrutinized so closely to be excessively rude. There were a huge number of people in this market, they''re shoutsyering on top of one another until it was almost impossible to distinguish what any one person was saying in the cacophony. It was like the shouts of the spectators at the colosseum when a Second Step contender defeated a powerful monster in direct battle. Amongst all the people however, he finally spotted her. Gabralter shouldered his way through the crowd, ignoring the angry curses which followed his wake. He stood beside the beautiful elf who looked the exact same as the former timelines. He had spent so long looking and now that he had finally found her, any words he had want to say fled his mind and he merely stared. "Can I help you?" Therina asked nonchntly while ncing at him from the corner of her eye. "Um, actually, you may not know me, but I know you." "That is one of the oddest introductions I''ve heard." Just as this moment, one of the men who Gabralter had barged through on his way to reach Therina grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. "Hey, bastard! When you bump into someone, you apologize." Gabralter red at the man and gritted his teeth. "Watch your tongue, it''s also rude to interrupt someone when they are talking to someone else." The argument rapidly devolved from there and the two were about toe to physical blows when the duke''s son revealed his city guard medallion and the bystander backed off while grumbling under his breath. Gabralter turned back toward Therina, but found she had already departed the stall and started choosing items from another. "You''re rather persistent," Shemented as he made his way back over to her. "I hope that you will have a discussion with me somewhere more private." Therina nced at him out of the corner of her eye and stated in an offended tone, "I think you need to work on your womanizing skills before you ask random people for that. There are also ces you can spend coin for those services, and I am not one of them." "No! That isn''t what I meant at all. It''s just" Gabralter leaned in and lower his voice until he was sure only the elf could hear. "I know your connection to the dungeon that illegal dungeon lord who you know that" Therina stood stock still in apparent shock as her eyes started to swim around and she nervously took a step back. "No please, it isn''t like that. I just want to help you. I want to free you." "How how did you learn of that?" "I want to tell you, but I know you wouldn''t believe me and only think me crazy." "I need to go!" "Please! I want to help!" At their raised voices, a portion of the crowd turned to watch the drama unfolding. They each had loose tongues and any controversial information shared would start spreading as rumors before the sun could set. "You can''t Nobody can help," Therina stated in the end before vanishing into the crowd and even Gabralter couldn''t find her again. Chapter 64: Observed and Observing Chapter 64: Observed and Observing Therina closed her eyes and steadied her breathing, calming her mind which was currently screaming. She had told Styx she could do it, but ying along had been much harder than she anticipated. She waiting for Gabralter in the designated location, deliberately not using Concealment so that he could find her easier. Just as per the n, he soon spotted her and rushed over. Therina was focusing on him via her mana senses the entire time while supressing the urge to kill him immediately. She could feel his strength through her senses, a keen skill all of Styx''s women pick up after several months of seeing and feeling mana. He was newly into the Second Step and even in a direct confrontation, she held absolute confidence in taking his life. The way he spoke to her made her feel disgusted. A human, one which she had never met, was trying to be intimate with her. Unfortunately, he was the duke''s son and Styx had stated that she was not allowed to harm him for now. She had stated that she could take on this role, and used her devotion to Styx to form the willpower to act like the image he seemed to hold of her. She yed along, treating him as a stranger whom she had never met before. It is true that he had shocked her when he stated how he knew she gave birth to monsters, even though he was incorrect about the forced part. He was also incorrect in which he thought Styx was an illegal dungeon lord. It may appear that way on the outside, but the truth was in fact quite different, meaning his information was wed. "Why did you have me leave? I could have gotten more information out of him," Therina quietlyined once she had left the marketce, not understanding Styx''s reasons for having her not press for more information. "You don''t understand, there is no woman who simply confides and trusts in a stranger whoes up to them." "I don''t think he would care." "It''s still likely to create suspicion. If not himself, anybody closely listening would notice." "Just like those people?" "What people? I can only see and hear what you do. I can''t sense what you do." "Oh, sorry There are four people, maybe five, following me ever since I spit away from the duke''s son." "How strong are they?" "It''s hard to pinpoint" Therina''s ears twitched slightly as she focused her senses. "Two at thete Second Step, two at the early Third Step if I was to guess. There should be another I can''t detect too, as I keep getting the feeling that there''s an extra set of eyes on me." "That''s most likely the inner circle, high ranked city guards assigned to protect the duke''s son. They may have orders to follow you to find out any information on you, or some other purpose." "I suppose I can''t return to Irie''s then either." "No, you shouldn''t. Don''t expose your connection with her. I will warn that female barmaid Aura has been giving too much valuable stuff to recently. These people may also approach her." "I understand. What should I do from now on, then?" "Go find a new inn to stay at. Pretend you don''t know you are being followed. You will return to the market for your shopping as needed, running into Gabralter when he goes there looking for you again. On the other times, doing basic quests at the adventurers guild, at which times you can also return to the dungeon." Therina nodded her head without questioning Styx and obediently went looking for a new inn to stay at. Styx also informed Irie, who stated she would miss herpany, but was happy she would stop eating her rare and expensive fruits. "How do you know he wille back when I go there, though?" Therina asked as she copsed on the cheap inn bed, resting on her elbows while twirling her hair around a finger. "Because he will be back every day." "Isn''t he a little too dedicated?" "Yes." "Darling" "What?" "I did good, right?" "Of course." "Then can I ask for a reward?" "There is no need for a registration of an aplishment to ask me for something, especially you." Therina deeply blushed and hid her face in her hands. All of her negative feelings from meeting with Gabralter had flown out the window as Styx''s words made her feel it was all worth it. "There are a lot of dark elves in the dungeon now, but I am the only pale elf. I want to bring in more tree elves." "That''s half because of the crisis the dark elf vige are going through, but we are constantly needing more people, I don''t see why we can''t get some people specifically. Why stop at elves, though, there are lots of exotic races." "Y-yes, of course." "Did you want to redeem the elves taken from your old vige? The adventurers can ask around and seek to by their freedom for us." "I don''t care. There are other elven viges hidden in the outskirts of the Abyssal Forest, so we can capture some from there." "Rather than capture, it would be better to lure them over instead?" "How would we do that?" "The same as the dark elf vige, offer things they need in return for vigers. Education, goods, services, it doesn''t matter as long as the incentive is there. Many would run over just at the thought of a safe life under the protection of a Fifth Step Monster Lord." "Then let''s do that!" "I will have Aura locate the hidden viges and you can go visit them when youe back to the dungeon." ~~~~~ Over the next several days, Therina paid no attention to the high levelled guards watching her from just out of sight. She first signed up to the adventurer''s guild, amon thing most travellers did, although she was a bitte in doing so. The attendant handed her a form to fill out and pointed her toward a nearby booth where she could fill it out. Being a global corporation, Therina was much happier to fill out the elvish version of the form in her own nativenguage. She filled out the basic information about herself as required and carefully signed the consent form for the guild to measure, record, and update her level when required. The application was returned to the woman and Therina opted to take a cement test rather than start at the beginning F Rank ss. The test was held two hourster for a group of five new adventurers, all people who had just reached adulthood and weak humans in Therina''s viewpoint. Styx secretlyined in her mind as she did poorly on the theoretical test due to ack of even basic education standards, but she aced the practical and even forced the Second Step assessor into a position where he could only defend himself. Had she been going for the kill, not even that would have saved him though. She was assigned an D- Rank solely based off herbat prowess. "Elf princess! Come join our party, we are doing a wyvern subjugation!" "Miss elf, would you please be a permanent member of our party. We could desperately use your help on our quests." "So, you are the rumored elf. How would you like to join the Jrmungandr Guild? We promise we will help you grow into your best potential." "Miss elf, please ept my invitation to be my date to the Hillman''s Ball tomorrow evening!" Rumors of her strength and beauty quickly spread through the guild and she began receiving countless invitation off all kinds and using various different means. She callously and coldly shut down each and every one of them, especially those which asked for more intimate things. One of them even asked her to marry him, earning himself a dagger in the stomach and a full investigation by the adventurer''s guild which nearly cost her adventurer''s card. She did collection requests as a sole adventurer, from collecting herbs, to subjugating dangerous monsters that had been spotted nearby and the city had ced a bounty on. There was also investigation quests on Styx''s dungeon, but Therina deliberately avoided those quests. During the entire time, she felt those hidden watchers following her around, but had yet to actuallye face to face with any of them. It appeared their primary objective was purely to investigate her. The only reprieve she had was when she ''secretly'' returned to the dungeon and share some intimate time with Styx. The observer''s were obviously wary of the dungeon and wouldn''t enter it, especially considering that the alleged illegal demon lord would know of them the moment they entered the dungeon, just as Duke Ashburn could locate Therina anywhere in the city should he specifically look for her. However, they didn''t know their cover had been blown the moment they begun following Therina around. Chapter 65: Intelligent Evaluations Chapter 65: Intelligent Evaluations Duke Ashburn sat behind a dark mahogany desk in his private office while fingering through piles of paperwork. This was everything from shipments, material stocks, poption and crime reports, correspondence with the capital and other nobility, local governmental affairs and much more. There was an entire pyramid structure under his employ of council members who oversaw various parts of the city to take workload off his shoulders, but he still had to go over all the paperwork and sign them off for approval before they could be filed or enacted. Whilst he was pinching his brow and kneading his cramped muscles, his wife entered the room with a tray of beverages. She ced them down on the table and elegantly poured him a cup of tea, steam lightly wafting off the dark bronze liquid. "Dear, I''ve brought you some tea." "Thank you, it''s much appreciated." The duke picked up the cup and took a sip before sighing in appreciation. "The Southern Calibronte blend always helps me rx. You truly do know me best." "What kind of wife would I be if I didn''t know what my husband preferred." "One I would have married regardless." The duke spoke with a steadfast expression, but his kind words caused a slight smile to appear of the corner of the duchess'' lips. "How are things going with Gab? You''re not very good at expressing yourself, but I know you''ve been keeping a close eye on him." "I am just concerned." "About what?" "Everything. From what he knows, to his sudden shift in attitude. He has spoken of his experience of going through this life multiple times, and with what he has said" "You believe it. Despite how hard you try to be on him, you would believe it even if he didn''t have any evidence." "Of course. He is my son and it is my duty as a father. This world is filled with endless oddities, many far more unbelievable than this." Duke Ashburn picked up two documents on the side of the desk and handed them over to his wife. One was a report, while the other was atter with the wax seal already broken. "These are?" "Read them." The duchess pulled the letter out of the envelope and read that first, slightly raising her brow in surprise. "This is" "Correct, a letter from Duchess Euklid, whom is greatly thankful for his timely warning before the festival. There was still severe damage to the city, which is why it took her so long to reply, but she has finally repaired the damages." "That conniving woman ising to visit and even bringing her daughter along?" Duchess Ashburn massaged her temples in worry. "She is clearly aiming for a betrothal between our children, just look at the way she worded the letter sigh, Gab is in over his head. She said two weeks from now, when was the letter sent?" "A week ago" "She could be here any day then. Knowing her, she will arrive a day or two early just to catch us off guard. I will make sure her weing procession is ready to move from tomorrow onwards." "It gets worse, read the report." The duchess fingered through the several page report on the elf known as ''Therina'', which Gabralter had been searching for. He had shown signs of clearly being smitten by her, and her appearance truly was that of a beauty. "He hadn''t mentioned anything about this woman to me" The duchess expressed her displeasure over her son not introducing the woman he fancied to her, but her expression rapidly turned colder. "Me neither. He seemed to actively avoid mention of her in detail when recounting his experiences to us. This is why." "She is someone the illegal dungeon lord has used repeatedly for breeding monsters. Of course he can''t bring back a woman who has been sullied in such a way." The duke drank thest of his tea in one mouthful while his wife gracefully poured him another cup. "Rather than that, if you read between the lines Our son died, Loraine. In every timeline, he died. There is a single shared factor between every single one of his deaths that dungeon and the illegal dungeon lord operating things from behind the scenes." "And this woman is tied to that dungeon." "Yes. Gab can''t see it, but I can. I''ve gone over her information again and again whileparing them to what else I know from what Gabralter stated She isn''t innocent in this, our son just can''t realize it for himself. Her actions alone mean she already knows she''s being followed, and her strength is also uncanny. How could a adventurer, a production ss Thatcher no less, detect Third Step rankers hidden behind advanced concealment skills." "Dear, as much as I like you sticking to thews, I think the best course of action is to silently dispose of her. Without letting Gab know." "I have already thought of that, but it''s too dangerous." Duchess Ashburn had a rare look of shock on her face, breaking her otherwise constant regal expression. "In what way?" "I''m not exactly sure myself, it is a number of things. First is the recent spike in missing person cases, some of which hold some highly suspicious actions behind them. Then there is the increased number of adventurer and mercenary deaths which has led them putting up some very vivid warnings for any adventurers going to the dungeon" Duke Ashburn looked back over the report and narrowed his eyes at one particr section. "The most dangerous unknown is that the Third Step guards didn''t enter the dungeon not just because they didn''t want to be detected by the dungeon lord, but they felt an extremely acute sense of dangering from it." "If the high level guards are feeling that kind of intimidation from it, then something truly powerful must be hiding inside of the dungeon, most likely the dungeon lord themselves. I am missing a lot of important information which I need. I cannot just send our strongest forces into the dungeon and have them be buried there, which would cripple this city." The duchess sat down with her own cup of tea while she processed all the information before calming herself. "Have you informed the capital of this?" "Yes, but I don''t know if the only two Fourth Step rankers in this country will make a move because of this. I am expecting a response along with an expert analyst team to evaluate the dungeon. We can only bide our time until then." "And do whatever we can to keep Gab away from that woman. The poison currentlying to the city, or the poison he is chasing after why must life be so unfair to him." "It will be okay, as his parents, we will have to do something. Dear, what if it is one of the Monster Lords?" "If that was the case, I would instead be relieved. They are bound to theirnds by the Ancient ordance and Treaty of Gods. Should they break that treaty, the goddess herself with intervene and erase them along with the dungeon." ~~~~~ Deep within the heart of the dungeon, Styx sat with Therina across hisp. Her arms wrapped around him and her head buried deeply in the crook of his neck. She held her eyes closed and took slow, shallows breaths as she softly kissed his neck and wedged her face tighter against him. "I''ve missed this," She whispered while taking in his scent. Styx rolled his eyes and stated, "It has only been about a week sincest time. Irie waits that long every week." "That is a week too long." Therina giggled and bit his neck yfully before licking where she bit. "Enough," Styx stated and pushed her face back before wiping off his sore and wet neck. "Do you understand what you need to do? Don''t forget, this was your request." "Of course, I just wanted some us time before leaving." "I will give you plenty of ''us time'' when you get back. But I need you to go now, while Aura is still interested in it." Styx pinched the elf''s chin and pressed his lips against hers. She immediately grabbed his face and took the initiative, prying open his lips and catching his tongue with hers. Therina''s task was to visit the hidden viges in the Abyssal Forest under Aura''s guidance and advertise the dungeon for new people, or even entire viges, to migrate into it. He had given Therina poster cards on tactics and ways to incentivise people to want to migrate, which she was very eager to do. Off to the side, Aura was already looking bored and regretting agreeing to do the extra work. She was true to her word regardless, and patiently waited while watched the two kiss, thinking about when Styx did kissed her. She understood it was an intimate action, and could even admit that certainly wasn''t unpleasant, but she didn''t understand Therina''s passion for it. "Come here," Styx stated to the wolf-eared woman and curled his finger. Aura appeared directly beside the two of them and looked at Styx quizzically. He motioned for her to sit before brushing the thick, long hair along with her tail. "I have Beatrice preparing some new clothes for you for this trip, and you also need to make sure you maintain a clean and distinguished appearance at all times. You are the poster child this trip, so how you appear before them is important." Aura just nodded in response, indicating that she understood. As for whether she actually would pay attention to that, Styx didn''t know. "Of course, I wouldn''t leave you out of a kiss either." Styx tilted the wolfgirl''s head back and nted his lips against hers. Her tail immediately wrapped around him intimately and pulled him tight against her body. Afterward, both her and Therina left the dungeon on foot, Aura being her guide to the viges concealed behind illusion arrays and natural bewildering formations. These viges were safe because the Monster Lords had no interest in attacking or even bothering with them, not that they were unable to find them Chapter 66: Throwing Open the Doors of the Immigration Office Chapter 66: Throwing Open the Doors of the Immigration Office The forest was eerily silent as Therina and Aura dashed through it. This wasn''t just due to the local shortage of monsters, but Aura''s presence alone cast an oppressive feeling over the entire area and caused everything to instinctively hold their breath. In order to reduce their travel time, Therina clung to Aura''s back as she shed passed trees towards their first destination. She could move there almost instantly, but Styx had told her to slow down just in case Therina''s body couldn''t handle it. Therina felt their speed to be oddly surreal. Despite how fast they were moving, Therina couldn''t feel any wind, nor were the leaves around them stirred as they brushed by them at lightning speeds. Their first destination was the closest hidden elf vige to the dungeon, which would normally be half a day''s travel to walk, but Aura covered that distance in a leisurely ten minutes. "It this is?" Therina asked while nkly looking around, eventually spotting a few tree elf''s serving as scouts among the treetops. The elves in the trees were immediately on full alert upon seeing the two women, whistling among one another to gather attention while they drew their bows. The only reason why they didn''t fire immediately was they could see Therina''s long elven ears, while Aura clearly wasn''t human either "Halt! What is your purpose here?" Three elves dropped to the ground and surrounded them with swords drawn while others were pointing the tips of fully drawn arrows at them from above. Therina could even tell that two of then were at the Second Step, but she held absolute confidence in being able to kill them herself in a direct confrontation. Despite this, she raised her arms to express her peaceful intentions. "We are travellers, her to spread word of a new, safe ce to live in this forest." One of the male elves looked at the two beautiful women and swallowed a mouthful of saliva. "Where are you from?" "We are from a dungeon half a day east from here." "A dungeon? Isn''t that near where a fellow elven vige was before it was raided?" "Yes, that was where I used to live." All the elves grew tense while the leader of this squadron red at her with his sword pointing towards the two. "We already know that all our brothers and sisters from that vige were either killed or captured and enved. State your purpose, how did you find this ce?" Therina sighed and worried she would have to go through this every time, but Styx had told her to do things peacefully, so until they attacked her, that is what she would do. "I was lucky enough to be rescued during the initial attack. I have no very inscriptions anywhere on me, but you are not allowed to look, or I will cut your eyes out of both your body and soul." Her threatening words caused Styx to sigh while all of the elves tightened their muscles and circted their mana, ready to unleash skills and attack at a moment''s notice. "And who are you?" The leading elf asked Aura while pointing his sword at her, who hadn''t moved a muscle since the start and just stared with eyes so dark they were like bottomless wells. Seeing the sword directed at her, she registered this as aggression from the elf and asked, "Can I eat him now?" Styx immediately responded in her head, "No, you can''t eat or kill any of them for now. You can break their weapons if you like, and if they still try attack, hold them down or knock them unconscious." "Can you what?!" The elf raised his brow while feeling a faint sense of dread towards the unknown woman. Therina sighed as Aura appeared in front of the elf and grabbed the de of the steel sword bare handed. She clenched her fist and the sword turned into dust and metal shards with seemingly no effort. The elf watched in horror as his weapon instantly became a broken mess of shards. He abandoned the weapon which was only left with a hilt while jumping back to open up a distance between them. The elves in the trees also released their arrows at her, but the wolf-eared woman casually caught them and dropped them on the ground. "Enough, Hubrent!" An older, wizened elf appeared from between the trees and scolded the vige guards before turning to the two visitors. "I apologize, we have all been on edge since the destruction of our sister vige half a year ago. Tensions are constantly high and it is has been difficult to trust outsiders. We will always wee an elf from ourte sister vige though." Therina nodded her head, not mentioning that she was fully aware he was watching them from near the beginning. None of his hidden intentions mattered to her, so long as she was granted entry into the vige. She turned to Aura, whose new clothes had be partially disarrayed from their travels. She reached for the violet cor of her form fitting sweater which had be twisted around her neck and quickly positioned it straight before informing the wolfgirl of other things to pay attention to with her clothes. Aura tugged on the hem of her sweater while being careful not to rip it with her w like nails. She was especially fond of this sweater as it covered her like a coat of fur and was especiallyfortable. She also wore a skirt that stopped around half way to her knees. She didn''t understand underwear though and her tail kept pushing them off, so she waspletely breezy under her skirt, but she didn''t care so long as nobody tried to look, else she turned extremely aggressive. She had allowed Beatrice to examine briefly though, so she could design special underwear that amodated her tail though. She was fully aware that Styx could see whatever Beatrice could, but she allowed him far more leeway than anyone else. Therina was also in a new set of clothing made out of higher quality materials bought by Styx during the festival. She also had a pair and skin tight ck stockings Beatrice had been focused on creating recently due to Styx''s demands for these products. When she wasn''t training, she also joined the other seamstress in creating clothing. She had been slowly bing more and more beautiful ording to Styx''s opinion, a natural result of levelling up and evolving to be closer to mana as a result. This was the main reason why Aura was perceived as a beauty that empires would wage war over. The older elf leading the two of them opened the path into a vige bustling with activity. There were easily five or six hundred tree elves in this vige, and was a ce where everyone knew everyone. "You can call me Alderon. I wee you into our small vige, but I must first inform you of our rules here. You are forbidden from disclosing the location of our vige, and all acts of violence will result in punishment depending on the severity of your crime. Other than that, we advocate a free and unrestrained life. Please do approach our vige from the west in the future though, as it is the general route in connecting with other free viges." The elderly elf eyes Aura cautiously with a sense of dread hidden behind his calm gaze. He didn''t understand who or what she was, but he knew that she was extremely dangerous and he had no means of controlling her actions. He only prayed his goodwill would result in her sparing the vige. "Why don''t you tell me more about the dungeon you are from? I assume it''s not one of the human kingdom''s dungeon cities, but some stray dungeon lord?" Therina smiled back at the mention of Styx, nodding her head and stating, "Why don''t youe to the main trading za? I will make my announcement there, advertising the new, safe ce to live for anyone who wants to migrate." "Of course I will, I just have a few tasks for the vige chief to finish first." Alderon motioned for two vige guards to escort the two women, whispering to them to make sure nobody angers them. He truly didn''t like the idea of someone entering the vige to try and essentially poach their citizens, but he was feeling helpless af. ~~~~~ Houses were scattered everywhere in a rtively organized fashion. They pressed up against the giant trunks of redwood trees and often used them for support. More houses were built up in the trees with circr tforms around them and rope bridges between them anddders connecting the twoyers together. The top floor was the nicer, and safer, area to live, but the lower floor was where all the trading and main activities happened. The central square was bustling with activity as elves ced products, meats and fruits for sale, while others would barter with their own items. Elven and beastman traders also visited and sold goods from other hidden nationless viges in the outskirts of the Abyssal Forest. There was currently a shortage of monsters, in the area, so the price of high ss meat had drastically increased. Therina and Aura were currently on a tform near the center of za which was usually used for vige announcements, ys, or local auctions of rare goods. They hadmandeered this area without asking permission and brought about arge amount of displeasure from the crowd. "As I said, we are offering only the finest quality of life for all citizens. You will have ess to anything you require, and will even be under the protection of our patron Monster Lord." Therina called out with a broad smile, but the mere mention of a ''Monster Lord'' caused everyone to have expressions of horror. There wasn''t a single person who lived in the Abyssal Forest that didn''t fear the Monster Lords who called this forbidden zone home. "T-that is just nonsense!" One of the elves called out in both fear and disbelief. "Do you not fear death? If you annoy them with false ims, they wille for you any anyone near you!" "This is our patron, Aura." Therina nodded her head towards Aura beside her, causing the crowd to feel even more disbelief. Just before they could call out those thoughts, Aura released a wave of mana upon Styx''s request that crushed down upon all the people and forced them onto the ground. It vanished as fast as it appeared, but everyone still couldn''t get back up. "There is no need to be afraid, she is just here to show you the protection she will give you," Therina calmly exined while smiling especially broadly towards the elderly elf, Alderon. "Migrating is entirely voluntary too, and nobody will force you. Next, I want to tell you about ourws." Therina finally exined the responsibilities of each citizen of the dungeon, especially the women. She outlined the benefits and even described them giving birth to monsters as the grandest of privileges. The two then departed the town which rumors and whispers rapidly spread throughout the citizens, the traders also carrying this news to other nationless viges they traded amongst. Aura led the way to several other hidden viges, each either made up of beastman or elves. Therina spread information about immigration to these viges to various degrees. Several were angered at them trying to poach their citizens and tried to throw them out, but Aura promptly disabled these people and they sauntered into their viges regardless. There was even one tiger beastman vige which immediately and uniformly surrendered to them and promised to move the entire vige of 200 tiger beastmen to the dungeon. Styx was also greatly surprised to learn of beastkin with elvish descent. There were tiger beastkin amongst that vige who had been born between the two species. They were just like any other beastkin, but also held beautiful feature which were synonymous with elves. The two of them had visited 27 viges in total by the time dusk arrived yet had only covered a small portion of the Abyssal Forest. Therina had always known it was a huge area, but she held an entire new understanding of just how huge it was. She held a map and marked down the most recent vige they visited, which Styx verified along with her. He also updated his own map of the world he was constantly working on. He had been creating all kinds maps, from standard bird''s eye viewpoint, topological, and even mapping air currents and creating charts based off those. "It''s time to return," Aura stated while looking at the setting sun. She had more fun watching all the viges today than she had thought she would have had. If she had known they were this interesting, she would have started sneaking into them long ago. "Then we had best hurry," Therina smiled broadly at the thought of what she wanted to do with Styx as soon as she got back. Chapter 67: Ouroboros in the Bath Chapter 67: Ouroboros in the Bath Whilst Therina and Aura were visiting the nearby wild settlements, Styx was busy expanding the dungeon. An army of miners were digging out new areas deep below the existing dungeon. Most of the miners who were mining ores had also been reassigned to the new team, digging out living areas, storage zones, andplicated and confusing giant corridors designed to confuse and bewilder invaders. Everything was designed with the dungeon''s defense in mind and tying that to aesthetic appeal. Every ambush, and bottleneck point were carefully ced. It also had to allow for his residents to safely pass through, so there were no rooms filled with poison gas or the like. He did ce countless traps in room which he could manually spring though, from special expansion traps to the new inferno gas trap, a heavy gas which filled up the room from the floor. It was made from crimson flower extract and a moderate poison. Anybody incapable of resisting it would have their eyes, noses and throat burn upon inhaling any of it, quickly finding themselves incapable of breathing as their lungs felt excruciating pain as if they were spontaneouslybusting, which wasn''t far from what happens. Even more gnomes and other monsters were working alongside the dark elves to build more tudor style cobblestone and wood homes rapidly and tirelessly in the main settlement. There was currently only thirty homes built, along with ten general stores, where everything was free to residents, in the middle of the settlement. This wasn''t going to be enough to amodate all the new residents, but all these things took time, especially digging out new areas. Styx wanted to speed up the expansion even more, and there were three methods he coulde up with. The first and simplest method was to have all the girls focus on breeding miners, which was feasible. The second method was to have the miners breed with one another to increase the monster count, but this held a different problem which made it no longer possible. Whilst the monsters could technically breed with one another under Styx''s control, the new monsters were no longer Styx''s, but instead wild monsters. He couldn''t control them and they would also attack even the residents. This was possible for breeding training monsters, but not for production or the dungeon''s defenses. Not until the taming problem could be solved at least. The third and final option was that rather than digging out new areas, turning his eyes to already existing space and expand through that. Dungeon cores could start a dungeon above or below ground, and each held advantages. The dungeon cities were prime examples of above ground dungeons, and they could expand within a veryrge range depending on the dungeon''s level. Underground dungeons could expand infinitely, but it was much slower as they had to excavate their domain. Styx came to the conclusion that if an aboveground dungeon core could extend into the ground, surely he could expand out. In order to do this, he had already developed a solid theory on how to do it. He couldn''t ''excavate'' the air, but if he built into it, it would be the same as making im to the area. In order to do this, he built several service tunnels below the ground and extending away from the cliff face his dungeon was situated on. He builtrge drills and connected them to high speed turbined engines, which were then connected torge and intricate totem poles in the ground that would raise and push the drill up. This totem pole was still a construction of the dungeon, and by pushing it up through the ground and into the open world, he could theoretically "push himself" into it Styx stood in the service tunnel with his avater and inserted several handfuls of fully charged mana gems into a local battery pack. An array lit up and projected itself in front of the device, which was aputational model listing all the avable mana channels and functioned as a control gate for them. He dragged on of the lines across and it then lit up along with the arcane form attached to that line lit up and begun disying a real time mana quantity number that Styx could use to evaluate how much mana was being output. The battery device also listed the total aggregate amount of mana it had ess to from the inserted mana gems, but Styx had yet to create an identification system for mana attributes. The mana line along the ground glowed faintly and the nearby drill begun rapidly spinning and drilling up into the ground. Dirt was ejected at a fast pace into a pre prepared cart as it rapidly dug through the short distance to the surface. The totem pole was then lowered and the drill removed before being raised back up again. Styx''s calctions had given fruit, as the pole pushed up and into the open world, he felt as if the border of his dungeon was being pushed along with it. It was as if there was a thin cloth along the ground which was the border of his dungeon, and it was pushed up in a tent like structure with the totem pole as the support pir. "Perfect!" Styxughed and pped his thigh in mirth. He had a group of dirt gnomes assisted by a living golem install a giant obsidum pin that locked the totem in ce. It reached up about five meters in the air and made arge amount of area above ground count as the dungeon. He then had the monsters drag to the dirt cart around and install more locking pins as he raised one totem pir after another. It was unfortunate that he couldn''t lower them again, as it caused his dungeon skin to copse back onto the ground, but this was a small restriction when it meant he had the means to expand outside. The more he built, the stronger and more support he would have too. ~~~~~ Therina returned to the dungeon with Aura and was surprised to see the totems erected outside the dungeon in an organized formation. She was naturally ted for Styx''s sess and rushed to go see him. She followed their bond and found him walking through the main settlement in the dungeon which was referred to as just ''Frontier'', ording to some odd naming sense of Styx''s. Houses were rapidly being constructed at a rate of ten per day with everyone doing their own specific part of the construction. Lava foxes were responsible of providing heat and drying all the cement and bonding materials, so there was very little waiting time for those, but it did make the construction sites quite hot and dry, making everyone sweaty. When their task was done, the elves would quickly go have a bath in their private residences, which was amon luxury as they all had hot water lines fed directly into their homes andrge, open baths they could lounge around in. Styx was currently in no different a condition, but Therina didn''t care at all as she jumped on him and wrapped her arms and legs around him. "I''m back," She giggled and enthusiastically showered his face in kisses. "I saw your sess outside How far does the dungeon expand?" "About twenty meters per pole." "Do you have time for me now?" "Definitely." Styx slyly pinched her ass through her stockings and made her walk beside him as they walked towards his and his girl''s residence. Aura had detected this and had already chosen to sleep elsewhere. Her current perch was on top of one of the houses where she could leisurely watch the current construction process while dozing off. ~~~~~ Styx slid into therge bath in his mansion, Therina slowly washing him while pressing her nude body up against his. She ran scrubbed soap onto his body and removed the dirt with a coarse cloth. Her apple sized breasts pressed up against his back, her nipples dragging up and down as she scrubbed. Her long golden hair clung to her body and floated on the water where her hip were submerged. Therina tenderly kissed his back, moving her hands down and firmly grasping his already erect shaft. Her fingertips caressed up and down his meat right before he felt her begin tug on it. She slithered around his body with a giggle and pushed him back until he was sitting on the edge of the bath. She squeezed her way between his legs and nted kisses on his chest, moving slightly further down with each one. Chest. Sternum Stomach Abdomen. Groin. Penis. Her face pressed against his erection as her moist lips kissed the tip of it, her tongue also extending and softly licking it from base to top. Therina propped herself up with her elbows on his knees andy forward, everything from her chest down being submerged in the bath. She held him in her hands, her slender finger softly stroking him up and down as she opened her cherry lips and took the bulging, exposed head into her mouth. "Mmmmm" Styx felt her hot breath massaging his member, along with her tongue that seemed to lick ever part of it, and moaned in pleasure. He held onto her head andbed his fingers through her hair as she slowly lowered her head. Styx felt the moist warmth in her mouth enveloping more of his manhood before came the tight constriction of her throat on the tip. Therina took a little over half of his length in her mouth at once before raising her head back up. She repeated this over and over again, trying to swallow it deeper down her constricting throat. Styx became more forceful and began rubbing the base of her ears with his thumbs as he was very close to cumming. Therina silently moaned at her ears being rubbed in their most sensitive spot while also detecting Styx was close to climaxing and moved more vigorously. She stoked him with her hand harder and pushed it further down the back of her throat, the heat of her mouth enveloping him as he throbbed and felt the internal pressure rapidly building up. "I''m cumming," Styx quietly released a long exhtion of air as he held her head down on his crotch and released arge mouthful of dungeon seed directly down her throat. Therina''s gulped against therge shaft rhythmically, sucking the cum out of him and even causing it to slide slightly further down. She then pulled her head off hisrge, saliva covered penis and smiled at him sheepishly without a trace of semen in her mouth. "This isn''t over," Styx stated with a still greedy smile and pulled her against him. "But it is also time for you to ss Up. I have had all you girls wait for a reason, after all." Therina rested her head against his chest with her arms wrapped around him. "We all know and would never doubt you." Styx nodded and stroked her slender back as he said, "Beatrice and gaining an attribute to her mana have given me inspiration. Once I know what your general ss development possibilities are, I can put apatible attribute in your body and further increase the possibility and quality of your ss options." "Bea missed out then, huh?" "Not really, but she could have had some better opportunities if I was aware sooner." Just at this moment, the bathroom door opened and a sweaty Beatrice, who had just returned from monitoring the construction zone, entered. She nced at Therina in Styx''s arms for longer than normal before calmly stripping off her clothes and sliding into the steaming bath just over an arm''s length away, herrge breasts highly buoyant in the water. Styx chuckled lightly as he could feel how powerful emotions through their bond and knew what she wanted. "Come closer." Beatrice nced over and immediately moved closer, allowing herself to be captured in his embrace and lean against him beside Therina. The two elves upied one side of his chest each with their heads while facing one another. "I''m a little jealous," Therina sighed while unhesitatingly grabbing onto one of herrge breasts in her hand. "I am nowhere near this big. You also have such nice thighs, which is where we all know darling looks first." "I see." Despite her words, Styx felt she was actually quite ted inside. Therina''s acknowledgment of her meant far more to her than the former knew. Styx, who knew all of this secretly pinched her waist in the water and pulled her tighter against himself. "You should also be more open with the others," He stated to her with a smile, causing her to nod her head before speaking to Therina. "That makes me happy." Both Styx and Therina simultaneously rolled their eyes, but speaking what was otherwise kept as personal thoughts was highly embarrassing for the dark elf who always maintained a formal and guardedposure before others. It was also the reason for her often otherwise sharp words toward others and why she was eventually voted to be exiled from her former vige. Chapter 68: Class Resonance Chapter 68: ss Resonance Therina and Beatrice stood with Styx as he looked through various types of mana gems of a broad range of attributes. Both of the elves were scantily dressed since getting out of the bath, but the house had a constant supply of heating so it was never cold. They were in an exceptionallyrge library in their mansion which had shelves of all kind and shapes covering the walls. Some sections were drawers and stored experimental materials like mana gems, while others were open shelves for storing Styx''s books. Adder hung off the wall on a slider that allowed it to move around the room and help Styx or the girls reach the higher shelves. Severalrge dark wooden desks and chairs were in the middle of the library, for Styx or anyone else to read the books in the library. Several white balls of soft light floated about in the center of the room, dancing among one another in response to the people in the room to provide the best light. Styx could actually just grab a book or drawer with his mana tendrils, and Therina had also learned how to manifest her own mana outside of her body to achieve a simr result. He was greatly surprised to see her creating her own mana tendrils and using them like hands. or to power and or control arrays from a distance. They were intrinsically different from Styx''s though and were incapable of entering somebody else''s manawork. "Show me your attributes again and potential Second Step sses you can choose from." Styx cupped his chin in thought out of habit as he casuallymanded Therina, his actual dungeon core running countless calctions on the most viable future paths and giving them the greatest benefits. Therina opened up her disy first so Styx could see it through her eyes. [ Species: Tree Elf Name: Therina Sel''Ether ss: Thatcher Age: 41 Mana: 2,497/2,497 Exp: 13,572/13,572 Level: 19 (+) Str: 25 Dex: 65 End: 27 Vit: 30 Int: 44 Mnd: 27 Lck: 6 Skills: Nature Touched (Racial) +20% Dex, End, Vit when in forested regions. Forest wildlife is less hostile to you. Weaving 3-Fold t 1 mana/min 5-Fold t 2 mana/min 9-Fold Thatch 3 mana/min Wood Weaving 10 mana/min Thread: Auto-Spin 2 mana/min Thread: Mana Restoration 10 mana/min Flower Arrangement Nature Alignment 15 mana Mana Alignment 30 mana Defense Alignment 40 mana Bewildering Alignment 100 mana Archery Twin Shot 5 mana Rapid Fire 5 mana/shot Swordsmanship Dagger Arts Blunt Weapons Arts Hidden Weapons Trap Setting Concealment Deception Iron Will Body Reinforcement Pain Resistance Dismantling Taming Detection Mana Sight Mana Maniption Mana-Health Conversion Enhanced Growth Titles: Child of Mana, Mother of Monsters, Natural Mana Controller, Dungeon Touched ] [ Potential ss evolutions: Master Thatcher High Seamstress Swordsman Assassin Hunter Deceiver Tamer Mana Controller Monster Mother Dungeon Mistress ] "There are quite a few of them you are capable of choosing for the ss Up process." Therina leaned on his arm and asked, "Which one do you want me to pick?" Styx shook his head while selecting several mana crystals. "None. The whole point of why I made all of you wait was in preparation for calcting the highest benefits." Beatrice was intrigued by this knowledge and secretly fidgeted with her fingers behind her back and also asked, "Can you exin?" "Of course, but first, do you have your status and potential evolution sses to show Therina and help me exin it?" Beatrice shook her head and pulled out a nk piece of paper and ink pot. She quickly scribbled her stats on a page for them to use, not caring that her bottom half was currently only wearing underwear. [ Species: Stone Elf (Fire Attribute) Name: Beatrice Fin''Porte ss: Seamstress Age: 52 Mana: 1,946/1,946 Exp: 13,572/13,572 Level: 19 (+) Str: 23 Dex: 59 End: 31 Vit: 30 Int: 47 Mnd: 34 Lck: 6 Skills: Darkness Race (Racial) +20% Dex, End, Vit when in in dark environments. Direct or indirect exposure to sunlight causes damage to your physique. Needling Beginner stitching 1 mana/min Thread Maniption 10 mana/min Intermediate Stitching 4 mana/min Thread Reinforcing 2 mana/m Advanced Stitching 8 mana/min Auto-Stitch 10*(1/2/4) mana/min Unravel 3 mana/min Fabric Treating Tear Resistance 15 mana/m2 Impact Resistance 30 mana/m2 Magic Resistance 40 mana/m2 Archery Swordsmanship Dagger Arts Hidden Weapons Concealment Iron Will Body Reinforcement Pain Resistance Poison Resistance Dismantling Taming Detection Mana Sight Mana Maniption Mana-Health Conversion Enhanced Growth Titles: Child of Mana, Child of Fire, Mother of Monsters, Researcher, Natural Mana Controller, Dungeon Touched ] [ Potential ss evolutions: High Seamstress Swordsman Assassin me Dancer Hunter Fire Controller Fire Mage Monster Mother Dungeon Mistress ] Therina was only partially surprised that they had simr attribute panels as they both did the same training. Even their titles were mostly simr for the same reason. Even their stats were simr as a Thatcher and Seamstress were rtively simr production sses and had mostly the same level up bonus stats. "As you can see, when I inserted the fire attribute inside of her and her mana adapted to its nature, it has shown up on her species panel and even increased the ss Up opportunities. The question I had at the time though was, ''what if she already had the opportunity to be a Fire Mage, and we then added on the fire attribute to her?''" "This would create a high level of resonance between the person and the ss, and open up more advanced, or at least higher quality, options. By having you all wait and increase the possibilities enough, I can then see and determine what attribute will suit you best." Therina nodded her head in understanding and asked, "So what is best for me?" "Going by your potential sses, we can immediately rule out thebat sses. As good as they are, a new ss is built on top of any existing ones, and you are currently a Thatcher, which is highly ipatible with a Swordsman, Assassin, or Hunter." "Master Thatch and High Seamstress are very straightforward options are the standard route. They don''t really have any straight forward attributes to match them, but I can design a dual attributebination to suit them, such as metal and space or something. It is a loose connection, but weaving space could be a possible oue for a Third Step ss in that scenario." "Deceiver, Mana Controller, Monster Mother, and Dungeon Mistress are the mostpatible to you when considering titles, skills, experiences and all other factors. Out of those, you are mostpatible with the former two, but Mana Controller is very neutral and holds no attribute connections." Therina kept bobbing her head like a chicken pecking rice as Styx exined it to her. "I understand. What attributes would be mostpatible with a Deciever?" Styx picked out several dark violet and ck gems and lined them up on the table. "Dark, Shadow, Illusion, Mind. These four are the mostpatible. You are a Tree Elf, which is a species aligning to light so the dark and shadow attributes are in direct conflict. It would have been the exact opposite with one the dark elves though. Of the two remaining, the best, which we will give you, is this Illusion." "Then we should hurry up and do it, I also want to ss Up." Therina giggled and kissed deeply on the lips. Still sitting at the desk and looking over hear status panel and potential sses, Beatrice made up her mind and resolutely stated her desires to Styx. "I want to be a Dungeon Mistress." Styx raised a brow and smiled. He leaned over and kissed her too, running his fingers through her long grey hair and ying with the beads woven into it. "I have been thinking of you too. Whilst it is purely experimental, I want to use this with you." A draw halfway up the wall slid open and a gem shard with vivid green with tinges of gold in it floated out and into his hand which Beatrice widened her eyes upon seeing. "The life attribute?" "Correct, this life crystal converts any mana stored in it into a life attribute, great for ntations and healing arrays alike. Fire is one of the most active things there are, and despite its destructive nature, it has close links with life itself. When an old forest burns down, a new one full of life sprouts from the ground afterwards." As his current main research assistant, Beatrice was very intelligent in this kind of technical information and understood immediately. "It will indeed help with giving birth to monsters." Styx chuckled before massaging the base of her ears with his thumbs and whispering, "As well as any future dark elf children." Beatrice''s ears turnedpletely red while her emotions were like a storm crossing their bond. She immediately stood up and grabbed Styx''s and Therina''s hands before basically dragging them to the main throne room where they needed to insert the mana gems into an array to directly insert into his core before they could be ''inserted'' into their bodies. Chapter 69: Class Up Chapter 69: ss Up Styx''s main body, the dungeon core, hovered in the throne room just above a magic array carved into the center of the giant bridge in the room. This was a slightly modified basic Mana Infusion Array Type I, which had been altered to allow up to 32 mana gems to be inserted into it. Four fist sized green gems with gold wisps of light in it seemed to glow as the array drew out the attributed mana and inserted it into his core without any filtering the attribute. In the mansion, Beatrice and Therina helped undress Styx while he aided in pulling their clothes off in return. Underwear, shirts, and Styx''s pants were discarded on the floor as the three of them fell on the bed. Styx felt the life attribute mana filling him and making him feel full of vigor and more alive than ever. "Beatrice is first, then you, Therina." "Yes~" Therina giggled and pressed her supple, nude body against his back while wrapping her arms around his torso. Beatrice''s back was against his chest, her ass tightly digging into his crotch and one leg lifted up and hooked around his. One of Styx''s hand passed below her neck and tightly grasped onto herrge breasts while the other wrapped around her waist and ced his hand over the valley between her legs. Beatrice did her best not to moan, but she firmly grinded her ass against his shaft as he ran his fingers up and down her crevice, rubbing her clitoris while also pushing into her soaking wet vagina and scratching the inner walls. He was pulled over onto his back and Beatrice rolled over as the two elves propped themselves up on their hands and knees to lean over his face and take turns kissing him. Moans filled the room as Styx reached between both of their legs with his wolfish fingers simultaneously. Therina became more vigorous with her kissing as he stirred around her honey pot with his finger. Under the same circumstances, Beatrice''s upper torso became weak and she leaned down on his, her tits pressed against his shoulders like two firm cushions while lightly moaning into his ear. They both grabbed onto his manhood and stroked with poor synchronicity, whilst the life attribute mana was surging in his body a threatening to release even before they started. Beatrice was also ready as she kissed Styx before sitting across his crotch. She grasped his throbbing rod and positioned it between her legs before sitting down. Styx''s meat rod pushed straight into her as she slid down on her own body weight. He exhaled fully in ecstasy as she fully sat down on his hips, her vaginapletely swallowing his penis and even spreading her juices around the base of the shaft. Beatrice no longer suppressed her own moan and also began panting as she shook her hips up and down his manhood. Styx watched her lower mouth tightly sucking on his member as it slid up and down, while her inner walls also grasped on it as if unwilling to let it go. Therina wasn''t to be left out and sat across his face. She pressed her tight pink slit against his face while he reciprocated by wrapping his arms around her thighs and slipping his tongue into her crevice. He licked her pink folds and firmly rubbed it around her clitoris, causing the elf to twitter in pleasure and moan. Styx also circled her moist entrance with the tip of his tongue and pressed it inside, circling it around and massaging the muscles of the entrance. He could no longer withstand the rising urge in his manhood and as Beatrice dropped all of her weight down on his penis, he thrust up with his hips and ejected arge amount of seed inside of her. [ Insemination begun. Please select seed to imnt: 3x Miners Burden (1) 1h incubation 2x Kindled Gnome Burden (2) 1h incubation 1x Vital Devourer Burden (3) 2h incubation 1x Phenerat Burden (4) 2h incubation 1x Bright me Guard Burden (5) 4h incubation 1x Phenefox Burden (10) 12h incubation 1x Life Devouring Vine Burden (12) 24h incubation 1x Regenerating Golem Burden (14) 24h incubation 2x Phenefox Burden (17) 20h incubation 1x Nine-Life Firecat Burden (19) 29h incubation 1x Undying Warrior Burden (21) 32h incubation 1x Samsara Bee Queen Burden (23) 52h incubation ] [ 2x Phenefox selected Incubation 20:59:23 ] Beatrice dug her fingers into Styx''s abdomen as he rammed the head of his penis against the entrance of her womb and released arge load of seed that filled her with vigor and a sense of fullness. Her entire body quivered in ecstasy as she pressed her hips down, her inner walls pulsating around his manhood and wringing thest drop out of it. She rapidly begun sweating when she felt the new attribute sh with the existing one in her manawork as they vied for the dominant position. Thankfully, there was a strongpatibility as Styx mentioned and they begun to fuse together, forming a new unknown attribute within her body that reced the former two. Beatrice suddenly felt weak all over, as if she had waged a long battle. She lost her bnce and toppled forward but Therina caught her with a smile despite her moans. "Lie down for a bit," Styx lifted Therina off his face and calmly said, "Your manawork is still settling down and exhausted. Focus on circting your mana to help reduce internal fatigue." "Yes," Beatrice said professionally, but moaned again as she raised herself off Styx''s penis while making sure to wring anything left out of it with her vagina in the process. Shey beside Styx weakly with a small amount of dungeon seed slipping out of her lower mouth and onto her thighs. Therina saw his deting manhood and smiled slyly before lying down on top of him and cing it directly in her mouth. She stroked it with both her hands and her tongue while Styx attended to her lower regions with his mouth vigorously. Once he was hard again, Therina crawled down his body and sat facing his feet. She leaned over forwards and grasped his slimy rod in her hand, positioning it at her pink lips that were twitching in anticipation. "Hold on one second," Styx patted her buttocks while controlling the array beneath his core. The life attribute mana had been fully ejected, so he now absorbed the unfiltered illusion attribute mana from the four violet dream crystals in other channels of the array. Styx suddenly felt the world spin. Even his omnipresent perspective in the dungeon shook and swayed as he saw double vision and spectral forms of mana floating through the air in impossible ways. Therina could tell he was ready and forcefully inserted him inside of her. Due to the direction she was facing, Styx had a perfect view as her vaginal entrance stretched open to a seemingly painful degree as it hungrily swallowed his rod bit by bit. Despite this, she moaned in pure pleasure as her pink lips forced themselves down his manhood and tightly pressed against his hips. Therina feltpletely different insidepared to Beatrice, or any of the other girls. She clenched against his rod with her vaginal walls and forced it to push against her internal restrictive force, loudly moaning in ecstasy as it rubbed against her most sensitive spots deep inside her cervix. Beatrice had regained some of her strength and pressed her upper body against Styx while stealing his lips, allowing his tongue to invade her mouth without caring for it tasting like Therina. None of the girls minded each other''s presence by now, even Beatrice who was the most introverted one of them all. She merely looked back at him with a loving gaze and used her body to express that as best she could as words could no longer express it enough. Styx moaned into Beatrice''s mouth as Therina shoved her hips down again. This time, Styx felt the tight constriction against the head of his penis as it pressed open the entrance to her womb. Therina twisted and ground her waist on his hips, twisting and mping on his rod and pushing him over the tipping point. Styx grabbed the elf by her waist and pulled hard as he filled her with a load of dungeon seed too, directly filling up her womb. [ Insemination begun. Please select seed to imnt: 3x Miners Burden (1) 1h incubation 2x Dream Gnome Burden (1) 1h incubation 1x Fantasy Goblin Burden (2) 2h incubation 1x Dreamcrawler Burden (3) 2h incubation 2x Fantasy Goblin Burden (3) 3h incubation 1x Illusory Crawler Burden (4) 4h incubation 2x Illusory Crawler Burden (6) 6h incubation 1x Illuweaver Spirit Burden (6) 5h incubation 1x Nightmare Vine Burden (9) 12h incubation 1x Phantom Lithian Burden (11) 24h incubation 1x Leaf Devil Burden (13) 24h Incubation 1x Dream Sprite Burden (15) 36h Incubation 2x Phantom Lithian Burden (18) 28h Incubation 2x Wind Sprite Burden (20) 42h Incubation 1x Mythical Swamp Beast Burden (22) 72h Incubation ] [ 2x Phantom Lithian selected Incubation 28:02:11 ] Therina moaned and quivered as the illusion attribute mana entered her manawork. Her vision spun and she toppled backwards onto Styx while he was still fully sheathed within her. Styx held his hand around her waist as shey sprawled over him and breathing deeply while waiting for her internal mana to settle down and adapt to the new attribute. Styx''s rod rapidly beid and slid out of Therina, it''s taskplete. Despite this, she trapped all the dungeon seed within her without letting any flow out. The two elves hugged him on either side and closed their eyes peacefully as Styx gently traced his fingers up and down their lithe backs. "It''s time to ss Up, while the attributes within you are at their strongest," Styx quietly said to the two. "Show me your potential sses, so I can see what''s changed." Therina was the first to open her status and show her options to Styx, which had shown a couple of changes from before. [ Potential ss evolutions: Master Thatcher High Seamstress Illusory Swordsman Dream Assassin Hunter Dreamweaver Tamer Mana Controller Mana Controller (Illusion) Illusion Mage Monster Mother Dungeon Mistress ] The key ss was the former Deceiver ss, which under the influence of her current ss and illusion attribute, had evolvedpletely into an entire new ss Dreamweaver. This seemed like a mage ss, but it was instead far more advanced than that. Itbined technique and skill more so than casting spells. For a Second Step ranker, it was a top ss, perhaps even higher. Beatrice opened hers just after Therina, which while it had some changes, there were noprehensive ss evolutions. [ Potential ss evolutions: High Seamstress Swordsman Samsara Assassin me Dancer Hunter Fire Controller Living me Mage Brood Mother Dungeon Fire Keeper ] "Therina, you will be a Dreamweaver, Beatrice, a Dungeon Fire Keeper." They both nodded but Beatrice seemed slightly disappointed by the ss no longer being call ''Dungeon Mistress''. "What is a Dungeon Fire Keeper?" "We will have to wait and see, but your attribute is currently that of fire and life. Reborn through fire like a Phoenix. It will be rted to being the fire seed of the dungeon, but even I can''t guess the specifics." The two elves selected their Second Step sses ording to Styx and immediately felt their bodies changing. Styx had more of a panic as he extended his mana tendrils into them and watched the changes. What he saw was greatly rming. The world, system, or some form of higher power controlled the ss Up procedure as a newwork structure of mana channels rapidly grew inside their bodies, oveying the existing ones. This is how the main skills automatically taught the body how to use subskills when their proficiency was enough. This was normal, but alongside of it, all of their mana exited their manawork and filled their bodies unlike the leveling up process. This was controlled by the higher force and waspletely irresistible. As their manaworks dried up, Styx had to rapidly pull out his mana tendrils or they too would get sucked into their bodies, but he did get the chance to witness what then happened for a brief moment. The monster essence which had just taken seed within them was attached to their manawork, and they too got sucked dry and werepletely absorbed into their bodies. Both of the elves fell unconscious as illusory threads of violet light cocooned Therina''s body, and a cocoon of golden fire wrapped around Beatrice and even burnt into the bed. Styx had thankfully escaped just in time before he was affected by either one of them. He hadn''t seen the ss Up procedure before, but even he knew this wasn''t how it was supposed to go. At this moment, Aura appeared in the one without warning and stared at the two naked girls in the cocoons in an irresistible curiosity. She turned to Styx and asked in the most lively voice she had ever spoken in, "Why are they evolving?" Evolution was a specific trait of monsters. They didn''t ss Up to advance to the next step as they didn''t have sses in the first ce. They would evolve into a higher ranking species instead. Aura wasn''t a Phantom World Devouring Wolf when she was born, but a much lower ranked species who had evolved several times to reach where she was today. Styx looked at the two nowpletely concealed elves and responded in uncertainty. "If that is the case, then with arge number of factors lining up, just like all the stars aligning, I think we have managed to trigger the Evolution System on top of the ss Up System." Chapter 70: Great Dungeon Lord Who Rules Monster Lords Chapter 70: Great Dungeon Lord Who Rules Monster Lords Elena, Kale, ir, Fiore and Niah stood beside Styx as they looked at the tworge, contrasting cocoons which where Therina and Beatrice. "And they are inside of there?" Elena asked while looking at the cocoons from outside of a barrier that shifted through the air like ink on water, a product of Aura''s Phantasmgoria. This barrier was mainly to stop them causing more damage to the house, but it also served as a protective barrer and prevented anyone from entering Fiore was confused while looking at them. "So, are they monsters now? How long will they be in there for?" "I don''t know," Styx sighed while looking at the wolf-eared woman who sat like a statue outside of the barrier with an intense stare. "Aura assumed it could be about a week, but this is such an unprecedented situation it is still unknown." "Can we also evolve?" Kale giggled lightly and grabbed Styx''s hand before her sister pulled her aside. "ir! Why still don''t know anything about it, especially any of the dangers!" Niah giggled and leaned on Styx''s chest while pressing her hips against his, "If you want to make me evolve, I will do my best to help." Fiore grabbed her by the cor and pulled her away, but not before faintly stating, "That goes for me too." ~~~~~ New citizens began quickly flowing into the dungeon. At first, it was some sporadic elves and other exotic species from nationless viges who heard about this dungeon from Therina or travelling traders. They came under many reasons. There was the expectation on having a safe hone, protected by one of the Fifth Step Monster Lords of the Abyssal Forest. While there were those seeking strength or a stable food source. There were even several Second Step rankers amongst them. After these nomads came, there was then the tiger beastman vige which appeared in a single mass of hundreds of beastman. They had also captured several groups of humans, which they presented as offerings as they knelt down in front of the dungeon entrance. Their bodies where covered in orange fur with ck stripes, and they had sharp, feline eyes which held a sense of danger. Their hands were also weapons with long ws, but they still used swords and bows as each had a ss. Despite first appearances, they were an exotic species, not monsters. Aura had refused to go out an great them, as if in fear she would miss the moment Therina and Beatricepleted their evolution. Styx had then left to greet them with ir and Kale nking his sides. Six of the humans had been offered as sacrifice during this period and Styx was constantly grateful for extending the dungeon outside and allowing him to collect the experience. "We are here to submit to the great Monster Lord!" The chief tigerman bashed a bone cane on the ground and loudly dered. Styx twitched his brow and snapped back, "The great Monster Lord works for me." The tigermen were at a loss of words, but quickly came to their own conclusion. "Great Dungeon Lord Who Rules Monster Lords!" The beastman weren''t stupid or blindly worshipping others, this was just a part of their culture and formalities. The point was that they had submitted to the dungeon, so the ruler needed a title to suit their position. "StStyx," Several of the captured humans had frightened expressions on their faces. These were his dungeon ves whose life depended on luring others to the dungeon to be Aura''s food. They were on their most recent trip to the dungeon when they had been captured by the tiger beastmen and had aggrieved expressions on their face. Styx looked at those people and nodded his head before turning to the tiger beastmen andmanding them, "Release the selected humans." They all quickly obliged and those humans were untied. "You traitors!" "Scum!" The other humans looked at them with scornful expressions. Styx paid no mind to these people and brought everyone into the dungeon. "We are tight on room as homes are still rapidly being built. You will be working with others to help create them and will have to make do with tight living arrangements until then." The tiger beastmen gawked and ran their fingers over all of the intricate pictoral carvings on the pirs and walls as they entered the dungeon. They admired even more the brightly lit inner area with theplex bridge formation and lower level full of grass, flowers and tree saplings growing on mana. They were used to much simpler homes that were close to the ground with low rooves, so therge ones Styx was building were an entirely new experience for them. "Pinith Hughein," Styx called to the older chief beastman with faded orange fur, leader of their former vige. "Are you all aware of thew of the dungeon?" Pinith wasn''t his given name, but a title which was widely used in more tribal beastman cultures. It was a title that meant "highest leader" and even though their vige no longer existed, the title was retained. "Yes, Great Dungeon Lord Who Rules Monster Lords. We only request that you do not take all of our women." Styx still felt the title they gave him was far too long, but he chose to ignore it for now. He looked at the tigress beastmen who kowtowed on the ground in front of him and was unsure how to proceed. He didn''t have any desire to mate with them, but he also didn''t want to make the species feel left out and therefore lesser than others or at a constant disadvantage. Coming to a decision, he called the first tigress beast and ced his hands on her face, massaging her ears with his thumbs and causing her to start purring and rub her head on his hand. "Rx, the only rule you need to follow is the women forming a bond with me. As for breeding, I will form a separate system that will engage with that and will be mostly automatic." Styx had already begun creating another partition within his core meant solely for breeding. It essentially contained an adaptive yet basic artificial intelligence which would be used for breeding. He had considered it for a while now, as more and more women became dungeon wives, he would no longer be capable of attending to all of them without it affecting his attention on other things. He had also begun creating control processes for the dungeon monsters and other tasks which were more or less programmable. This created a simr affect to parallel thinking and whilst it harmed his personal processing powers, it allowed him toplete more tasks at one once. Styx also created a system which would harvest unused processing power from other partitions when he was doing research or otherwise required more resources. "Great Dungeon Lord Who Rules Monster Lords, are our women not enough for you?" The Pinith knelt down deeply before him in sorrow upon learning that he wasn''t taking them into his home personally. Styx waved his hand a stone sculpture of a 4 foot tall female dwarf grew out of the ground, a stocky figure with chiselled features and slightly pointed ears. "Pinith, stand up and have a look at this sculpture." The elderly beastman raised his head and looked at the image of a female dwarf before looking at Styx with a puzzled expression. "If this woman was before you, would you take her as your wife and woman?" "Should the Great Dungeon Lord Who Rules Monster Lordsmand me, I would." "You are deflecting the question so let me ask it in a different way. Do you find this dwarf to be sexually attractive?" "" "This is your feelings. Despite the fact that she is an incredible beauty among her race who would have men fawning all over her, you don''t feel any enticement from her. Perhaps even directly averse to such rtions." Just as Styx had pointed out the difference in aesthetics and why he wasn''t taking any of the female tiger beastmen as his direct women, they too felt the same way about him. They wanted to give their bodies to him for their people and to gain more authority, but they didn''t hold a physical attraction to him. There were a few outliers who actually did feel that kind of attraction and weren''t deterred at all though. Several of the human captives had also submitted to living in the dungeon. There were four males and one female who Styx epted, especially considering they had a basic education. The men were greatly excited about the prospect of mating with other races, while the woman was more motivated by keeping her life. Styx had a very strict policy on interspecies partners. He never forced or rejecting any such bonds, and they had to be formed in agreement between the two parties. Anyone trying to force it on another or use his name as leverage or intimidation would face punishment on the newly expanded prison or even a more severe punishment given the circumstances. ~~~~~ Irie secretly entered the dungeon during her usual weekly visit with a slightly dejected expression. She threw herself on Styx while he was sitting on his throne deep in thought and startedining about the higher ups at work. "They''re sending over an investigation team! Do you know what that means?! They will find out about all the materials I have secretly been sending through to you!" "Is there a way to stop them?" "Could you kill them on the way?" Styx nodded and pinched the woman who was being melodramatic. "Would that solve the problem, though?" "No, but it would buy time." Styx ran his finger over her lips before pushing it in her mouth. She groaned in annoyance as he stirred it around and teased her tongue with it. Despite this, she yfully bit it in defiance which only challenged the dungeon more. "I think it''s time we cut our losses and drain what is left in the localpany coffers. Empty out the storage area and gold coffers and let it copse." "Wuuu~~ if you vant." Irie then pulled Styx''s finger out of her mouth and kissed him on the chin beforepletely curling up in hisp with her arms tightly locked around him. "You will also live in the dungeon too." Styx felt Irie''s heartbeat increase rapidly and her grip on him tighten. She looked up at him with delirious eyes and spoke in a voiceced with determination. "I want to evolve too." "Who told you?" "Kale." "She really has a loose tongue, doesn''t she." "Should you punish her then?" "Of course not, it''s only if she talks too much to someone else." "I still want to evolve." "It isn''t a guarantee, you know. I don''t understand all the specific triggers to it." "If she can do it, so can I" Irie was still , the only one of Styx''s girls who hadn''t reached the point of ss Up yet. She had recently been feeling impatient and trained far harder than the others to catch up, but Styx had frequently forced her to hold back and prevent making any rushed decisions. "Don''t you want to know," Irie said with an impish grin as she kissed him on the lips repetitively, "what a human can evolve into?" Chapter 71: Arrival Chapter 71: Arrival Gabralter was at the small market where he met Therina once again. He hade here every day determined not to miss her when she returned. He even paid some local shopkeepers to keep an eye out for her in case he missed the time she came. He came here everyday, and many people began to notice and recognize him. Rumors of the city lord''s son frequently visiting a small market quickly circted among the housewives and thenrger, more prominent circles. This lead to an explosive boom of interest in the marketce and traders were desperately trying to purchase up any open spot they could. It wasn''t long before knowledge of a woman he was looking for followed along the trail of the former rumor. He was an extremely handsome person, with curly golden locks and sharp features much like his father. Countless girls from the age of adolescent to even those in their 40s spun Cindere stories in their head with themselves as Cindere. Gabralter returned home after another fruitless day in the market which was getting busier and busier every day with a deep frown. "Young master, wee back," One of the butler''s weed him home while opening the carriage door for him to depart. Inside the mansion, his father, the duke himself, shot him an angry look while his mother also frowned in displeasure. "Do you have any idea what you have been doing?" Duchess Ashburn asked through pursed lips. "I am fully aware." Gabralter coldly retorted and went to leave the room, but his father coldlymanded him to enter his study. With the duke leading the way, the family of three quickly entered arge and grandiose study. "What is it?" Gabralter snapped unhappily. "Son, you need to stay away from that elf." The duke only cared for his son, but he was not one for subtlety and spoke his intentions directly. "I refuse!" "Gab, you are not a small boy anymore, you can''t simply do things without thinking." Gabralter, who had gone through many lives already, all of which ending in death, was no longer the person who would never dare challenge his father. "What do you know!? She is someone who needs help." The duchess tapped her finger on the duke''s dark mahogany desk and stated, "She is a honey trap, can you not see that?" "Mother! She isn''t a honey trap! There is so much evidence against that." The duke pulled out the folder on information on Therina and ced it on the desk for his son to look at. "I have everything here before me and can see it quite clearly. Why don''t you have a look for yourself?" The duke red at his son as he picked up the file and skimmed through it briefly before his shoulders began shaking in anger. "This is the real reason, isn''t it? Not because of any so called honey trap, but because she has been tarnished That it, ISN''T IT!!" Gabralter shouted so loudly the windows shook. The duke and duchess weren''t about to allow themselves to be yelled at in such a manner so tensions immediately red. "Gabralter," His mother''s voice was quiet as she spoke his full name, "have you lost all filial dignity? You would throw away your honor, your family''s honor, on an elf who is in the arms of another? You would expect us to agree to that?" "Who are you to talk, mother!? Even you were born from a-" "Gabralter!" The duke shouted at his son in an ice cold thed with infinite anger, "Take back your words, immediately" The duchess'' whole body shook and her entire body shook. Tears threatened to fall despite her best efforts at self restraint, not so much by the words, but who said them. Gabralter knew he said something he never should have and immediately felt guilt and regret. Despite that, he was in no state of mind to admit wrongdoing so he instead stormed off, mming the door behind him. Duke Ashburn looked at his heartbroken wife with guilt. "We did not handle that well." Just then, several knocks sounded on the door before the duke responded with, "We are currently upied, notify meter." "Duke, Sir, forgive me" A butler called out from behind the door. "Duchess Euklid''s messenger has just arrived and they will arrive in 30 minutes. We can already see their procession on the horizon." Duke Ashburn pinched his brow in frustration and was about to dismiss the butler and pretend he never heard the message when Duchess Ashburn silently raised her hand to stop him. She dried her eyes on the inside cuffs of her dress sleeves and took several deep breaths to regain herposure before she opened the door and stood before the butler. "Inform the messenger that we have received the message and they can return. Immediately send out the pre prepared procession." "Yes, Duchess." The butler bowed deeply before hurrying off toplete his tasks. Once he was gone, Duchess Ashburnined aloud to her husband. "How does that whore always manage to arrive at the worst possible times?" ~~~~~ Several days had passed and the dungeon was overwhelmed with the influx of new residents, especially the tiger beastmen. There wasn''t enough beds to go around, and the food supplies were rapidly dwindling too. Half of the beastmen were forced to sleep outdoors currently, but this is something they were quite capable of. They set up temporary tents and shared living facilities with others. The high mana content in the air also made the air always feel fresh and full of life too, so nobody had the feeling of being stifled. The food source issue was more severe. Large fields of Wheat-M2 and Corn-M1 were being nted inrge fields, but they would take several months before a they could be harvested. Styx currently only had 1 month of food for everybody at the current rate, but that shrunk with every new arrival. His current only option was to source the extra food he needed until the next harvest from outside sources. The tiger beastmen joined the ranks of the hunters, bringing most game back to the dungeon before being killed where possible. One of the humans, a Lancer in his prime, approached one of the female tiger beastmen and sat down beside her. "Hello, how are you?" It was a pretty nd conversation starter, but this is how many conversations started. The female tiger woman nced at him before nodding her head, "I am fine." "I have spare space on my bed. If you agree to be my woman, I would definitely share it with you." "No thanks." The woman didn''t even hesitate before she rejected him, her whiskers briefly twitching. "You won''t even consider it?" The female tiger woman wasn''t offended nor did she pay much attention to him. The women in their tribe had already imed the dominant position due to their bond with Styx, so it was a foregone conclusion that the human trying to find a beastman wife would be incredibly hard. Even the males of the tribe were having to work harder to find a mate as the power bnce in their cultural dynamic quickly shifted. "He''s here, he''s here!" The formerly uninterested female tiger beastman''s ears perked up and tail begun swinging as she watched Styx pass by with his other girls. All the dungeon residents only watched from a distance, anyone who tried to approach by themselves being stopped by the reproachful r of Niah and the other main dungeon wives. Styx was heading toward their private residence, where he heard from Aura that Therina and Beatrice were about to break free from their shells and be figuratively born anew. In the residence, the two cocoons were now much smaller and less active than they initially were. Styx had thought it would be thetter, in which the most activity would happen at the end of the cycle, but that was incorrect. In his residence, the cocoon of golden fire had nearly died out and the illusory violet light one had cracks all over it. As Styx and the girls watched, these cocoons then broke apart and were absorbed into the bodies of the two naked women. "Therina? Beatrice?" Styx asked cautiously right after having Aura drop her barrier within the room. The bed and most of the items inside had been turned into ruin, but the two elves inside werepletely spotless. Their skin could even be said to be beyond perfect. They stirred before sitting up and looking around in confusion. "What happened?" Beatrice said, her voice holding an intrinsic seductive tone to it. "Ahem, your shoulder and now stomach" Styx begun as golden mes started sprouting on Beatrice''s body. "Oh OH!!" She quickly tried to pat it out but soon recognized it as not harmful to herself and tried other methods. "It appears to be leaking from my manawork Urgh why is this so hard? I just have to stop it." The golden mes vanished and Therina was also inspecting her body and the room around her. "Darling, what happened?" A natural seductive toneced her voice as tworge tails that wavered through the air like smoke appeared behind her. Therina also noticed these tails and rapidly turned her head in surprise. "Allow me to exin," Styx exined the entire process of how they evolved over the past several days and his spections. "Why don''t you show me your statuses." Both the girls nodded and opened their status. [ Species: Lithic Naiad Name: Therina Sel''Ether ss: Dreamweaver Age: 41 Mana: 4,697/4,697 Exp: 0/16,334 Level: 20 Str: 32 Dex: 84 End: 35 Vit: 45 Int: 59 Mnd: 41 Lck: 9 Skills: Dream Race (Racial) Ability to touch the intangible +50% all stats when inside of a dream. Capable of dreamscape creation. Weaving 3-Fold t 1 mana/min 5-Fold t 2 mana/min 9-Fold Thatch 3 mana/min Wood Weaving 10 mana/min Thread: Auto-Spin 2 mana/min Thread: Mana Restoration 10 mana/min Flower Arrangement Nature Alignment 15 mana Mana Alignment 30 mana Defense Alignment 40 mana Bewildering Alignment 100 mana Illusion Weaving Sense Beguilement 80+ mana/s Dream Walking Dream Mark 200 mana Dreamgate 500 mana Archery Twin Shot 5 mana Rapid Fire 5 mana/shot Swordsmanship Dagger Arts Blunt Weapons Arts Hidden Weapons Trap Setting Concealment Deception Iron Will Body Reinforcement Pain Resistance Dismantling Taming Detection Mana Sight Mana Maniption Mana-Health Conversion Enhanced Growth Titles: Child of Mana, Mother of Monsters, Natural Mana Controller, Dungeon Touched, Progenitor ] [ Species: Dark Phenelf Name: Beatrice Fin''Porte ss: Dungeon Fire Keeper Age: 52 Mana: 2,946/2,946 Exp: 0/16,334 Level: 20 Str: 29 Dex: 63 End: 35 Vit: 120 Int: 49 Mnd: 38 Lck: 9 Skills: Samsara (Racial) As long as the soul remains, the body can be reborn from the ashes. Physical separation of remains will dy process Life and death are mere states of the cycle of reincarnation. Loose soul is immune to the pull of the afterlife and capable of existing in the material ne. Needling Beginner stitching 1 mana/min Thread Maniption 10 mana/min Intermediate Stitching 4 mana/min Thread Reinforcing 2 mana/m Advanced Stitching 8 mana/min Auto-Stitch 10*(1/2/4) mana/min Unravel 3 mana/min Fabric Treating Tear Resistance 15 mana/m2 Impact Resistance 30 mana/m2 Magic Resistance 40 mana/m2 Dungeon Link Life Vessel Mother of Monsters High Breed 500 mana Archery Swordsmanship Dagger Arts Hidden Weapons Concealment Iron Will Body Reinforcement Pain Resistance Poison Resistance Dismantling Taming Detection Mana Sight Mana Maniption Mana-Health Conversion Enhanced Growth Titles: Child of Mana, Child of Fire, High Mother of Monsters, Researcher, Natural Mana Controller, Dungeon Touched, Progenitor ] Chapter 72: Combat Test Chapter 72: Combat Test Styx went through the residents and selected two of the rare Second Step rankers. One of them was one of the humans, whom was one of the sole two Second Step ranker that wasn''t one of the tiger beastman. The other was one of the female tiger beastmen, who was formerly a prowler, their term for a vige guard. Therina and Beatrice stood opposite the two of them in a wide open space in the current training area. This training field was an enormous area with a smooth stone tiled floor and enormous octagonal pirs in a grid pattern. There was even footholds on different spots of the pirs, which meant moving around on the ground wasn''t the only option. "Please go easy on us," The human male called Kristof said with a helpless smile, not fearing his life but definitely fearing an extended period of time lying down. This was the same human who had been flirting with the beastmen for the past several days to no avail. This female tiger wasn''t one of the ones he dared flirt with, however. All of them used n steel weapons and sturdy armor of their choice. Kristof was especially nervous and had chosen a heavy armor and shield set which would provide him better protection at the expense of some mobility. "Begin!" Styx called out with a steadfast expression. Therina charged forward first, moving like phantom drifting through the void. She instantly locked onto the human ranker and held a sword poised to impale him. Kristof was an experienced ranker and took a step back to cushion the damage before retaliating. He immediately used spatial piercer, a powerful spear subskill, in retaliation, but Therina dodged to the side as soon as her strike was blocked. She hid behind his shield and struck with her smoke like tails. The tails passed directly through the shield and his armor before constricting around his neck and torso. Kristof panicked as soon as this happened and desperately tried to break free, but the tail rapidly shifted between illusory and solid. He wanted to fight off her actual body, but his brain wasn''t getting enough oxygen and he rapidly begun to lose consciousness. Therina reluctantly released the human ranker when he fell asleep, but she still had other skills to test out. She had already cast dream mark on him whilst she had him captured in her tails, a skill which only required her to be in physical contact with some one for a period of about 10 seconds. Styx and all the women could see how her mana churned and left a deep crimson imprint on him that he himself couldn''t detect. The next skill was dreamgate Her illusion attribute mana shifted and passed through a specific set of mana channels as one of her tails stabbed into the air in front of her. The mana passed down her tail and congregated at the tip before causing the air to seemingly be viscous as the tail pierced through an imaginary veil. Therina went ording to her instincts as she stirred the air with her tail and created a vortex that only appeared as if everything in that spot was constantly twisting in a way that made one''s eyes hurt from looking at it. She barely hesitated before stepping through that portal and vanishing altogether. On the other side, Beatrice had shed with the female tiger beastman in a far less domineering way. Whilst she wasn''t weak, and her training was very strict, the tiger beastman had the advantage in physique and experience. The female tiger beastman used a set of steel ws as she dashed under Beatrice''s attack with ease and cut through thin armor and flesh alike as she carved a set of giant gashes across her waist. Knowing that she was one of Styx''s direct women, she immediately panicked and looked apologetic. "Continue," Styx stated without hesitation as he saw her expression. He could tell that Beatrice was far from gravely wounded, and even Therina or the other girls could heal from this kind of injury easily. Even the female beastmen would be able to once they learned to control their manaworks. Golden mes erupted from the cut and Beatrice rapidly healed. This barely used any mana at all and her immense lifeforce wasn''t harmed in the slightest. The female beastman no longer hesitated and went for the throat. Beatrice instinctively knew her body, but even Styx had difficulty watching as she didn''t even try to dodge. The steel ws gauged her throat wide open, but the dark phenelf used this chance to grab onto the agile beastman and dig her dagger into thetter''s shoulder. She grunted and struggled to get the dagger in further than two inches deep, but had managed to cause some damage at least. The female tiger beastman threw Beatrice off her body and pounced again, her ws piercing straight through her heart with a form of savagery. "Enough," Styx said as the test waspleted. Beatrice, despite having her heart pierced, stood up without issue. A golden me burned on her chest and the damage was repaired. ~~~~~ Therina stepped into a seemingly infinite space filled with chaotic thoughts and images. Some bubbled up out of the aether, others shot across like rays of light. Some clung to the fabric of space itself like dark, ck sludge. She immediately detected the dream mark, which was the human ranker''s mind. The mark was an infinite distance away, yet at the same time, only within an arm''s reach. All other substances flowed off her like water on oil as she stepped into the mindscape that was Kristof''s. Kristof was on a quest to kill a horde of jackal carnivores which had been terrorizing a vige. He was his younger self, and this was a reflection of his past adventures ying out in his mind. He had just returned to the vige and given them the good news. Everyone was celebrating and cheering the adventurers for their fine work. Therina walked past doors which refused to open, or otherwise didn''t even have hinges. Some did, and the inside''s varied. "Is this inside someone else''s mind?" Styx asked Therina directly through their mind link, which was undisturbed by the separation of nes. "I believe so, yes." Therina walked into another house and found herself in the middle of a forest. The door behind her had vanished but she could feel the energies of the dream realm flowing around her and instinctively knew how to twist them around her finger. She could see the connection with the previous area and merely walked behind a tree before reappearing from the house she had entered to get to the forest. In the town, she heard countless cheers and followed the noises to find the vigers praising a group of nine adventurer''s who had a wagon of monster heads. Styx, who was watching all of this couldn''t help but ask, "Is this his memories? If so, it will help us greatly in interrogating any prisoners. Not that many would dare to challenge us after meeting Aura, but they could still provide wrong information." Therina scrunched her brow before exining her feelings. "No this isn''t a memory in particr. It''s a group of thoughts and intentions. It carries references to memories, but aren''t memories in particr. If I was to exin it urgh this is hard It like a chaotic group of thoughts and memories are jumbled together and this is where those thoughts are inserted into the dream realm, while the natural energy reads it and constructs everything based off of it." "I see, so it''s like the demon''s magic system. It has a strong factor of intention and feelings." "That sounds rtively close. I can put my intention in and changes in his perception will cascade into more changes like this" Therina scrunched her brow in focus and from within the cart of monster heads, a monster who had been "hiding" jumped out and roared. It caught the party and vigers by surprise and the priestess closest to the cart had her throat torn out before they could defend. Therina then jumped into the fray and killed several vigers and another adventurer. The sky seemed to darken as all the vigers ran off in a panic while the adventurer''s quickly and fearlessly fought back. "Evil woman, where did youe from?! You even managed to hide a monster among the corpses. Is it yours?" A younger Kristof valiantly challenged her with his spear ready. Therina merely smiled as they quickly killed the ''weak'' monster and charged at her. As she sucked in a breath full of dream realm energy, she felt her body was full of energy and brimming with power. This was her racial trait of being a Lithic Naiad, which made her 50% stronger whenever inside of a dream, or for the same purpose, the dream realm. Unlike when she was in the physical ne, she easily dominated Kristof and the other adventurers. ~~~~~ Therina walked out of the same uncanny swirling vortex of space where she entered the dream realm. This upiedws of magic which were simply far too advanced for Styx to even begin to fathom. Kristof was still unconscious, but now beading with a cold sweat on his forehead. Beatrice and the female tiger beastman watched her with awe as she walked out of thin air, an ability beyond everyone''s understanding. "So, you can''t kill someone through their dreams?" Styx asked out of curiosity. Therina shook her head and apologized. "Sorry, what is in a dream is just a representation of oneself, not oneself directly. Rather than saying it is the mind or soul, it is just a projection." "It is of no matter, I was only curious." "But" "Yes?" "I may be able to alter someone''s perception, people they like or hate, even memories." "Is that so? That needs to be tested." At this moment Kristof woozily stood up after regaining consciousness, his body rapidly recovering. He looked at Therina and immediately went readied his spear. "What are you doing here evil wait, what?" He shook his head to clear the stray thoughts and had his brain wake up fully. "Apologies, Miss Therina, I was muddle-headed." Therina just looked at Styx with a shy smile and said, "I can do it." Chapter 73: Stats Scaling Chapter 73: Stats Scaling Styx had Therina and Beatrice swap opponents for another round. Beatrice fought Kristov and suffered several seemingly heavy wounds, even losing an arm, but would rapidly recover and then stabbed him in the stomach and held another de against his throat. Her previous arm on the ground rapidly burned up and scattered like ashes on the wind, and while she had won, she was breathing heavily from the exertion of rapidly healing constantly. Humans didn''t have the natural physical advantage that beastman had, so whilst there was strong resistance, Beatrice had enough strength to cause significant damage to the human ranker and force him into admitting defeat. Therina against the female tiger beastman was a more intense battle. The beastman relied on her superior body and lightning fast reflexes as she twisted and spun in the air while making sharp turns while on the ground. She leaped off the giant pirs in the area which were reinforced with obsidum with enough force she left faint cracks in the stone. Her muscles bulged as she used her skills and increased her overall physical capabilities. She dashed in straight lines so fast the even Therina would have likely been unable to defend herself prior to her evolution. The air itself whistled and howled as her ws cleaved through it with immense energy. Therina wasn''t defeated by this though. She was incredibly flexible and dextrous herself. Whilst being physically weaker than the beastman, she was used to being in these situations and turned it around with skill and battle tactics. The female beastman knew she wouldn''t be able to attack her illusory tails, so whenever they wrapped around and constricted her, she attacked Therina''s main body and forced them to release her. Therina suffered several minor injuries, but she would immediately control her manawork and heal them with Mana-Health Conversion. The battle finally ended with Therina extending mana tendrils out of her body and using them as whips which the female tiger couldn''t defend against. To the males watching, she appeared to be dancing around while trying to dodge something invisible, but all the females could see mana and were inspired to learn to attack like that. The damage of each mana whip wasn''t great, but it struck directly at the manawork and if used at the right time and with enough precision, could disrupt any skill usage and cause a bacsh. "Theina is the victor," Styx stated while motioning for the injured female tiger beastkin toe over. He had her sit on the ground before him before he stroked her fur and extended his mana tendrils into her to heal the damage to her manawork. It would naturally heal over time, but he could speed up that process greatly by massaging her manawork himself. The female beastman purred at the feeling while resting her head against his thigh. Kristov was still bleeding slightly from his stomach but it had begun to heal due to his Second Step body. A Third Step ranker with enough endurance and vitality could even regenerate a limb, although not as easily as Beatrice could. Styx still assigned him some medicine and also spoke words whichforted him. "I will also assign you a reward of your choosing. What would you like?" Kristof was hesitant at first but eventually said, "I would like a partner." Styx had seen his flirtation attempts through the women before and didn''t think he was unattractive in any way nor should have issues getting a partner. There were plenty of dark elves or other, newly migrated elves which would most likely agree to it, but he had a penchant for female beastmen so Styx was unsure how to respond. "Allow me," The female Second Step beatman said confidently as her manawork was healed. "He has shown his courage, so I will give birth to his cubs for him." "So be it. Are you happy with" "Mauve." "Are you happy with Mauve, Kristof?" "Yes!" Styx didn''t care so long as they were both willing. Mauve was also quite attractive by beastman standards so he happily gave the two their blessing. ''I had always wondered how so many beastkin were born, I suppose there are those with this preference,'' Styx silently wondered to himself before he asked them about other matters. "Kristof, write down your stats. Mauve, you can just show me yours. I only need to see your basic stats." Rhea, the beautiful dark elf with a slightly bulging stomach had already prepared paper and ink on Styx''s request. Kristof quickly wrote down his basic stats for Styx, whopared all their stats against one another while making rapid calctions. [ Species: Human Name: Kristof Alujaner ss: Lancer Age: 28 Mana: 359/681 Exp: 3,760/14,816 Level: 23 Str: 57 Dex: 56 End: 54 Vit: 32 Int: 31 Mnd: 31 Lck: 5 ] [ Species: Jungle Tiger Beastman Name: Mauve wripper ss: Prowler Age: 33 Mana: 1,347/1,347 Exp: 17,435/41,579 Level: 34 Str: 112 Dex: 83 End: 84 Vit: 70 Int: 50 Mnd: 51 Lck: 9 ] [ Species: Lithic Naiad Name: Therina Sel''Ether ss: Dreamweaver Age: 41 Mana: 4,697/4,697 Exp: 0/16,334 Level: 20 Str: 32 Dex: 84 End: 35 Vit: 45 Int: 59 Mnd: 41 Lck: 9 ] [ Species: Dark Phenelf Name: Beatrice Fin''Porte ss: Dungeon Fire Keeper Age: 52 Mana: 2,946/2,946 Exp: 0/16,334 Level: 20 Str: 29 Dex: 63 End: 35 Vit: 120 Int: 49 Mnd: 38 Lck: 9 ] Styx scrunched his brow while rapidly going over the numbers and how they represented a person''s strength. Beatrice had already changed into a fresh, undamaged pair of clothing with a form fitting sweater as she deliberately positioned herrge breasts particrly close to Styx. Thetter nced at them and a slight grin formed on the corner of his mouth as he recognized her methods of flirting and showing intimacy. She knew he liked it, so she would often deliberately do such actions. "Do you understand it?" Niah had approached from the other side andtched onto his arm as she gave him puppy dog eyes. After seeing the battle and what Therina and Beatrice were capable of, all of the girls, not just Styx''s women, were greatly interested in evolution. "I do. First is how they increase and the values. Remember, your status is just a reflection of your current state, not your status governing your current state. When you level up, the mana and potential is infused in your body, strengthening it as it slowly evolves." "In order to increase a value by one point, a certain amount of mana is required to strengthen your body to that degree, which increases the stronger your body bes. There are other factors involved, but this is the basic exnation." "Every time a First Step individual levels up, all stats increase by a base one point because of this, while for a Second Step ranker it is two points, four points for a Third Step, eight for a Fourth Step, and sixteen points to every attribute for a Fifth Step. There is leftover mana too, which increases several attributes again ording to your ss and rted manawork." "Because the value of one extra point increases the higher the original value is, this means stats scale in an upwards direction. Mauve''s overwhelming strength is an example of this. She isn''t merely three times stronger than you, but is closer to 10-20x stronger in raw strength. It is a good thing she can''t heal like you can or she could have simply grappled you without care of retaliating injury." Niah had a confused look on her face and Styx doubted whether leveling up makes her smarter. Beatrice nodded in understanding but Styx also continued while speaking to Beatrice. "There are also some differences which arise from racial talent and other stuff. But the only outside factores from titles. Titles that make you stronger are changes brought upon by the world or system. Unlike your status which is a reflection of your state, they directly reflects on and change your state. For example, let me write down Therina and your new title Progenitor." [ Progenitor: The first and original of a species. Effects: Bonus experience earned +10% Bonus stats on level up +2 (added to x2 random attributes) Bonus skill experience earned +50% ] The paper was passed around the dungeon wives and several other people and everyone was filled with envy and desire upon seeing the title''s effects. ~~~~~ Everyone was filled with vigor for training and they trained twice as hard whenever they had spare time. Themon trend around the dungeon was that dedication and base strength yed a factor in Styx triggering someone to evolve during the ss up procedure. Another factor which was basically confirmed to be crucial was being pregnant with a monster during the ss Up process. This left a lot of the males dejected, but they were still determined to chase after strength nheless. Many of the male dark elves were very happy over the new males recently arrived. The female dark elves were mostly stronger than them while they were even further behind the direct dungeon wives who simply seemed to grow stronger faster than anyone else and make it a coveted position. Theo, Rhea''s partner and a father to be, was leading a training group of new recruits. Rhea was harsh during training and tender afterwards when training with him, and he reflected those values on the new residents. Training was a serious aspect and no cking was allowed, but people were allowed to ck afterwards if they chose to or needed rest. Three dark elf women and one female tiger beastman joined the group of ten males and they split off into groups of two or three to train with the equipment and devices Styx had constructed to exercise things such as power, precision and technique. During sparring, the women had won most of the bouts, but the males had won a couple of battles against them. The tiger beastman was also a new resident so she didn''t hold the advantage that those who had trained longer, but even two of the dark elf women had lost to Theo as they hadn''t been training as long as him, nor under the same gruelling training Rhea made him endure. Chapter 74: When One Comes, They All Come Chapter 74: When One Comes, They All Come Duchess Euklid was a tall woman with high set brows. Her pitch ck hair satpletely straight down her back like finely woven silk threads. She entered Lagoon Porter City to a wide weing procession and the main road cleared all the way up to the central giant mansion that Duke Ashburn called home. Outside the giant front doors, both Duke and Duchess Ashburn were waiting for Duchess Euklid to depart her carriage. The doors of the carriage swept open and the duchess swept out of the carriage with a powerful stride. She quickly straightened her dress before making way for three more women to depart the carriage. "Hayleigh, so great to see you again," Duchess Euklid curtsied ever so briefly toward Duchess Ashburn. "I had thought by now you would have gone back into your mother''s line of work." She smiled and appeared polite, but her words wereced with venom. The two duchesses had never gotten along since long ago, so words like this were not umon between them. Duke Ashburn maintained a stoic expression while watching the visitors closely, his wife nodded to the three women who got out of the carriage behind the visiting duchess and said, "And these are?" "Oh, where are my manners. Reba,e here and introduce yourself." The voluptuous blonde woman who appeared to be in her early 20s stepped forward and curtsied. She had long golden lochs and bright green eyes. Her hair was contrasting to the duchess'' pitch ck hair, but their eyes were the same. "Good afternoon, Duke Ashburn, Duchess Ashburn. I am Reba Euklid, and it is a pleasure to meet you," Reba curtsied before indicating towards the other two woman, one blonde with sharp features and silver phoenix makeup on the corner of her eyes, the other ck haired with some faint freckles and a homely appearance. "These two are my close acquaintances. Lora is the blonde baroness, while the other is Dare. I hope it isn''t too much of an inconvenience that they have followed along under my request." Duchess Ashburn nodded politely in return before turning back to Duchess Euklid. "Edna, so this is your daughter. She has your eyes too. She is to your husband, right?" The pressure of a Third Step ranker momentarily burst out from the duchess before receding, but her smile could be seen to be more forced than before. "Of course, who else would be her father." "Oh, ignore my careless remark. Please, everyone,e inside and have some tea. I will have you shown to your rooms for your stay afterwards. I believe Gabralter is currently upied, so I apologize that he isn''t her to greet you and yourpany, I am sure he will be pleased to meet your daughter however." Duchess Ashburn had a slightlyrger smile on her face, clearly winning this bout of banter with her former rival. Her and her husband, who was trying to remain impassive, showed them into the mansion as the maids and butlers collected their belongings and took them to their rooms. They all sat down in arge and grandiosemon room where arge floor to ceiling line of windows showcased a beautiful garden. Everything from the furniture to the dcor and even the flowers were carefully selected to be as visually appealing as possible. The duke and two duchesses had a cup of steaming tea originating from the northern nes where a lot of spices were grown. The duchess carefully pre selected this tea as she knew Duchess Euklid held a fondness for the more bitter and spicy tea range. As much as they were enemies, the inability to provide proper hospitality would be heavily criticized among nobles. Sitting beside one of the windows where warm afternoon sunlight shone upon then, Reba spoke in hushed voices with Lora and Dare, asionally giggling amongst themselves and especially so when Gabralter entered the room with a strict expression. "Gab, you''re finally here," The duke sternly said as his son appeared after a butler had informed him that his presence was required. "Come introduce yourself to Duchess Euklid along with her daughter and cohort. They will be staying with us for" "Just a week, I can''t stay for particrly long as I have a city that required my attention. My daughter may request to stay longer if she desires though." Reba Euklid smiled politely in response to her mother''s words before greeting Gabralter herself. "A pleasure," Gabralter curtly said before sitting down beside his rather while creasing his brows. Duchess Euklid was unperturbed by his disinterested impression. "The young man who gave me timely warning and managed to save my entire city. If I didn''t have a husband already, I would definitely want to marry you." "As if having a husband has ever stopped you before," Duchess Ashburn whispered between taking sips of tea, just loud enough for the visiting duchess to hear who''s brow twitched in irritation. "It was only a lucky guess," Gabralter, who had already been briefed by his father earlier that week, responded without hesitation. "But it was such a specific guess and happened to be uncannily urate. It is almost like you have a divine blessing to see into the future. Tell me, how is my future love life looking? Is my husband going to remain in good health?" Duchess Ashburn scoffed under her breath but Gabralter remained steadfast. "I don''t know." "Oh well, I''m sure that we will both remain healthy for a long time now that this tribtion is over. Reba, make sure you get to know our young savior here. Perhaps we will even see a marriage between the two of you in the future." Duchess Ashburn creased her brow while being perplexed. Whilst she didn''t approve of Duchess Euklid of her daughter which may not even be to her husband. If she had kept multiple males in her own reverse harem it would have been one thing, but she was well renowned among certain circles for her unfaithfulness. Regardless of that, Reba Euklid was far better than the poisonous elf woman her sun had been fixated on to an uncanny degree. "That will not happen." Reba frowned briefly before asking, "Is there something wrong with me?" "It is nothing of the kind, I''m sure many men would be lucky to be married to you." "But not you?" "Correct." Reba seemed to take this more personally and she excused herself from her cohort before moving to sit directly next to Gabralter while smiling mischievously. Her mother had very strictly enforced the idea that she wanted her to be wed to Gabralter Ashburn, not just out of gratitude, but she suspected there was a great deal of information being kept secret that was highly valuable. More importantly than any of that, the recent beast raid in conjunction with the festival had caused grievous harm to her city''s forces. This information was kept under strict regtion, but Reba knew that this marriage was imperative to being able to rely on Lagoon Porter City''s guard forces to help protect her city in this time where they were highly vulnerable. In the worst-case scenario, at least the duchess and duke''s family line would be passed on, as Reba truly was their child. Filled with determination and purpose, Reba moved closer to the duke''s son until their shoulders were a hair''s breadth apart and the smell of her hair was directly overwhelming his senses. The duke shot his son a sharp re in warning, ensuring that he didn''t do anything excessive. The warning was unnecessary however, as Gabralter handled the situation without being rude. "I must apologize, Miss Euklid, as you truly are a beautiful woman. Unfortunately, my heart is simply set on another." Reba felt slightly embarrassed as to how far she had put herself out and was about to respond when the door to the room burst open and a series of royal guards along with finely dressed individuals stormed into the room. "My apologies, Duke," A maid quickly entered the room and deeply bowed in apology, her bust jiggling as her cleavage was fully exposed due to her position. "I tried to stop them so I could announce their presence, but they simply barged in." Duke Ashburn stood up from his seat and red at the group of arrogant schrs amongst the guards, but noticing their insignia identifying them from the Royal Academy of Research and Technology, he didn''t dare verbally chastise them. "Who are you?" The royal guards, all Third Step rankers lined up in sharp formation as an arrogant schr in violet clothing with gold trimming in front of everyone stepped forward and stated. "I am Earl Vermonte bon Housen, from the Dungeon Division of the Royal Academy of Research and Technology. I havee to see what is this dungeon you have made a request to the royal capital on assistance on. I do not wish to hold your hand in matters you should be able to attend to, but those are my orders." Vermonte has long blonde hair that reached his shoulders with a straight fringe. He had a high set nose and icy blue eyes that seemed to disregard everything around him. About the same height as the duke, his position at the royal academy allowed him to re eye to eye without them despite his lower noble ranking. "I suggest you exorcise more caution," Duke Ashburn said in a tone that was ice cold. "This dungeon appears to be manipted by an illegal and unknown dungeon lord who is either powerful enough to give Third Step rankers a sense of dread, or houses a monster capable of that." "I assure you, Duke Ashburn, but the Third Step rankers from the capital are vastly different from those out here in the ounds. The royal guards also undergo our medicine and technology to expand their potential capacity and increase their maximum level, providing even more benefits from all the way into the Third Step." "There is no need to boast about your medicated humans. I have heard of all the negative effects thate with that research, some even turning into nothing more than puppets." "All matters of the past and early research. We have advanced in strides since then, and are now capable of rapidly producingrge numbers of soldiers on the same level as the demon Neth''rite Demon Kingdom who have been nipping away at our borders for the past several decades." "Well, you have a chance to prove yourself. This dungeon lord is rumored to have rtions with the demon kingdom, or may even be a demon themselves. We have information that it is constantly breeding powerful and unique monsters never heard or seen of before via nationless exotic races not to mention the devil bees it is also breeding." Duchess Euklid raised a brow curiously at this tension filled conversation between the two men while all the royal guards stood to the side impassively. Her daughter, Reba, as well as Lora and Dare, also strained their ears to learn about this information they hadn''t even heard wind of back in their home city. The fact that they hadn''t heard anything about this dungeon meant it must be rtively new information, less than a year old at most. If the danger it presented was enough for the valiant duke, who left a resounding reputation on the battlefield, to call for royal backup, then it was a very serious matter. Duchess Ashburn frowned at their visitors'' reaction. She had hoped to keep this information private as it was a very sensitive matter and rted to her son''s foreboding death if it was left alone. Earl Housen brushed off his shoulder and stated, "I am very serious and exercise all caution no matter the situation. This is one of the differences between central and the ounds. No matter what is inside of there, we will discover it ande up with an appropriate action n. Now, show us to our living quarters. You did prepare them, didn''t you? You are the ones who requested us, not the other way around." "Show them to their quarters on the east wing." Duke Ashburn spoke to the maid who was still deeply bowing without daring to look up. Aware that it was her being spoken to, she hurriedly raised her head and wanted to state that they hadn''t prepared any rooms. The duke shot her a warning re and she quickly understood. "Y-yes, right away. Sirs, and madam, please follow me. I will show you to your rooms." As soon as she left the room of her employers and important guests, she hurriedly signalled a butler over and had them rapidly have a team of housekeepers prepare the rooms before they arrive. She deliberately took a longer route and walked slightly slower in order to give them any extra time to prepare that they could. When they reached the rooms, several doors weren''t even closed properly, a sign of how rushed the housekeepers were to put on fresh sheets and clean any residual dust since theirst time through the area. None of the schrs were idiots and silently followed along. Earl Housen nodded his head to the maid and praised her. "A very rapid response, I am impressed. I guess the ounds aren''t as bad as I imagined, but it is yet to be proven." Chapter 75: One With the Pack Chapter 75: One With the Pack The entrance of the dungeon had changed greatly as there was no longer a pressing need to hide his existence. It had be a goliath construction of pirs and arching rooves like the entrance to a grand temple. Styx carved variously statues of eldritch monsters with long winding tentacles that had light dimmer aur arrays hidden within them. This was just a more advanced light array which included a sunlight sensor and more precise control mechanism. The final product was that dim balls of light of a dark violet hue floated in the underside of those tentacles in various spots, creating an uncanny hue to the entrance of the dungeon. In order to lure people in, he also created treasure chests and carvings of world shattering weapons. Gold-colored stones also faintly flickered under the light as if foretellingrge amounts of gold. The girls werepletely ustomed to monsters by now, so they all had unhesitatingly asked if they were to give birth to such a thing in the future. Styx was currently lying on his back on arge pic nket alongside all his girls. They were currently outside the dungeon or at least, outside of the dungeon entrance. Kale was lying down with her head on his thigh while also holding her twin sister ir in her grasp, whom had closed her eyes peacefully and was half asleep with her head also on Styx''sp. Elena upied the other side while also holding Styx''s hand in both of hers, entwining their fingers together. Therina and Fiore were cooking on a set up table to the side while Niah fought with the two to cook her own dishes with the ingredients. Beatrice sat to the side with a strict expression but her overflowing desires and constant nces towards the girls lying on Styx gave away her true feelings. Even Aura was present, although she was currently watching the girls who were cooking with a fierce gaze. Even Styx slightly dreaded thinking about her thoughts on cooking. "Come lie down," Styxmanded to her, whom immediately leaned over and quickly pecked him on the lips before settling her head down on his chest and feeling the rhythmic movement as he breathed in and out. "It feels like forever since I have seen the stars like this, but" "But what?" Fiore came over with several tters of various foods bnced on her arms and ced them on the nket. Styx sat up and disturbed everyone''s lying position as they desperately clung onto him and made the action of sitting very difficult. "But these aren''t the stars I remember. I could once point out all the constetions even with a blindfold on, but that has been reced by this foreign starscape. While I wonder what kind of civilizations the intergctic empires out there are like and the marvels of space, these stars just aren''t home." Fiore wrapped her arms around his neck from behind and pulled his head into herrge bosom as she hugged him tightly. "Our home is with you, and wherever you are. Are you not home, if you have created your own?" Fiore''s words were pleasant to hear and brought about many tender feelings in the girls, but Styx just shook his head. "That is true, but no home can ever rece one''s origins." "Yours did." Fiore''s shoulder length light grey hair brushed the side of his face as she leaned around him and kissed him on the lips. "Then perhaps I need to work a little harder." Styx smiled helplessly and pulled the light grey haired dark elf into hisp, his hand shamelessly sliding down her shirt from the cor and wrapping around one of her breasts. His fingers dug into her soft yet springy pillows and she blushed deeply but held her hand over his and pressed it tighter against her breast, "No fair!" Kaleined before grabbing his other hand and shoving it against her breasts over her clothes. Elena looked at her own mostly t chest and simply sighed in defeat. Therina also made a simr motion while Niah instead cupped his face in her hands and kissed him, allowing Styx to invade her mouth with his tongue. "Enough," Therina grumpily said and pulled Niah off of Styx one handed while helping set up all of the dishes. "There will be enough time for thatter, don''t let the food go cold." Styx chucked before reluctantly letting go of Fiore and Kale''s breasts with one final squeeze. Aura, who had been left out of the fun before,mandeered sitting in Styx''sp while they begun eating. Nobody tried steal her spot, as despite her friendliness, was in fact the most unreasonable out of them all. "Aura, get me two of the garnished hortican meat slices and some corn relished sd." Styx passed his te to the world defying wolf-eared beauty who''s sitting position stopped him getting his own food. Aura''s tail, which was wrapped around his waist, squeezed slightly as she leaned forward and ced two slices of the mana rich meat on the te and another one in her mouth. She hummed lightly while giving Styx back his te. Styx wrapped his hands around Aura and slid them up her shirt and tight wrapping them around her stomach in an embrace. She slightly shifted her head in response in a seemingly casual way, butpletely rested her head against Styx''s intimately. Feeling emboldened, he slyly pressed his fingers down her perfectly smooth abdomen and towards her waist. Unlike usual, she didn''t give him a warning and allowed to him to carry one. His fingertips reached her waistline and began to press under the stic holding her current skirt up when Styx and the girls heard faint rustlinging from the bushes followed by footsteps. Aura''s ears shot up and immediately captured the movements of the thirteen mercenaries, nine of which were of the Second Step, heading this way. She also captured Styx''s hands in her own and stopped them going any further. All the girls were alert and silently red at the mercenaries as they appeared near them with their own light devices lighting the area around them. "Well, what do we have here?" The party leader, a gruff bald man with bronze skin and emitting a sense of danger asked. "A bunch of helplessdies lying around in the woods waiting for men to appear. Boys, pinch me to make sure I''m not dreaming." The other gruff looking menughed uproariously in response, equally as amazed at the scene before them as the one before. They saw Styx sitting with the girls, but they deliberately disregarded him and focused on the women instead. Styx''s and the girls'' moods instantly soured and red at the mercenaries. "Are you looking to die?" Therina asked in a voice so cold the air seemed to frost over. "Hahahaha,ss, just you isn''t enough to kill us." The girls were only lightly armed as it was a recreational event, but they still had some weapons. Therina drew her soulium curved dagger and shed towards the nearest adventurer. A Second Step Defender casually intercepted her with hisrge shield and was surprised when the soulium dagger prated through the reinforced alloy. "Girl, that''s a good dagger, did you earn that in the dungeon?" The mercenary chucked and shoved Therina away with the shield, forcing her to fly through the air. "Foolish humans," Styx stated as he stood up and red at him. "Not only did you desire my women, but you even dare disregard me." "And who are you supposed to be? You appear to be the weakest person here? Shut up and wait for us to deal with you." Without any warning, a mercenary lurking in the shadows flicked his wrist and the cold glint of steel flickered towards Styx''s eye. Everyone saw as the light from the stars reflected off the cold de, yet were unable to do anything. Aura, who was still standing in front of Styx, moved her arms so fast nobody saw it move, only suddenly catching the flying bade with her bare hand. The assassin seemed to sense something and panicked. He tried to hide behind a tree and escape, but Aura emotionlessly threw the knife back at him. The steel alloy de turned to molten g due to air resistance as what remained turned into a shockwave of air that caused everyone to stumble. What remained of the de passed through the tree and sent splinters everywhere before immediately doing the same to the mercenary''s torse, only this time it was blood and bone which went flying. The mercenary instantly died and their group turned to stare at Aura in fear and panic. "Just kill them," Styxmanded the wolf-eared girl who released a light grown before giant phantasmal purple ws tore through the fabric of reality itself and turned all the mercenaries into broken pieces. "There have been a lot of these people invading as ofte," Beatrice mentioned with some concern. "Is it due to the bounty the duke posted up at the local guilds?" "Yes, it is precisely that. These people are crazy and will do anything for money, even throwing their lives away. Well, it is because they are crazy that they grow strong enough to do crazy things. I need to get closer to the duke to find out what''s happening and how to react to it." "How will you do that?" Styx looked at Therina, who''s terrible expression immediately got worse. "I don''t want to!" "Didn''t you say you could do this?" "" "I need you to go back to Lagoon Porter City and get closer to him. Now that you have your new abilities, it should be even easier." Therina reluctantly nodded her head but also asked, "Can I go in the morning?" "Of course." ~~~~~ Styxy on the center of his bed with all the girls sprawled around in whatever way they foundfortable. Everyone wore cotton pyjamas, but buttons easily came undone and tantalizing smooth skin was shown as clothes became disarrayed. "Aura,e join us, you are basically already mine too, so it''s about time you slept with everyone," Styx spoke directly into the wolf-eared woman''s mind. The wolfgirl in question was currently curled up in the refinery factory next to a magmaforge, close enough she could enjoy the heat stored within. When she heard Styx''s voice, she was reluctant but eventually conceded with an "okay". She appeared in Styx''s bedroom not long after and looked at all the girls either asleep or half asleep. Therina and Fiore had upied his sides tonight and were very content with legs crossed and in Therina''s case, half her body reaching over his to sleep. Aura had difficulty deciding where toy and eventually found Therina''s position to be envious so she slyly moved her off Styx and took her position. Styx didn''t mind and Therina wasn''t disturbed so it was let slide. The beautiful wolf eared woman nuzzled her head on his chest as his own hand moved up her top and casually trailed up and down her smooth back. He found the wolfgirl silently looking up at him with her eyes that were so dark even light seemed to be sucked inside of them. "What is it?" Aura just continued to look at him without answering, so Styx just smiled and closed his eyes. His hand slowly moved down her back before continuing on its path and sliding down the back of her pants. The wolfgirl didn''t resist, and instead pressed her body weight against him more as he scratched and rubbed the base of her tail just above her ass. She seemed to deeply enjoy it as she shook her hips to match his actions and her tail tightening around his leg like a python, so Styx continued to do it. Eventually, his avatar was ovee with fatigue, so he stretched his hand down further and took full grasp of her plump ass, holding her tight against his body while sleeping, his main dungeon core self then continuing to monitor and manage the dungeon. Chapter 76: Deadly Ambush Chapter 76: Deadly Ambush Therina grumpily followed behind a group of merchants as she entered Lagoon Porter City early in the morning. She was unhappy because she had been moved from her spot without her knowing it. When she woke up and tried to roll over andtch onto Styx, she insteadtched onto Aura. The wolf girl ignored her, even as she grasped onto her breasts while trying to pull her off Styx and reim her position. Aura was like an iron rod who wouldn''t budge, so she changed strategy and felt Styx''s hand reaching down the back of her pants. She had attempted to pull it out and at least regain his arm, but the damn wolf girl''s tail curled around and captured it, preventing it from being moved. Styx''s avatar was awake by this point and was excitably squeezing and rubbing her ass. Therina was furious by this point and wanted to draw a dagger, even knowing she had a zero percent chance of it having a favorable oue. Styx spoke in their heads and told them not to fight before pulling Aura over until she was lyingpletely on his body and tugged herself over with his now free arm. Aura had her hands on his chest while also resting her head there, turned to the side to look at Therina. Her eyes appeared emotionless, but Therina could see the pride and arrogance as clear as day within them. While even Therina was captured by her beauty and jealous of her perfect figure, this was a challenge she refused to back down from. She red back but Aura merely smirked mockingly. ''Smirked! She dared to mock me!'' Therina was busy with her own thoughts as she registered her citizenship card at the pedestool device that serves as the dungeon city''s customs checkpoint. Therina instantly snapped out of her thoughts though as the registration process seemed to stagnate momentarily and take longer to register her as entering the city. It was only a slight shift, but it was enough to send off warning signs in her sharp senses. "Be careful and keep an eye out," Styxmented in her mind as he also detected it. "Magic arrays don''t stagnate during processing. Not for such a simple task." Therina briefly nodded her head before heading into the city with Concealment at full strength. Despite the crowds of people moving along the streets and hawkers on every corner calling out some product or another, the was a scent of danger in the air which Therina couldn''t escape from. She slipped away into an alley, but this feeling of danger only intensified to the point where she felt like a knife was already on her throat. "What is a pretty girl such as yourself doing here?" A man dressed in rough clothing spoke from behind her, his gaze locked firmly on her body. Therina only detected him after he appeared, along with the other ruffian looking people behind him. They appeared to be scum from the backwaters of the city, living a life of crime, but she knew better. Through her keen mana sense, she could tell that they were all of the Third Step. These weren''t just some nobodies, but people dressed specifically to look like that. Therina had just entered the Second Step and Styx had mentioned the issue with stats scaling. A person in the Third Step was enormously more powerful than someone of the Second Step. "You need to get out of there immediately!" Styx''s voice icily stated in her mind. "Try get somewhere public. These people mean the city lord has decided to get rid of you, yet they have to do it in secrecy. It is probably just bureaucracy, but it is to our advantage." Therina drew one of her soulium hunting knives and shed at the man with blinding speed. He went to backpedal and avoid the strange knife that seemed to leave phantom shadows in the air, but two smoke like tails appeared out of nowhere and caught him by surprise. The man was at the Third Step and held aplete advantage, but the sudden appearance of the tails caught himpletely unaware. He drew a sword which split the air and cut into the walls and floor around the alley as it cut through the two tails, but they continued unimpeded like phantoms and tried to choke him. Aware that his attack was ineffective, he started using skills, such as one which caused his entire sword to light up in an ethereal blue glow and give Therina a fatal sense of crisis. Unafraid of death, she lunged forward while pulling on her twin tails tight around his neck which was stronger than steel. Therina spun through the air and avoided the fatal sword by a hair''s breath before striking with the soulium hunting knife. The de pierced through his unprotected shoulder and out the back. "Urgh," The man let out a grunt and his entire body shook in a pain which ravaged his very soul. He sword wielding hand dropped to his sword as the now lifeless steel sword dropped to the ground. Therina knew he wasn''t alone and hispatriots were already charging at her with full intention of killing her. They all drew their own swords or spears which glowed an ethereal blue, clear evidence of systematic training among them. She ced her feet on the copting man''s chest and leapt off him to increase the distance between her and the other mugger imposters. Her tail curled around the handle of the dagger in the first ambusher''s shoulder and was about to pull it out when the attackers caught up. She couldn''t even retract her tail as a mana infused sword by some unknown subskill severed the tail in half, sending a pain unlike any other directly up her spine and to her mind. Almost cking out, Therina instinctively thrust her remaining tail into the air and created a dreamgate. She fled inside just moments before a flurry of deadly attacksnded on the area she had been and destroyed everything. The imposters'' attacks exploded in a sh of blue light that engulfed the entire alley and blew away the surrounding buildings. Debris flew everywhere and impacted nearby buildings and streets. One splintered beam of wood pierced through another while broken roof tiles rained down upon everyone. An explosion of dust erupted from the epicentre of the explosion and blew outwards, causing everyone to shield their bodies with their arms and resist being blown away. The people passing by were dumfounded at first, but quickly broke out into a panic while fleeing the area. Some of the braver ones, mainly adventurers and mercenaries, edged closer to see what was going on. From the damage alone they could tell it was caused by at least one high level ranker. Several shadows of people appeared from within the dust cloud which were the "muggers" who caused the damage in the first ce. One of them had arge, curved knife in his shoulder and was being carried by another in a state of semi consciousness. From within the copsed buildings, several supremely pissed off Second Step rankers pushed their way out of the debris while some body parts of those weaker could be seen lying limply on the ground. They directly ignored any spectators watching and fled across rooves so fast they were a blur. They were gone before anyone could look long enough to remember their faces. The battle with Therina took ce in a mere three seconds, which she relied on the element of surprise tond an attack and flee into the dream realm. The cost was heavy, but she kept her life. ~~~~~ In the east wing of Duke Ashburn''s giant mansion, the "ruffians" appeared and shed inside of an open window waiting for them. "What happened?" Earl Vermonte bon Housen frowned while looking at the returning people. These weren''t just any Third Step rankers, but the royal guard who apanied him and severalpanions to the ounds to ensure their safety. "What the hell did you do?!" Duke Ashburn threw open the doors to the room, his face covered in wrath. "I have just received the notification of 53 people dead!" Earl Housen snorted in response, not caring about the loss of life. "An unfortunate matter indeed, but not enough for you to be so upset over." "These are my citizens that you killed. I requested this because it could not be tied back to me or the city in case it was seen, but you have destroyed an entire area of the city!" "Then I will have the capital send you 53 migrants and the buildings rebuilt." "A person''s life is not that cheap!" "No, it is actually worth nothing, so I won''t bother with giving you reparations that you are clearly ungrateful for." The duke was about to take action and arrest the visiting earl when Duchess Euklid strolled through the door. "Oh my, is central killing citizens in the ounds, like rodents in the sewers? I''m afraid such news won''t be received very well, especially when it is the Royal Academy of Research and Technology which is behind such a ughter." Despite her calm words, it was clear she was taking the duke''s side and hadyered a very deep threat in her words than not even Earl Housen could ignore. "What are you here for, Duchess Euklid?" The earl probed while giving a short formal bow to respect her higher opinion. She didn''t respond to his question but looked at the injured soldier with the strange curved de piercing through his shoulder, blood still dripping from the protruding de. "And what happened to your finest product, pray tell." "Something I was about to find out." The earl thenmanded the men to exin what happened in minute detail. "She doesn''t have tails. It was a skill or subskill of some kind," The earl stated with an expression disying his confidence. "How can you be so sure?" Duchess Euklid teased with a smirk. "Because elves don''t have tails." "She could just look like an elf, but actually be a beastkin. A beastkin born from an elf" "Extremely unlikely." "What do you know about the dagger?" Earl Vermonte bon Housen looked at the dagger in his guard''s shoulder. It was made of an unknown material, or at least, one that was unknown within this kingdom. The guard in question was still unconscious as his forehead was covered in sweat. His condition had been worsening the entire time and forced the earl to order for healers to arrive immediately. "It is too dangerous to remove until the Priestesses of Eve arrive and can inspect it before administering healing. Just being stabbed through the shoulder has caused his condition to be near catatonic with no signs of improving. He is a Third Step ranker with a body more powerful and containing more mana than most. For such a weapon to exist" The duchess adopted a more serious inspection as her gaze hardened on the intricate hilt of the dagger. "Could it be the Neth''rite Demon Kingdom?" "It is possible, they dabble in all kinds of ult. But even for them, this appears a bit too advanced. Not only has it never been noted before, but they fight through sheer numbers and blood sacrifice to summon true demons from the outside ne." "If it''s not, then where exactly did ite from?" "A question I also wish to find the answer for, duchess." The mugger imposters, now back in their royal guard heavy armor and advanced alloy weapons, exchanged the blood soaked towel used to staunch theirpanion''s bleeding with a clean one. The healers that were called for also showed up and they frowned upon seeing the almost lifeless corpse on theboratory table. The head healer of the church hade due to the request being passed to the church from Duke Ashburn himself, while two assistants apanied her to provide aid. "What is going on?" The head healer, a beautiful and busty woman with silky ck hair running down her back asked. "This man needs healing, and we need to know why his wound will not stop bleeding." The lead healer yanked out the dagger and inspected it before cing it to the side with a frown. Her hands lit up with a gentle white light as she begun casting a light of healing over his shoulder, but no matter how long she maintained the basic healing spell, the wound refused to close. Ever since pulling the knife out, the bleeding had elerated and the guard was deathly pale from ack of blood. Seeing her method not working, she twisted her hands around and the entire room was covered in a golden glow as a hooked golden sewing needle and gold thread materialized out of mana itself. She controlled the higher level healing art to stitch the wound close, but as soon as the skill was over, the wound only reopened itself and started seeping blood from between the golden mana threads, "He''s not healing for some reason, like his body is not registering the damage. I need to take him back to the church to use our diagnostic equipment, but I''m afraid he won''t make it that far." "What do you mean it''s not healing?" The earl scrunched his brow and looked down his nose at the healer. "It appears he is injured in a far deeper way than is physically apparent. If I had to guess, it is most likely a soul injury, but I have no way to confirm that. The only one who can interfere with the soul would be maybe the two Fourth Rank defenders of the kingdom, or Goddess Eve herself." The head priest and two assistants sped their hands and offered prayers to their goddess to look over them and protect the wounded man. Unbeknownst to them, the eyes of the statue of Eve back in the temple momentarily glowed before returning back to normal. Chapter 77: You Have Been Marked Chapter 77: You Have Been Marked Earl Vermonte bon Housen took the soulium knife and stabbed the near-death guard in the heart. His body quivered once before all life immediately left it. [ Derick Ulton (Royal Swordmaster ) killed! + 0 exp ] "You-!" Duke Ashburn stood up in shock and shouted, but was quickly silenced by the earl abruptly raising his hand. "This man was already going to die. There is no point in giving experience to this elf if that is the case." The earl also didn''t receive any experience from this action due to the world''s system. It promoted killing other exotic races, so one would get at least five times more experience from killing them than the equivalent level monster. Killing someone of the same species however gave no experience, preventing those who hungered for power from killing their own kind. Duke Ashburn truly hated this earl from central and wished he could kill or expel him, but his hands were tied. Any such action would create a bacsh that he wouldn''t be able to shoulder. Earl Housen rubbed a seemingly in bracelet around his wrist which then lit up with arge number of tiny,plicated Hornheim arrays. The air in front of his hand shook and twisted before opening up to show the inside of a box several cubic meters in size. Several maids in the room looked at this device in awe, which was a rare manufactured space storage device. Nearly all festivals had magic rings or other equipment which could store items in a separate space inside of them, so arge number of them were in the kingdom, but they were rare enough that people in the poorer ounds didn''t see them as often. Blood refused to stick to the eerie curved de, but he still wiped it off with a cloth before cing it inside "Have this body taken to the temple to give his rites of passage into his next life. I wish to investigate this dungeon immediately." ~~~~~ Therina floated in the dream realm with her eyes scrunched closed in agony. One of her two tails was severed in half and stained in violet-red blood. She had healed it to prevent the bleeding, but it wasn''t growing back. "It will be fine. Juste back and we will focus on helping you heal. I will send Aura toe pick you up and bring you back safely." Styx had a rare touch of tenderness in his voice as he mentallyforted her. "No, I can do this." The natural energies in the dream realm helped Therina heal, even if it wasn''t helping her tail grow back. Once she had recovered enough, she exited the dream realm and returned to the physical ne. She put away her tails and looked around the wreckage of the area. There was rubble everywhere while city guards had cordoned off the entire area with arge barrier. She quickly hid among the rubble with Concealment fully active and picked an indescreet position to peer out and investigate the surroundings. All the guards'' backs were facing her as they were busy cating the crowd of unhappy citizens and overzealous reporters. There were a couple of angry and distraught people too, whose rtive or close partner were near the epicenter of the destruction. The biggest problem facing the naiad was the barrier not only prevented people from sneaking in, it also prevented her from sneaking out. "Aura will be there momentarily to help get you out and protect you until your business in the city is done." Styx''s deep voice resonated in her mind, not allowing her to refute him in any way. Before Therina could respond, the air seemed to whistle before the barrier around the area exploded in a series of shards. The magitech devices the guards used to erect the barrier immediately exploded in a burst of mana bacsh and caused destruction to anybody or anything near it. Whist the damage was localized, the ground was fractured and broken, and a handful of passer-bys were injured too. "What is going on?!" One of the guardmanders howled as he rapidly moved to the nearest barrier device. The guards who were in charge of the device panicked and quickly tried to look over it despite not knowing the first part of how it worked. "Sir, we don''t know. It exploded without any prior warning." In the centre of the wreckage, Therina saw the enormous mana fluctuation and hazy outline of Aura, her tail casually swaying behind her. "Come," The transparent Aura casually stated before grabbing Therina and vanishing from the location. Therina''s mind spun as the image in her eyes blinked form one to another in quick session with no transition between them. Even time seemed to distort as she could swear some of those images were from when the city was being constructed and dungeon expanding, but before she could process anything, she appeared with the now visible wolf girl in a back alley half the city away. "I cannot stay for long. It is bad," Aura inly stated without exining anything to the naiad before looking towards her ass. "It hurts, yes?" "Yes." "I will get something to help." "Thank you." Therina truly was grateful to the monster lord, but she would have been more grateful if she had not brought them so far away from the market ce she wanted to go to. "Come with me first, we need to find the city lord''s son first." She then led the wolf-eared woman to a nearby public transport route where they got on arge magic driven carriage. "Three coppers for a day pass," The public carriage driver said before putting out his hand for the money. Therina took out six copper coins from a hidden pocket in her sleeve and passed them to the driver. "Only one is needed, miss," He stated before passing back three copper along with a thin wooden tag and today''s date on it within a small magic circle. The naiad turned her head and nced at Aura, but it seemed nobody other than her could see her. She saw how the wolf-girl''s mana rampaged through the carriage like a storm, but everyone seemed to bepletely unaware. Nodding her head in response, Therina headed towards the back of the carriage were she had Aura sit on a spare seat before sitting beside her. Aura sat in silence and gazed outside in curiosity, and from what Therina seemed to sense from her, trepidation. "What is it?" Therina whispered under her breath. Aura turned her head and looked back at her. "I should not be here." "Why?" "Because it is against the agreement." "Which agreement?" "With the god of the kingdom." "Is that dangerous." "I don''t know." Both Therina and Styx thought that if it was enough to make a Fifth Step Monster Lord nervous, it was a very serious matter. He told them to leave immediately after doing their business. ~~~~~ Therina stood in the market and purchased several food products for Aura to eat while waiting. The market was much busier than it used to be and almost as if by prediction, she picked up Gabralter on the edge of her magic perception not long after arriving. Gabralter found her too when she stopped using Concealment and hurried over. He couldn''t see Aura though, who stood directly beside the Naiad and watched him in curiosity. "Therina!" Several people in the crowd turned their head and secretly watched what was happening. There were also a bunch of smitten girls looking over in jealousy and displeasure. They had all dressed up toe out today, and seeing the rumored elf appearing shattered their fantasy of being swept off their feet by a Prince Charming. Therina turned to the tall man with golden lochs and casual middle ss clothing which was far too clean and spoke words she had already rehearsed with Styx. "It is you again. I don''t know you, so please keep your distance." "Like I said, I know you though." "And how exactly do you know me?" Therina was staring intently at an array of jewellery on a stall as if contemting what to get, but her long, pointed ears were entirely focused on what he would say. "That you wouldn''t believe me. Just trust me, and let me help." "You cannot help me." "But I can! Enough of this,e back with me!" Gabralter grabbed her arm but the golden haired naiad shoved him away and onto the ground with all her strength. Therina instantly felt bad because in her disgust over him touching her, she had missed the chance to leave a dream mark. "That apologies, but I dislike being touched by men," Therina awkwardly said while helping dust his shoulders, her mana swirling in her body and imprinting the dream mark on him. She knew he would exin things to him as they stood, so she decide to ask him in his dreams where people were more instinctual and much easier to interrogate. She also didn''t have to touch him, which she found touching anyone other than Styx and her fellow dungeon sisters to be disgusting. Therina spotted some guards walking in their direction and quickly backed away with a panicked expression. "Therina." Gabralter began but turned his head and saw the guards approaching before scrunching his brows. "Don''t worry, stay by my side and you will be safe." "I have to go" Therina vanished into the giant crowd and immediately after a plethora of young and hopeful girls in the vicinity tried to take her ce and set themselves up in the city lord''s son''s arms. "What are you doing?" Gabralter asked with a dark expression not to the girls around him, but the city guards who just arrived. The guard in front, this team''s leader looked at Gabralter for a bit before recognizing him. "Young Master Gabralter, a pleasure to see you. I am confused, we are just patrolling." "Patrolling?" "Yes, due to your recent appearances, this market has be muchrger and busier and as such, safety concerns for the public''s general wellbeing have been elevated too. There are a number of teams constantly patrolling the market to apprehend any thieves and protect the citizens." "Eh? What? Just that?" Gabralter hurriedly looked around, but he couldn''t spot Therina no matter how much he tried. ~~~~~ "Aura, let''s go now. We need to get out of the city." The wolf girl beside her nodded her head immediately, but had at some point collected an additional person. Therina first smelt the nasal irritating scent of urine before looked at a quivering woman under the wolf girl''s arm. The woman had wavy, long blonde hair that escaped out of a in grey robe she used to mask her presence. Not even her robe could hide herrge beasts, which bounced from left to right as she was being carried face down. On the crotch of the robe was a giant stain that was still dripping while her whole body quivered in terror. She didn''t even appear courageous enough to cry out loud as she was paralysed in fear. "Aura who is that?" "An observer." "So, she saw you?" "Yes." "And that is bad?" "I cannot be seen, or bad things may happen." "Fine, but don''t eat her in the city. The city lord will immediately know if there is a death and the fact that a Monster Lord was inside the city." Therina looked at the quivering mess of fear and spoke in an icy voice, "Looks like this is an unlucky day for you. You were in the wrong ce at the wrong time, so don''t take this personally." Aura grabbed onto Therina and the world flickered between scenes once again as they vanished from the dungeon city as if they were never there. Chapter 78: Noble Prisoner Chapter 78: Noble Prisoner Irie was busy packing all the valuables and money of thepany onto a stream of carts along with the help of several adventurer''s who now worked for Styx. This was a giant warehouse which stored all of the localpanies valuables. There were a couple of other warehouses, and they stocked other materials which were being cleaned out by other teams. Off to the side, all the local branch managers were ties up in ropes with gags over their mouths. The racoon beastman was among them with fear stering his face. "What is going on here?" A group of seven entered the warehouse. Three were the inspectors from the main branch of the Silver Wheel Investment Company in another city, while the others were all Second Step rankers who were under thepany''s employ and were currently guards for the inspectors. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at them while Irie rapidly assessed the situation. She had been hoping to leave before the inspectors arrived as she wouldn''t be able to capture them due to their guards. "I am moving our stock to a new, secure location," She said in the most innocent way possible. The inspectors weren''t stupid. They looked at the restrained board members and could quickly figure out who was in the wrong here. They also had a report about Irie being in cahoots with the dungeon from the racoon beastman who was tied up and gagged with the rest of them. Trying to diffuse the situation before violence ensued, one of the inspectors yed along with the narrative. "And why do you need to move thepany stock to a new location?" "Because," Irie began an nodded her head towards the captives, "a certain group of people were siphoningpany materials away and into the market for personal profits." "Any where are you moving them to?" "Some recently acquired warehouses in the West Regalt District. Here is the paperwork." Irie grabbed an envelope from one of the carts storing goods and went to hand it over. The inspector was actually beginning to doubt the report they received as this new branch manager was very convincing in her act. The envelope was something she had just spotted and improvised with. The moment she got close to the group she opened a sk of water from her waist and sshed it across in front of her. She controlled her manawork and cast a water de spell as powerful as she could. The sshed water turned into arge de of water that shot through the group before anyone could blink. All three inspectors had stupefied expressions on their faces as the top half of their bodies slid off the bottom halves right as they too copsed lifelessly on the ground. One of the Second Step guards also had his torso cut three quarters across. He was alive at first before he too died from rapid blood loss. [ Lance Ernest (Auditor ) killed! + 0 exp ] [ June Rathford (Inspector Recruit ) killed! + 0 exp ] [ Samuel Launcestor (Swordsman ) killed! + 0 exp ] [ Clyde Reverent (ountant ) killed! + 0 exp ] "You dare!" The remaining guards attacked, but Irie unleashed her earth magic in full capacity while the other adventurers, including two Second Step rankers, jumped in the fray too. "Hurry it up," Iriemanded in a steely tone, "we only have a brief window before the city guard arrive. Leave the killing to me so you don''t have your names reported." Irie waved her hand and thirteen magic circles appeared in the air simultaneously. Each had a different set of instruction in it which controlled a root of hardened stone that stabbed through the air, shifting direction suddenly in sharp corners ording to the pre set instructions in the form. She had practiced this with Therina and the others until she controlled it instinctively and could create a lethal attack of a maximum of thirteen at a time. Each cost 50 mana to cast, so it also took arge toll on her mana pool, but much like Therina and the others, her reserves were enormouslyrger than the average adventurer or mercenary of the same level. Her mana was even higher than Therina''s before she evolved due to being a mage ss and being more attuned to mana. She could cast the same magic to the same extent approximately four times in a row with her current mana pool. The guards went into defensive mode instantly. They were well trained and twisted and turned to avoid the stone roots which stabbed through the air like an everchanging. It was harder than it appeared, as one guard jumped and spun above one of the roots before it abruptly shifted 90 degrees and stabbed straight through his chest. He saw it change directions suddenly and could do nothing but watch as it took his life. [ Laurence Potol (Spear Master ) killed! + 0 exp ] [ Jun Beartooth (Beast Swordsman ) killed! + 1,548 exp ] [ Experience threshold met. Level Up! Lv. 15 -> Lv. 16 umted skill experience bonus: Earth Magic -> Earth Essence -> Swordsmanship -> Dagger Arts -> Concealment -> Eloquent Tongue -> Parallel Processing -> All Stats(Excluding Luck): +1 ss bonus: Int +1, Mnd +1, Vit +1 Mana: 2,625 -> 2,854 ] [ Species: Human Name: Irie Naeckle ss: Apprentice Earth Mage Age: 23 Mana: 2,854/2,854 Exp: 0/9,483 Level: 16 Str: 21 Dex: 23 End: 32 Vit: 28 Int: 43 Mnd: 40 Lck: 7 Skills: Neutrality (Racial) +20% Adaptability. +50%patibility with bloodlines and other racial additions. Earth Magic Pebble Shot 5 mana/min Stone Spear 10 mana/min Stone Snake 25 mana/min Quake 15 mana/min Stone Shot 10 mana/min Earthen Stone Spear Eruption 3 mana/min Stone Root Shot 50 mana Boulder Crush 2 mana/min Earth Essence Enhanced Vitality I Attribute Alignment I Defense Alignment Beginner Water Magic Water Shot 15 mana Water de 45 mana Beginner Lightning Magic Paralysing Touch 20 mana Spark 10 mana Archery Twin Shot 5 mana Rapid Fire 5 mana/shot Swordsmanship Charging Cut 15 mana Double Sweeping sh 17 mana Spear Arts Dagger Arts Trap Setting Hidden Weapons Concealment Eloquent Tongue Parallel Processing Titles: Child of Mana, Mother of Monsters, Natural Mana Controller, Dungeon Touched, Child of Earth ] Irie clicked her tongue in annoyance as she was originally nning on building up more potential before levelling up. She looked at the dead "human" and kicked off his helmet to reveal a pair of beast ears, indicating that he was instead a beastkin. The final guard was killed as well shortly afterwards and Irie had the adventurers knock the captives unconscious and throw them on the a wagon hidden in crates. She also picked up the citizen card of one of the other branch managers as hers would immediately be gged and she would be arrested for leaving the city with it. It waste afternoon when the procession left the warehouse and met up with other wagons. To the guards guarding the eastern city gate, Irie and her cohort only appeared to be a merchant group heading to the next town to barter their goods. "Stay safe, a lot of adventurers have died in recent times, especially since the Duke posted the bounty on the nearby illegal dungeon lord. I hear you don''t want to be captured by them." The guard was especially talkative, mainly due to Irie''s beauty enrapturing him. She shared some pleasant words with him and informed him that she would see him when she returned. She used her stolen identity card and slipped out of the city with the train of carts and carriages without issue. The guards looked over the carts and in a couple of containers, but they were mostly just given a brief eye inspection on the outside and immediately passed through. Out in the open fields, arge number of crates, now with bloody corpses in them, were discarded on the side of the road. ~~~~~ Styx waited on his throne for all the returning parties. Irie was a couple of hours away due to therge line of goods she was bringing, while Aura and Therina would be back any second. The wolfgirl had picked up a rare specimen too. Everyone had been unable to even see her through some weird application of Phantasmagoria, but she had been able to. In fact, she had even been able to tell how powerful she was and had wet herself out of sheer terror. "You can''t eat her," Styx said to Aura in her head as soon as she returned with Therina and bonus passenger. "At least, not right now. Bring her to me." The blonde beauty with a wet skirt and robe was feeling incredibly light headed and would pass out any moment when she was ced on her feet in front of the dungeon. "Walk," Aura said with a deeply unhappy expression. The woman shooks and copse on the ground as her knees gave out under her own weight. "Walk." Auramanded again and the woman in the robe tried to stand up over and over, but her legs kept giving out underneath her. "I I can''t Please. P-please don''t. k-k-kill me" The woman stuttered and copsed on the ground fully. Aura didn''t want to carry her anymore now that she wasn''t allowed to eat her but was forced to. Otherwise, she would never make it to Styx. She tried looking toward Therina to have her carry the woman, but the naiad turned her head and feigned ignorance to the request. The blonde voluptuous woman fearfully looked at everything around the dungeon as Aura walked inside and into the bowels of the giant undergroundbrynth of giant caverns. They first entered the giant area with monstrous pirs, a maze like bridge on the top floor andrge grassy ins, wooden arched bridges, flowers and growing trees down on the lower floor. From there, Aura headed east through several caverns containingrge stepped fields of Wheat-M2, Corn-M1, Mana-C Cotton, and many other various grown products. Potatorns were a new hybrid vegetable Styx created, which stored low amounts of mana, had a potato like appearance, but grew on trees rather than in the ground. Dark elves, elves and beastman watched from storage barns and extravagant farmhouses that were still being constructed. The blonde woman also saw them and despite her deep set fear, was curious what they were all doing in the dungeon. Monsters openly walked around without attacking anybody, and some even used them to pull farm equipment or carts loaded with goods. Others slept in nests or were patrolling the dungeon. The faint sound of hammering could be heard too if she strained her ears, indicating that there was production going on inside of the dungeon as well. Everywhere was a constant pleasant temperature, controlled byrge vents in the ceilings which circted hot air through the dungeon. Aura finally reached the throne room where Styx was waiting. She dumped the blonde woman on the floor unceremoniously and huffed before vanishing. Styx could see through her eyes and feel everything in the dungeon, so he naturally knew she had simply entered his and the girls'' home,mandeering the bed to herself out of unhappiness. "Go see Aura," Styx told Therina, who nodded her head and promptly left, leaving the copsed woman and Styx alone in the throne room. Styx looked down at the blonde woman copsed on the ground and trying to support her torso with her arms. He didn''t say anything and patiently waited. The woman eventually managed to prop herself up and even managed to weakly stand. She looked at Styx and steeled her determination, but the quiver in her voice betrayed her deeply set fear. "I demand to be treated fairly as a prisoner." "Treated fairly? I suppose by your standards, that is." "" "You are in no position to demand anything, unfortunately." "What do you want?" "I want to know some things." "" "Nobody else was able to see Aura, but you were. How?" "I demand-" "Enough! You are in no position to make demands." The blonde woman shook and almost copsed at his raised voice. She looked down at her urine saturated robe and was deeply ashamed. She pulled off the dirty robe and exposed the expensive emerald green dress below, which matched the vivid color of her eyes. The woman stuck out her exceptionallyrge chest and stated. "I wish to redeem my freedom. State your price." Styx pinched his brow in frustration as the woman before him appeared to be the type who was stubborn to the end. Instead of just making demands, he decided to negotiate with threats. A poor tactic that contained no guile, but it was the truth of the oue if she continued to be uncooperative. "Are you aware of what your fate was to be, should I not have notified Aura to bring you to me?" "I assume I would have been killed?" "Yes. But rather than saying killed, calling it being eaten would be more appropriate." The woman shivered and her knees buckled as Styx continued. "Do you know what will happen if you continue to be uncooperative?" "Killed?" "Try again." "Ea eaten?" "Correct. So, it would be best if you answered my questions then. How could you see Aura when nobody else could?" "I was born with natural mana sight." Styx raised his brow in surprise before responding, "Now, that wasn''t so hard, was it." "I I wish to redeem my freedom." "Sigh You don''t seem to understand. You are currently outside of your kingdom''sws and protection. You will do as you are told." "I, Reba Euklid, daughter of Duchess Edna Euklid, promise to give you anything you desire so long as it is within my power." Styx raised his brow and the blonde beauty revealed her name and identity to him to form leverage, unaware that it held the exact opposite reaction in Styx''s mind. Chapter 79: Exposed Chapter 79: Exposed "Well then, Miss Euklid, I hope you enjoy your stay here," Styx said with arge smile stered on his face. Reba Euklid clenched her fist and bit her lip whilst doing her best to maintain herposure. She had held a mostlyfortable life up until now and had never been in a situation where her life depended on another''s mercy. Beatrice entered the room and asked, "Is this a new guest?" "Correct, escort her to Fiore, who will be responsible for keeping an eye over her during her stay." Reba looked at the beautiful dark elf with long grey har which had beads woven into it. Two grey and golden tipped feathers could be seen behind her ears as if they grey from there. Even her eyes didn''t appear quite human, while she had an enormous mana pool within her thatpletely dwarfed her own. Her chest was alsoparable in size to her own, giving her a highly seductive and curvaceous body. She was also curious as to how this dark elf entered the room whilst knowing everything already, as if she had been listening in from the very beginning. Her words implied that this wasn''t the case and there was a missing link in her knowledge of how information was shared in this mysterious dungeon. "Follow me," Beatrice promptly said with a cold re towards the soiled blonde beauty. "We will get you some new clothes before showing you where you will be staying from now on." Reba slightly nodded her head and followed the dark elf known as Beatrice. She silently prayed to War Goddess Eve and her mother to save her as soon as possible. Reba burned the image of the rumored illegal dungeon master into her mind as she left therge throne room and returned to the other parts of the dungeon. "What is this ce?" She timidly asked as they entered a residential district with homes rapidly being constructed with elves, light and dark, and tiger beastmen everywhere. Beatrice nced at her out of the corner of her eye and curtly responded, "Our home and haven." Reba was led into a clean and neat store with arge number of clothing for both genders. Beatrice walked straight to the section with dresses and picked out a reddish violet dress that was uniquely beautiful. As Reba looked around, she saw that most of these clothes were of a very high quality and each a beautiful as thest. "Who made these?" "We did. Others who are learning tailoring skills have also made some of them." "Is it expensive?" "We don''t operate on money here." Reba was confused. Such a dress made out of this high quality material could sell for anywhere up to 100 gold in a local high ss clothing store, ten times that in the most famous branded stores in central. Beatrice also grabbed some fresh underwear and took her to a newly constructed, vacant house to use the bath. "Umm I don''t know if they will fit me" Reba said, who usually needed custom tailored clothes to fit herrge bust and narrow back. "They will fit. Now, undress." Beatrice ran a hot bath and ced shampoo and soap on the side of the extravagant porcin like basin which seemed to radiate faint traces of magic. The flowers in the room emitted more puffs of mana into the air and the entire dungeon looked like a giant, living ecosystem in Reba''s eyes. Despite that, the mana in the air was drifting as if by a breeze towards the factory district and offset the ambient mana production. After being told to undress, she looked at Beatrice who sat in the corner watching her patiently. "Can I have some privacy?" "No. Do you require assistance taking it off?" Beatrice opened a palm where a golden me tied to her mana sprang to life. There was no magic circle or other array created, it simply sprang into being. "No I will do it myself" Reba reached behind her back and undid the zipper of her emerald embroidered dress, allowing it to slide off her shoulders and to the ground around her feet. She nervously turned and nced at the still unperturbed Beatrice before unhooking her bra and sliding off her underwear. She stood there nervously with her milky white skin exposed in its entirety. She desperately covered herrge voluptuous breasts with one arm and fuzzy but pungent pubic region with the other hand as she stepped into therge, steaming bath. The hot water caused all of her muscles to rx as she slid into it, while it also had a slight sulphur scent that she associated with natural hot springs. Beatrice was feeling impatient as the human woman appeared to try control herrge breasts as they floated in the water and prevent them being exposed while she awkwardly washed herself. She couldn''t understand why the woman was so desperate to cling to her sense of propriety when her life was still at stake. Reba took an entire 20 minutes as she awkwardly cleaned every part of her body and washed her hair with the shampoo Styx considered subpar but eptable. There was also conditioner being produced, but none of the avable products from the human market had been to Styx''s standards, so they were currently absent from the dungeon. When she finally got out and still tried to cover her privates while drying herself, Beatrice walked over and took the towel from her. "Eh? W-wait a second." "You are taking too long." Reba''s breasts bounced and jiggled as she futilely resisted while Beatrice forcefully dried her and shoved her new clothes in her hand. "Get dressed," Beatrice demanded while picking up her old clothes and passing it to a waiting gnome outside of the room to be taken for cleaning. Reba dressed herself far quicker than any of the previous parts and was surprised that the clothes were a perfect fit. While it wasn''t a color she usually wore, she straightened the bust and looked down at herself in approval, some of the fear of the dungeon leaving her. "Where are my clothes?" "Taken to theundry cleaning area in the lower level. They will be returned cleanter." Reba nodded and quietened down, getting used to Beatrice who didn''t like small talk with her. She was then led to two other dark elves who had abnormallyrge amounts of mana coursing through them too. "This is ir and Kale, sisters and both dungeon wives. They will be your supervisors, give you work, and address anything you need. Should you try to leave or defy Styx, they will also be your executioners." Reba nodded to the first part of what Beatrice stated, but thetter half was like a cold bucket of water being poured over her. "Hello, you can call me ir," The more reserved sister with shoulder length straight grey hair, one side longer than the other, said with a brief nod. "Oh, you are the new pris- guest. I hear your mother is a very important person, so you had best behave or she may not get to see you again~" "Kale!" "What? It''s true." "It''s called tact, please restrain yourself." "But you moan loader than me~" ir flushed bright red and grabbed mischievous sister who always had too much energy. Kale hugged her back and rubbed her face against her sister''s. Reba was unsure how to react to the two dark elves, but ir quickly pushed her twin sister off of her and spoke to her while trying to stop blushing. "As long as you do as you are told Miss Euklid, you will remain safe. I do suggest you don''t try escape, however. For now, follow us to the training ground. You only need sit to the side while food and drinks will be arranged for you. You are wee to join in training as well." Reba was desperate to know just how everyone seemed to know her despite only just being taken prisoner. Several males had looked her way curiously, including a couple of people who appeared to be humans just like her. ~~~~~ Therina was sitting on the bed patting the lump under the sheets that was Aura who was still unreasonably upset over having her food taken from her. "How are you doing?" Styx asked tenderly as he walked into the room. Aura''srge wolf ears, which were the only part of her visible from under the nket, twitched in response to his voice while Aura took this opportunity to pull him onto the bed. As he sat on the end of the mattress, she wrapped her arms and legs around him, sitting on hisp while tightly clinging to him. She pressed her face into the crook of his shoulder while her long ear tickled his nose. "Show me your tails." Two smoke like tails seemed to unroll behind in the air behind her, but one stopped at a stump half way down. Styx hugged her back and extended his mana tendrils into her body, filling up her manawork and inspecting the damage. The problem was a portion of it was gone, which had previously been stored in her tail and was likely lost now. Therina wasn''t in any physical pain anymore, but the loss still left her grieved. She sharply bit into Styx''s neck andtched herself there as he ran his fingers through her whispy tails and felt the spot where it was severed. "Aura, you said you had a treasure to help it heal?" The wolf girl finally got out of the bed and walked to the wall of the bedroom where it seemed to shimmer and a square section faded from existence to reveal a decent sized storage areas filled with exotic and rare spiritual fruits along with the other things she has collected over her long life. "Since when was that there.?" "A while." Aura stated before resting her head on Styx''s back, passing a purple fruit with swirls over it to Therina. ~~~~~ Therina''s tail begun growing back, but her manawork was still slightly stunted and would take time to restore itself, despite the best of Styx''s and her own efforts. Not far from the dungeon, Earl Vermonte bon Housen was approaching with his team of royal guards, now one less than when he arrived. Duke Ashburn had also joined in this expedition to ensure everything proceeded safely and ording to thew. One incident of his citizens bing coteral was more than enough for him. "Hold," The earlmanded and took out a special pair of brass goggles with tinted lenses and an intricately carved magic circle on each lens. "It''s too quiet here." "I believe this is rted to the reports of sudden monster shortages in various parts of the Abyssal Forest," Another researcher notes while inspecting apass like device in his hand that kept spinning. "The mana here is also chaotic and isn''t pointing us to the nearest mana agglomeration which would be the dungeon." Earl Housen ced the goggles on and lead them deeper into the forest before abruptly stopping again. Through the goggles, he could see the area which constituted the dungeon''s area much like a barrier. "The dungeon lord has learned how to expand the dungeon outside of its underground constraints, so they are confirmed to exist." He then had the royal guards carry over arge rectangr ck box and ce it on the ground. The box was made out of an unknown material, but it was definitely metallic. Vermonte unfolded the box into arge door like structure. A shimmering door then appeared which he pushed open and reveal a bedroom sized space behind itden with various equipment. "I need the Miniature Mana Particle Readers, Life Probe Device, Mega Crystal Storage Unit, and Earth Sonar Amplifier." The earl ordered the guards to bring out severalrge pieces of equipment. The researchers and guards all moved with maximum efficiency as they brought out theserge mana devices and set them up just outside of the dungeon''s range to avoid the dungeon lord from detecting them and potentially attacking while their equipment was still vulnerable. A tape line was set up outside of the dungeon field to ensure nobody identally entered it. The earl also sprayed a green mist from a can that clung to the dungeon zone and made it physically visible to others temporarily. "Connecting Mana Particle Reader and Life Prove Devices to power source and central control unit All functions operating at full capacity. We are ready to start whenever you wish." "Good. Do it immediately, I am feeling oddly unnerved being here." The researchers, including the earl, split up the work load and begun taking various readings of the dungeon while the royal guards set up a temporary perimeter and patrolled. All the recorded information was printed on long strips of paper and looked like a giant genome code, while samples of the dungeon''s mana and life force readings were stored in specialized artificial crystals just for this purpose. Earl Vermonte bon Housen sat on a chair while unfolding theplex diagram of energy readings in front of himself. "Duke Ashburn." "What?" "How old did you say this dungeon was?" The earl looked at the giant, menacing entrance visible in the distance with furrowed brows. "Six to twelve months old based on our intelligence." "That''s impossible." "Why?" "The mana density is as high as a dungeon six years old. It is also ten timesrger than a dungeon of that age ording to seismic sonar readings. There is a huge amount of heat and life forces down there, but more pressing" "What is more pressing?" "This reading here," The earl nonchntly pointed to an exceptionallyrge bar on a genome graph that the duke couldn''t make heads nor tails of. "This is a Fifth Step existence. Weak for something in the Fifth Step, but far beyond what we are capable of dealing with. I need to take back the sample to determine whether that is a Monster Lord or some wandering exotic race, but I suspect it is the former." The duke''s expression rapidly darkened. If it truly was a Monster Lord, then he would immediately appeal to the temple and request divine intervention. He was prepared to go to any length to remove the danger lurking over Gabralter. The group rapidly begun storing all the samples and packing up the equipment to clear away from the dungeon. Duke Ashburn steeled his heart and spoke to himself. ''I know Hayleigh has a long feud with Edna and didn''t want to interfere too much, but I will force Gabralter into an engagement with her daughter and send them back to her city. Even if it costs us, he will be safe there.'' Chapter 80: A Fallen City Chapter 80: A Fallen City Niah apanied Styx as he inspected a production line just recentlypleted and started up. In a giant room not far away from the smelting production line where raw ores were refined into various metals or other important products. There were huge store rooms filled with T1 Item Pickers and special Stable Storage Crates (SSCs). Metals and alloys alike were piled up and stored inside of them, each in their own respective zone. More T1 Item Pickers were ced on the other side, but these were connected to a separate controlwork and would pull out the required amount of metal ingots and send them to their new destinations along conveyers. This production field was only a handful of Mana Constructors, which were intricate devices that attached to giant frameworks and would control all the materials inside of their area to create a final product. They were programmable through ayered series of arrays, and each had to be specifically designed to input certain items and output others. These Mana Constructors took copper ingots, which were smelted down and turned into giant circr bars. They were then bored through and turned into thick walled pipes, the waste copper being recycled into the next rod. Finally, heat retention and cleansing arrays were inscribed into the pipes to prevent water from cooling down or turning stagnant upon not being used. Other systems had already been installed to flush out the existing pipes should it ever be required. These pipes were used to transfer hot air and water throughout the dungeon and where under a high pressure, while there were other Mana Constructors designed to create smaller pipes for individual houses. They had their own storage and were piled up ready for use. As much as Styx loved the new production line, he was having headaches over mana scarcity. A new battery tower construct sucking power out of mana gems meant even more needed to be recharged and the local mana density decreased more. The flowers throughout the dungeon were creating a huge amount of mana, at least by his opinion, but his usage of it was equally great. "Honey, darling, my favorite," A series of intimate wordsthered in honey sounded behind him. Styx didn''t even need to turn his head to know that it was Niah. He had seen the lithe, ck haired dark elf even before she entered the factory. A pair of slender arms wrapped around him from behind while the woman in question whispered into his ear. "Sweetie, I want some more soulium throwing daggers?" Niah''s ss was a Dancer so she was incredibly flexible and dextrous. Her body twisted and wrapped around his while her fingers teased up and down his chest. "You know that they are time consuming and extremely expensive to produce, don''t you? How do you keep losing them?" "I don''t mean to." Niah pulled her cor down and exposed her cleavage, which wasn''t arge amount, but enough to get Styx''s attention and bring a rise out of him. ~~~~~ Styx stood naked in all his glory with Niah, whose clothes were also scattered on the floor to the side. Her long ck hair was originally tied up, but that had turned into a mess as Styx ran his fingers through it while their tongues twisted and twined together. Styx had her back up against the piller as one of her legs was raised straight up with her ankle resting on his shoulder. "Honey, darling, h-h-hold on. It really is too big, give me some time to prepare!" Niah panicked as Styx pressed his hips closer to her own, the head of hisrge, throbbing member starting to push open her thin, pink valley. No matter how many times she saw him inserting his penis into her, she panicked at first. "How many times have you given birth now?" Styx asked while rolling his eyes. "!!" Styx thrust his hips and his throbbing rod forced her small but slippery cave entrance and prated three quarters in. Niah felt light headed as a jolt of electricity shot up her spine while her legs turned weak. Styx tightened his grasp over the beautiful dark elf and supported her weight in his arms while thrusting the rest of his penis inside of her and pping his hips against hers. "Nuaahhhhmmp~" Niah lets out a slovenly moan while digging her fingers into his shoulder and throat She ran her nails down his side, leaving a trail of red scratches on his skin as Styx slowly pulled himself out of her before thrusting back inside. He looked down and saw he vagina pushed wide opens and spreading its juices around the base of his shaft. Styx allowed her to lower her leg from his shoulder before she wrapped both legs around his waist and squeezed. Whilst she didn''t have particrlyrge breast, her thighs were meaty and she knew how to use them in a way to entice the lusty dungeon. Despite her initialints and nervousness, her vaginal walls were slicked with fluids yet rhythmically clenched around him, frequently spasming as she had minor climaxes. Styx bit her nipple while she wrapped her arms around his head and held it in her bosom. "I''m going to. MMmmmmmm~~" Niah seemed to try smother his face as she violently clenched her arms while her entire body spasmed. "Excuse me? You asked for" Reba entered the facility at this moment and saw the two having sex in public against one of the support pirs of the room. Upon seeing what they were doing, her jaw abruptly dropped while her face flushed bright red. ir and Kale had only dropped her off as Styx had questions for her. Styx gave one final, violent thrust as the head of his rod poked through the entrance of her womb and coated the inner walls with a thick load of dungeon seed. [ Insemination begun. Please select seed to imnt: 3x Miners Burden (1) 1h incubation 2x Dirt Gnome Burden (1) 1h incubation 1x Stoneater Burden (2) 2h incubation 1x Stonerat Burden (3) 2h incubation 1x Midnight Guard Burden (4) 4h incubation 1x Stone-Tail Fox Burden (9) 12h incubation 1x Stone Bramble Queen Burden (11) 24h incubation 1x Living Golem Burden (13) 24h incubation 2x Stone Bramble Queen Burden (16) 24h incubation 1x Shadow Leaper Burden (18) 24h incubation 1x Midnight dedancer Burden (20) 42h incubation 1x ck Lyrapeta Burden (22) 70h incubation 2x Shadow Leaper Burden (24) 32h incubation ] [ 1x Shadow Leaper selected Incubation 24:03:15 ] All of the girls were looking forward to undergoing the ss Up procedure and bing Second Step rankers, but had unanimously agreed to hold off temporarily while they investigated Therina and Beatrice''s evolution Seeing the benefits, everyone wanted to be able to evolve, but Styx knew it shouldn''t be that easy. Styx slid out of Niah, who hung over his shoulder with a flushed yet satisfied expression. Reba watched the thick white fluid dripping out of the dark elf''s exposed vagina and weaponized penis that had somehow fit inside. "That well I''lle back when" "Come here," Styx demanded and left the duchess'' daughter wanting to cry but having no tears. Niah also whispered into his ear at the same time, "Can I have my daggers now?" Styx rolled his eyes and nodded his head, to which the dark elf hugged him even tighter before jumping off his and leaning down to clean him with her mouth, sucking out any residual seed and swallowing it. He didn''t even need to forge new ones. He knew through her vision the area where she lost them, and would send out a team of monsters to scour the area and recover them afterwards. He merely polished them and returned them to her looking like new. He suspected she knew this all along too, which is why she never panicked over it, and just yed along with the charade. Reba stood before the so called illegal dungeon lord and didn''t know what to say or believe in. She had so many questions hidden behind her infinite embarrassment. "What what did you want me for?" She asked as Niah cleaned her mouth and quickly got dressed before leaving with a flirtatious sway in her broad hips. Styx pinched her chin with his fingers, the thick scent of sex assaulting her senses from them and further embarrassing her. Despite this, she didn''t dare resist, even if he forced himself on her. In her mind, maintaining her life was currently her top priority. Styx could tell this and held no interest in forcing himself on her. "I require your knowledge on the humans'' production lines. What do you know of them?" "Not a lot, I know that we have them?" "" "They also produce a lot of products" "Are all the nobles so useless?" "They are run bypanies and merchant groups. Why would I know." "Because as nobles, it is your responsibility to understand your cities and how they are run." "" Reba kept shifting her eyes from side to side without knowing where to look due to Styx''s nude body directly in front of her. Styx held no shame, not even trying to conceal his privates before collecting his clothes. ~~~~~ Therina detected Gabralter as falling asleep and directly entered the dream realm. In here, distance was abstract and made no sense to Styx who still couldn''t process it like Therina could. She walked over an ocean of perfectly still water with obsidian obelisks in the undefined distance, each wider thans and holding up the heavens as they seemed to extend endlessly. The ocean was a vivid blue, lit up by countless blue dwarf stars the swam in its depths, none of which seemed to give off any heat. Each step sent of a ripple as she advanced in one particr direction. Intent yed a role here, as the world spun in Therina''s vision before she arrived at one of the obsidian pirs all of a sudden, the pir being so close it was like a barricade extending infinitely to the left and right. Doors of all shapes and sizes dotted the pitch ck stone that glittered with stars. Therina simply walked forward as the wall shifted and moved, one door in particr stopped directly in front of her which she passed through. She then climbed the root of a world tree, swam into a rabbit hole and fell from the sky into Gabralter''s dreams. The duke''s son was on the battlefield fighting off a horde of demons in all shapes and sizes. Arge crowd of demons wearingrge ck robes with only their long, twisted horns visible stood in a wide circle. Humans were strung up and their throats slit. The demons themselves would happily jump into the sacrifice should more power be required. A giant crimson magic array withplex, twisted scripture filled it. It spun, bent, and pulsated as arge alter made of blood vessels formed underneath all the corpses and consumed their flesh and souls before a giant hand pierced into the physical world from another ne, ripping open a hole in space as a colossal monstrosity stepped into the city. The demons bowed in submission to the devil colossi as it stepped out from its summoning circle and tore buildings and humans asunder, feasting on flesh and destroying everything else. The devil colossi roared and space itself fractured, wreaking a wave of havoc across the city unlike anything before it. The giant cannons along the wall which were broken fell off their towers and created more giant clouds of dust and fresh screams in the area. Gabraltermanded the survivors to band together and cut a way out of the city. He waved a sword of ordinary steel with a firm resolutions, but his appearance was disced from everything around. He wore a damaged and frayed armor, but there was a translucent, golden cor around his next and ck blindfold over his eyes. To his side, Duke Ashburn himselfy on the ground alongside a beautiful woman that appeared to be his wife. The duke had his expression as hard as stone, but the giant hole in his torso disyed his demise. The duchess'' body appeared intact as a whole, and flowers were growing in the ground around her, but her deathly pale face also showed her as being lifeless. Despite being blindfolded, Gabralter carved a route through the hordes of monsters alongside several valiant city guards, yet more and more monsters seemed to pour in. Therina tried to influence the dream and get closer to the duke''s son, but the entire world melted like a wax candle and she fell back into the chaotic dream realm. ~~~~~ In the duke''s giant mansion, Gabralter opened his weary eyes and looked at the sunset, just catching a moment''s rest after a long training session. "It''s that dream again No matter how many times, it refuses to let me sleep in peace." Chapter 81: Planning the Rescue Chapter 81: nning the Rescue Duke Ashburn sat in his study alongside his wife while discussing the matters of the day. "I have decided to marry off our son to Reba Euklid," The duke said while looking down at several sheets in unimportant paperwork to avoid looking his wife in the eye. "Without discussing it with me, dear?" There was an icy undertone in Duchess Ashburn''s voice which exposed her feelings towards this idea. The duke sighed before putting down the reports in his hands and finally looking at her, his expression filled with determination. "You also know the likely oue for him. He is still weak and the enemy is unknown. I have heard of several reports of individuals apparently on the side of the dungeon also seeking out information on Gabralter. It is a question of who finds out about the other side first, which we currently have an advantage in, but" "Don''t think I don''t know what you are thinking. You are coddling him too much." "Are you still angry by what he said the other day?" "Of course I am! I am his mother, yet he dared step out of line in such a way!" "Hayleigh" "I also understand, but you are taking him off the chopping board just to throw him in the snake pit. Why can''t we just send him to the capital or another noble''s territory as an ambassador. It only needs to be in name." "I have thought over that, but he is not yet ready. Whilst I do not wish to force anything on him, I must do so currently. You may not like the mother, but the daughter is polite." "Hmph, the apple never falls far from the tree." "" "Fine! But we will discuss this in more detail tomorrow!" Duchess Ashburn sat beside the window and looked out the clear ss toward the bustling city outside. The study was on the fourth floor, so she had a wide view of everything outside and over the small inner city wall that not only walled off the mansion, but served as the dungeon city''s final defence line. Breaking the silence, Duchess Euklid threw open the study doors and stormed in with her chest heaving. "My daughter is missing!" The duke scrunched his brow and pinched the bridge of his nose while his wife raised her brows in surprise. "What?" "I said, my daughter is missing!" The duchess mmed her open palms on the surface of the table, causing wood to splinter as the bent and appeared about to snap in two at any moment. Lora and Dare, the two baronesses and Reba''spanions on this journey to Lagoon Porter City, stood just outside the study door and nervously looked in. They timidly stepped forth as Duchess Euklid shot them a sharp re andmanded them to get inside. "Please inform Duchess and Duke Ashburn of what you told me." The blonde baroness, Lora, nervously gripped the waist of her dress while deeply curtsying and trying to be as formal and respectable as possible. "Umm Earlier today, we secretly followed Gabralter to a very popr market to investigate the rumors surrounding him and a certain elf. Ba was acting a bit odd then she just vanished." "Vanished?" Duchess Ashburn asked in curiosity. "Yes," Dare hurriedly nodded her head. "At first, we thought she slipped away from us or got lost somehow, so we were looking to gather with her but she wasn''t anywhere I could find." The duke gave her a stern impression and asked, "That was hours ago. Why didn''t you inform us earlier?" Duchess Euklid also shot the two young women another re, causing them to quiver and drop their shoulders. "" Duchess Ashburn understood what was going on in their minds and felt whoever raised them was irresponsible. They were a part of the nobility, but did not have the courage or determination to resolve problems and didn''t want to disturb their routine lives. They were afraid of being held responsible, so had been hoping she would return on her own. Duke Ashburn powered amunication array on his mahogany desk and reported the incident whilst ordering an immediate search party being formed. Gabralter was also called into the study and coldly med it on the dungeon. "I told you that the dungeon was kidnapping our citizens to defile andmit all kinds of heinous acts. Now you have a case in front of you, are you finally going to do something?" "There is no evidence of that. There are several criminal groups in the city too, so don''t go ignore them." "None of which would be brave enough to kidnap a duchess'' daughter." "" Duke Ashburn didn''t know how to respond to his son. He wasn''t incorrect in that none of the criminal groups had the courage to kidnap high nobility. Once the kingdom''s forces truly came down upon them, they would have no protection and nowhere to hide. They knew this, and so long as they didn''t cross the bottom line, dealing with them was of a lower priority than other matters. "Has that arrogant earle up with any useful information?" Duchess Euklid tapped her finger on the duke''s desk impatiently, digging up wood with each tap. Duke Ashburn thought considered it and decided it would be best to go visit the earl. Even if he had no tangible results, the walk would help calm everyone''s nerves. ~~~~~ Earl Vermonte bon Housen had a printout of data taken from the dungeon spread across arge table he had the maids bring into a spare room. Crystal lenses of various huesy scattered over the paperwork while strange devices analysed the stored mana samples for different results. On the center of therge table was the soulium hunting de surrounded by several scanning arrays intent on discovering its secrets. The earl turned his head and scoffed as the group of nobles entered the room he had repurposed into a research station. The other researchers from the Royal Academy of Research and Technology had equally disdainful res while not even bothering to deign them with words. "Can you not see that we are busy?" "You are in my home yet you continue to disrespect us." "Oh, my mistake. Would you like us to pack up and leave?" The words themselves seemed apologetic, but the earl had a scornful gaze on his face as he capitalized on the fact that the duke was the one who requested their help. "The duchess'' daughter has gone missing, possibly kidnapped. Tell me what you know about the dungeon." Despite his obnoxious attitude, the earl was very professional in his attitude towards work. "And you suspect the illegal dungeon lord is behind this?" "It is highly likely." "Well, I have good news, mostly. There are arge number of unknown species inside of the dungeon, in great numbers too, but these are all First Step monsters and are of little threat, although the reported devil bee swarm is still somewhat dangerous. I can''t give better detailed analysis on them without direct observation and testing, but that is unimportant." "There are also arge number of elves within the dungeon, mostly Tree Elves and Stone Elves, but there are a few of this an that mixed in. Next is the most pressing issue. Look at this." Earl Housen directed towards a giant, obvious spike on the chart, much like a glitch in whatever wrote on the page. Duke Ashburn took a crimson lense from the earl and looked through it, revealing an almost three dimensional rendition of the graph while also measuring the mana density of this spike. "This is" "A Fifth Tier Monster Lord. If you duchess'' daughter is truly there, you won''t be able to get her back. Although, that Monster Lord will also be in vition of the Treaty of Gods." "If you already understood all of that, why haven''t you reported it to me?" "I already pointed out that we are busy, did I not? There are some data facts which aren''t adding up. The mana density does not match the informed age of the dungeon, it is as if the dungeon has been there for years at least. Secondly is this knife." "What about it." "That it''s impossible. It has the same constitution, or simr to, many copper-gold alloys, but it is vastly different. We simply cannot fathom how such an advanced material was produced. I would simply love to know how it was made." ~~~~~ Duke Ashburn was determined to confront the dungeon this time. Knowing what dangers lied within it, he approached the main Temple of Eve within the city and informed the head bishop presiding there of the details, seeking assistance from the religious side of the temple. Within the inner cloister. Duke and Duchess Ashburn along with Duchess Euklid sat in a regal room covered in religious reliefs, tales of Goddess Eve''s ascension in the battlefield against hordes of dragons and bing the sovereign deity of the Maple Dragon Kingdom. "Lord Duke, you understand that even if a Fifth Tier Monster Lord is breaching the rules, we cannot control nor direct divine intervention directly. We cannot directly confront them either, as we would simply perish. You must think carefully about this or we could all die." "This is a matter where I am forced to act." The old head bishop sighed as his wrinkles seemed to increase. "Lord Duke, would you listen to this old man''s proposal?" "Of course, I always take the temple''s words into advice." "Then, and I apologize if this is offending you Lady Duchess, but this is too hasty action. If the duchess'' daughter has been kidnapped, then she is most likely currently alive. She would be useless dead. We may be able to negotiate her release without it turning into war against a Monster Lord. It will also buy time for our prayers to reach Goddess Eve." "I I suppose that is reasonable." "Just remember but despite this world where the weak are eaten, immediately leaping into war is not always the best option." "We still need to show our might to not bepletely looked down upon though." "Indeed, that is true." ~~~~~ The duke marched with an army of Second and Third Step guards numbering 20,000 strong, although only 1,000 of them were of the Third Step. They went directly to the dungeon while adventurers and mercenaries alike watched in silence. Everyone knew of the duke''s enormous bounty on the dungeon and illegal dungeon lord behind it. Many had lost their lives in this pursuit, and many more were prepared to risk their own lives for fortune. Seeing the duke matching with an army personally, a lot of these people were now anywhere from displeased to directly enraged. They thought the duke had decided to do the task himself now that more information on the dungeon was avable, and would be keeping the dungeon core to himself. This public outrage was one of the main reasons why the duke hadn''t originally wanted to make a move personally, but the reporters from The Relevant, his son''s experiences, and most recent events of direct disregard to nobility and the kingdom''sws had forced his hand. Armored boots hit the ground in perfect rhythm, creating their own drum beat which shook the forest around them. Every monster nearby had sensed their presence and fled long in advance before the army passed by. At the front of the force was several high level priests who rung holy bells as they marched, their ring travelling across the army and filling everyone''s vigor and stamina. There were 13 armored forces within this army, each having their own specialty and use on the battlefield, from controlling the terrain to create advantageous ground for them, to sniping enemymanders. Several mage forces would either create magical barriers or bombardments too depending on the requirement. The victor was not always determined by who was strongest, but who could control the flow of battle and seize the advantage. All of the troops here knew that they were marching towards the location where a Monster Lord was and held a nervous knot in their hearts. No matter how good their tactics were, it would be useless against a Monster Lord, even if it were just a weak one. Duke Ashburn wasn''t the only important figure here. Duchess Euklid, over deep worry and concern for her captured daughter, and Earl Housen, over research curiosity, were also apanying. ~~~~~ Styx was sitting and eating dinner with all his woman and Reba as a guest. The human woman barely touched her food as if it was beneath her, but everyone else happily gorged. Aura was eating elsewhere tonight as her mere presence caused the duchess'' daughter to go into a nervous breakdown. In the middle of his meal, Styx abruptly stopped and raised a brow. "What is it?" Elena asked upon noticing Styx''s surprise. The dungeon cum dungeon lord in question looked to Reba and chuckled. "It looks like your rescue party is here. Do you think they could redeem your freedom?" Reba felt her heart skip a beat. She certainly hoped everything would work out, but she held subtle fears as she knew how unpredictable Styx could be. Outside the dungeon, the army lined up in formation while a messenger escorted by several Third Step guards approached the grand temple like entrance and nervously called out his demands to meet the dungeon lord and negotiate the release of prisoners. "Well, it looks like I am being called for. Aura, let''s go say hello Aura?" Styx chuckled at first, but stopped when the wolf girl appeared with an apprehensive expression. "Don''t stress, I will work things out. As long as we don''t resort to direct conflict, it should work out. We just need to secure enough benefits." Chapter 82: The Treaty of Gods Chapter 82: The Treaty of Gods As Styx and Aura stepped out of the front entrance of the dungeon, several pairs of eyes secretly watching things from deep within the Abyssal Forest focused upon the wolf eared woman and especially the dungeon avatar whom she walked beside on equal grounds. Even the spider Monster Lord whom had a vendetta against the wolf girl watched from a hidden location beyond the horizon and refused toe closer, knowing how dangerous the situation could be and refusing to be embroiled within it. All of the Monster Lords of the Abyssal Forest knew of this young dungeon and its rapid yet odd growth since not long after the wolf Monster Lord made it her new home. The rtionship between Fifth Step existences and gods however kept them at bay. They gazed upon the situation with either disinterest or in wariness. Although the duke was a very powerful Third Step raker and held a powerful reputation on the battlefield, he saw Styx and evaluated him as a weak First Step existence. He was well attuned to mana as his body had evolved again and again whilst reaching his current power. Aura''s presence washed over him and left him feeling like a small boat on the stormy ocean in the middle of a hurricane. Everyone''s face turned pale at her intimidating aura and their nerves were taut. All the torches and mana lights that lit up the night time forest seemed to dim in her presence and an eerie wind blew through the leaves. The messenger who stood in front of the army shook in fear. He was only a Second Step ranker and felt like he was trapped in between a powerful army and an unstoppable Monster Lord. "Well, you have called and I havee. I must say, this is quite the weing party." Styx held his arms wide open whileughing, turning his head to look across the army who were ready to attack at as soon as the order was given. Some didn''t wait as spears of golden light shot towards him, but Aura''s tail grew and extended until it was nearly ten meters long before swatting them out of the air alongside crushing space itself and causing a shockwave to burst out across the army. "Hold!" Duke Ashburn shouted with a steely expression. The duke, alongside Duchess Euklid, the High Priest of the Temple of Eve and Earl Housen, stepped forth from the army and approached the duo. They wouldn''t dare do this when confronting the Neth''rite Demon Kingdoms forces as they were likely to suffer an assassination attempt, but they evaluated the current circumstance as safe to do so. "Why have you kidnapped my daughter?" Duchess Euklid red at Aura, disregarding Styx as some messenger or negotiator. Aura merely looked at her and didn''t respond, heeding Styx''s earliermands to not speak unless he told her to. The High Priest of Eve nced as Styx through ice blue squinted eyes, a faint sense of divine intimidation within them that made others more likely to feel inferior. "And you are?" The words were without emotion as he red at the seemingly weak individual. "You can call me Styx." "Are you the representative of the dungeon?" Styx''s smile grew broader as he shamelessly nodded his head and stated, "I am." "So why have you kidnapped Duchess Euklid''s daughter?" Styx was assuming they were simply guessing he took her and didn''t bother denying their usation based on ack of evidence. For him to put himself into a position for negotiations, he needed to hold onto the daughter and have them know that. "Well, let''s just say her natural assets caught our attention?" Everyone had dark expressions of rage. The duke and high priest thought of Reba Euklid''s very generous bust size and the dungeon''s proclivity of breeding monsters. Duchess Euklid however was the only one privy to the fact that he daughter had natural inborn mana sight and knew what Styx was actually hinting at. If a member of the nobility was kidnapped and raped too, it would be an enormous stain on the kingdom''s reputation that they would be forced to seek justice for, even if it spelt their deaths. The duke and high priest thought of this and were ready to send an emergency report to the capital right before dering an attack. Earl Housen was the only one who kept his cool and looked down his nose at Styx right after ncing at Aura. "You and anyone rted to this dungeon are currently in vition of the Treaty of Gods and the Ancient ordance." "I have not signed any treaty nor agreed to anything." Styx was adamant in his position, especially as he knew nothing about them other than Aura''s apprehensions towards them. He had asked her on what they were before, but she didn''t even understand the terms in the first ce, only what she was and wasn''t allowed to do, and the potential consequence of the goddess intervening should she breach that. Earl Housen snorted in contempt towards the dungeon avatar. "The treaty covers all living beings, especially Fifth Step existences, whether they are aware of it or not." "That is preposterous!" "Would you prefer if it didn''t exist in the first ce? Do you not understand the consequences of that?" "I don''t know what they are in the first ce." "Where did an uneducated savage such as you hail from?" "" The earl curled the corner of his lip as he exined the two agreements. "The Treaty of Gods, as can be found in the scriptures of every Temple of Eve, is the restriction imposed on all the gods in order to protect those in the mortal ne. The first use forbids gods from descending unless a kingdom they hold a position in is in fatal peril of extinction or an opposing god has descended for that reason. They still send their blessings onto their devout worshippers and whomever they choose, but they cannot directly intervene until that condition is met." "The second use states the Fifth Step existences are forbidden from directly threatening or attacking the authority and power of the gods. This poweres from their believers and prevents them from being recklessly ughtered." "The third use prevents the gods from targeting Fifth Step existences before and immediately after they ascend. This is to ensure that the divine realm constantly gains fresh blood and stop gods from assassinating opposing potential gods. The counter to this use is that if the Fifth Step existence bes a fatal danger to the kingdom." "There are other uses and sub uses, but they are the main three. The second and third use work in tandem to provide a safety for both sides." "The Ancient ordance, which you are in vition of, is the ancient agreement between the Goddess and all Fifth Step Monster Lords within the Maple Dragon Kingdom. The goddess will not view them as a fatal threat, and they must remain in their homes and not interfere with the kingdom. Their homes are ssified as forbidden areas at the same time, and any citizen entering them are no longer protected by this use. You directly kidnapped the duchess'' daughter from the city, a clear vition of this." Styx immediately grasped onto the crux of the problem and where the dangery. The Treat of Gods was important and seemed very fair to those on the mortal ne, but there was one fact which was not explicitly stated within it. This treaty was made by the gods, it was enforced by the gods, and whether someone was in vition of it, was determined by the gods. If the goddess unterally dered Aura to be in breach of the treaty, neither Styx nor herself would have any means of appealing that deration. It wasn''t a poor treaty as it did provide some protection, but all the powerid with the gods. Whilst kidnapping some citizens, killing those who entered the Abyssal Forest, even enticing them to enter were okay, holding a member of the nobility hostage was a direct attack on the kingdom and definitely crossing the bottom line. Duchess Euklid looked at Styx and the Monster Lord beside him before speaking in an ice-cold tone, "Now that you are definitely aware of what you have caused, return my daughter to me immediately and your punishment will be much lighter." Without a goddess backing him, Styx was essentially backed into a corner. He considered threatening them in that by entering the Abyssal Forest, they had admitted to no longer being protected under the Ancient ordance, but that would not bring him any benefit. Rapidly thinking through all the possible scenarios, Styx eventually threw up his hands in a sign of defeat. "Well, it looks like we''ve gone too far with this one. My bad," Styx spoke in a helpless tone but didn''t show any kind of apologetic expression. "But, if you are expecting to hand down a punishment, then let''s go all in." Styx held his hand in the posture of getting ready to snap his fingers as a crazed grin surfaced on his face. "The moment I snap my fingers. Your daughter''s head rolls off her shoulders." Everyone immediately tensed up while an expression of pure wrath covered the duchess'' face. She was about to attack, disregarding her own safety, when Duke Ashburn stopped her by immediately holding his gold leaf trimmed spear, currently crackling with sparks of lightning, in her path. The duke had his own considerations and found this to be a prime opportunity to secure them "What do you want?" Earl Housen watched all of this from the side with an amused expression. Despite the tensions and anger within the confrontation, he felt like he was watching a y. Styx had already considered several demands which were within the range of what would be eptable for the return of one member of the kingdom''s nobility. "Just two insignificant things. First, I want diplomatic immunity for anything that urs within the dungeon and areas within the Abyssal Forest." "Very well. It is already a forbidden zone, I can request an exemption from the capital, but I cannot guarantee they will grant it. What is the second demand?" "I want a trade route connecting the city to here. Not just a path, but an officiated trade route with endorsements by the local cities." "You want bring merchants into your dungeon?" "No," Styx indicated to the several pirs being constructed outside the dungeon. "I will be constructing a town here shortly, just outside the dungeon. It will be an enforced peace zone." "Very well, I can grant that. It will take time to construct a road here though." Styx felt that this negotiation was going far too smoothly, as did the duchess, earl, and high priest. Everyone looked the duke with curious and somewhat enraged emotions. "However, you must fulfil a requirement of my own." "What is your demand?" "My son." "What?" "Gabralter Ashburn, who your elf has been getting far too close to recently." "I seem to recall that he was the one chasing after her." "I don''t know what spell you cast on him, but it is obvious you are manipting things somehow." "I''m afraid I ampletely lost on what you are insinuating. I am just as curious on how I am doing that as you are. Regardless, what do you want?" "I want your guarantee that you will keep your elf away from him, stop whatever maniption you are doing, and make a vow that you will never target nor take his life." Styx didn''t see any issue with this and immediately nodded. "Very well, consider it done. Until my demands are met though, the duchess'' daughter stays with me," Styx said while once again making the hand gesture of preparing to snap his fingers. Duchess Euklid was once more stopped by Duke Ashburn, the former sending thetter a look of pure wrath that bordered insanity. ~~~~~ With the situation seemingly on the way to being diffused, the army began to retreat while the duchess berated the duke with every kind of insult she could imagine. "Calm yourself, Duchess Euklid," Duke Ashburn cated the enraged noblewoman. "Her safety is assured and we will have her returned soon enough." "We should have just killed them and be done with it." "That Monster Lord would have killed us all, and we both know that the goddess most likely won''t descend to save a couple nobles. To enact retribution maybe, but you wouldn''t get your daughter back that way." "I know, but" The duchess took out her anger and frustration on a passing tree as she backhanded it, causing it to explode in a shower of splinters and leaves. None of the soldiers who were covered in the wood fragments daredin and continued marching in a uniform formation. Earl Vermonte bon Housen, whom had remained silent for most of the journey, finally spoke up while pinching his chin in thought. "I think you all are missing some more crucial information points. From the words that man called Styx said, he isn''t just some representative, but the dungeon lord himself." The High Priest of Eve rolled his eyes and responded, "I think we all understood that, or it could be a deliberate deflection for the dungeon lord to keep themselves safe." "I am confident in my judgement, old fogy. What I am pointing out though, is that he is only at the First Step. Forget everything else, how does one who is so week make a Monster Lord act so docilely before them? That female monster didn''t say so much as a peep, and I would think she was mute if she were an ordinary woman." "Not just that, but a devil bee swarm and hordes of monsters. How and why do they all follow his orders?" Everyone fell deep in thought over these questions, especially the questioner, the earl, himself. ~~~~~ Deep inside of the dungeon, Kale and ir were sitting with Reba while enjoyingrge tes of mana rich food. "You''re quite lucky, you know," Kale jovially said to the duchess'' daughter while giggling. "Eh, what? Why?" Completely confused as to why she received a suddenpliment from the dark elf, she looked between the two of them as if to discover the answer. Kale merely cut off a fresh slice of meat, covered in gravy, with a long curved dagger and happily shoved it in her mouth. "Oh, no reason~" Chapter 83: Rules of Regression Chapter 83: Rules of Regression The same night that Styx had entered an agreement with the local dungeon city and Duke Ashburn, Therina entered the dream realm and navigated through the chaotic world where distance and scale did not make sense. Gabralter was dreaming a peaceful dream, a sharp contrast from his usual nights of war and death. Despite the heavy, war torn armor he wore, he calmly floated upon an ocean the ebbed and flowed with the tide, serene blue except for where hey. Around Gabralter''s body, crimson blood stained the water a dark red. As the tide moved, a trail of this blood streamed along with the current to the distant horizon, where a giant horned skull of a demon protruded from the ocean. Gabralter still had the ck cloth blindfold over his face and odd translucent golden cor. He was unable to see any of these scenes around him, merely gazing up into slow moving pure white clouds above. Therina walked atop the ocean as if it were solid ground, standing directly above him. "How did you know me?" The floating man was in a state of lull, furtherpliant as Therina''s desires altered the world around them slightly to create a calming atmosphere. "You saved my life." "When?" "Next year, when the bnce between our kingdom and the Neth''rite Demon Kingdom copses due to the sudden demon offensive that pierced through the southernnds of the kingdom." "How could you know of this?" "Because I lived through it." Therina continued a calm series of questions, some Styx directing her to ask, as he exined his experiences of living through several timelines. The duke knew of this too, and apparently he had died in every timeline. Getting the information required, Therina turned around and directly left the dream realm, returning to the dungeon''s throne room where Styx sat slumped to the side, elbow on the stone armrest and chin on hand. Therina calmly walked up and brushed aside the straight, long ck hair which covered one side of his face. "What do you think?" She asked while sitting sideways across hisp and wrapping her arms around him. Styx appeared to break out of his thoughts while briefly nodding his head. "It isn''tpletely unbelievable, the question lies on how and why. Is it a twist of fate, or is it by intervention?" "Can we find out?" "No. The same way we have no means to discover whether my life resurfacing was the same." Therina nodded her head silently and kissed Styx on the cheek several times until the dungeon turned his head and kissed her back. "What is your take on his appearance in his dreams?" "I don''t know, the feelings I get are odd. Most cannot be expressed in words and are simr to intuition. I feel like he is misguided." "Blind to whatys before him, chained to fate itself." "He knows many things, some of which he hasn''t released into the kingdom''s media channels yet. What should we do?" "I promised not to target his life, and I will abide to that. But if an ident or ident outside of my control happened, then that isn''t my fault. You also cannot approach him in public or deliberately ce yourself in a position for him to find you" Therina giggled and revealed a sly grin on the corner of her mouth. "So, keep everything in the dream realm?" "Correct." "I am curious about something though." "What is it?" "He is a regressor, someone that whenever is killed, simply gets reborn in the past. Can someone like that truly be killed. Perhaps with a soulium weapon?" "It is possible but depends entirely on how his regression works. Are you familiar with the infinite multiverse school of thought?" "The what?" "It is a school of thought which originated from the world I originated from, but I had thought this world would also explore the concept of parallel universes. Perhaps the researchers do and higher stage civilisations have better information though." "" "It exins that our reality is defined by our perception, but there are an infinite number of reflections of our own universe taking ce at the same time and in the same space. It is a difficult thing toprehend, so I will simplify it for you. You are standing before two doors, both looking exactly the same, both of which you do not know what is behind. Do you walk through the door on the left, or the door on the right?" "The door on the left?" "Why?" "Because I have to choose one, right?" "Yes, but there is a chance you could have walked through the door on the right, correct?" "I suppose so." "And this is where the theory branches off. You didn''t just walk through one door, you walked through both. Let''s say there was a knife behind the door on the left which stabbed and killed you. You are still technically still alive, but your perception is now that you chose and walked through the door on the right, and you never chose the door on the left. This is because the entity known as ''you'' are still alive." "I don''t understand," Therina shook her head helplessly in confusion. "What I am pointing at, is that this is the core of how regression functions. The you that walked through the door on the left was killed, while the you that walked through the door on the right lived and continued on. The only difference is that there is an information channel that crosses over and passes knowledge and memories from the experience of going through the door on the left, to the version of you that went through the door on the right." "I think I understand, but why does he go back in time then? Shouldn''t the world around him appear to change then?" "Technically, he isn''t. The infinite universe school of thought is about the concept of infinite realities unfolding with every action you take, expanding at an infinite exponential. The scale of it is simply beyond mortalprehension. Time is something that is absolute in rtivity. If he were to live for a single year a hundred times in a row, a hundred years have still passed. It may appear to be a repeat of the same frame of time repeating itself, but that is not the case." "Is there any evidence of this though?" "It was always an impossible theory to solve because it was beyond our capabilities to measure or test, but evidence suggested it was true, or somewhat in the right direction. During my final times in my previous life, studies were being made of a substance known as dark matter within the universe." "Dark matter puzzled people for millennia. It was a substance that permeated the entire universe, and there was at least five times as much of this dark matter than there was standard matter. It exerted a gravitation influence which was crucial for the universe, yet nobody could see nor find any of it." "It was like matter should have been there, but it simply wasn''t. This was because it was actually matter from bordering realities which were close enough to our current perception of reality that its gravitational influence on space and time bridged that infinitely small film between realities and exerted its influence in our own universe." "I see." "You don''t understand any of this, do you?" Therina giggled sheepishly and rubbed her cheek against Styx''s own intimately. "Anyway, this means that we could simply kill him and be done with it. In our current reality, he would for all intents and purposes be dead. He would learn and grow though, killing other versions of me which would make killing him a self-destructive action if done actively." "What should we do, then?" "Gabralter said this was his fourth timeline, right?" "Yes?" "That is merely his perception. What if we influenced things so that he thought this was his third time through?" "!!" "Now you are understanding. Your abilities are key to this, but his dreamself is blindfolded, right?" "And I could have done that!" "Correct, which means that this is likely not his fourth time through, nor our first time having this conversation." "Doesn''t that mean we have to directly manipte and kill him, then?" "If we wish to maintain the current status quo, yes. There is undoubtably conflict between him and us in previous timelines, which is carrying forth. The best way to deal with such a person would be to force them to undergo controlled regression. As their time continues to increase, their mind and soul would be more and more worn out, eventually breaking down entirely and ending the regression cycle." "That would break the agreement." "We would need a method that keeps us out of it. For now, just keep training your skills rted to the dream realm. A truly difficult situation where our hands are currently tied." Therina leaned her head against Styx''s shoulder while thinking about her abilities. They were still new to her, and she had a lot to learn about them. Chapter 84: The Great Shaft Chapter 84: The Great Shaft A week passed since the agreement between Styx and Duke Ashburn but Reba Euklid was still held captive by the dungeon until the dukepleted his end of the bargain. Reba was more ustomed to dungeon life now and was capable of keeping herself busy independently. The town where she spent most of the day had grownrger andrger every day. Large, extravagant tudor style houses were built at a rate which she found astonishing. There were also several "long" style houses which were filled with apartments, one of which she had managed to im as hers. "Wee, human prisoner," A grizzly haired old male tiger beastman said while tending the shop of food supplies. "What do you want today?" The tiger beastman didn''t mean any offence nor did he look down upon her, it was just her current nickname going around the dungeon currently. She was certain that if she was no longer a prisoner, that nickname would change to ''former human prisoner''. "Good morning." Reba grabbed one of the hand baskets beside the entrance and filled it with a bag of mara rice, pre packaged meat, dungeon vegetables and a few other mana rich food products. As she unpacked the basket at the front counter, the old tiger beastman raised his brow while looking at herrge chest. "You look like you could support arge family of cubs, have you met my son before?" Reba scoffed while sticking her bountiful chest out and rebutted, "Your son won''t be touching them." "Oh, so it is reserved for the Great Dungeon Lord Who Rules Monster Lords. He will not be too disappointed then." "That is not happening either!" The old beastman indicated towards the array on the counter which lit up as soon as Reba hovered her hand above it. Several numbers floated above her hand, which were her current mana toxicity and mana density consumption limit, which Styx created to evaluate people''s intake of food and ensure nobody at more than their body could process and got mana poisoning. The old beastman pulled out a piece of paper and doublechecked the values on it along with Reba''s shopping with brows scrunched in focus. He then nodded to her before saying his farewell greetings. "Let me know if you are ready to have cubs, my son will make a great prime of the family." Reba said a brief farewell before leaving the store and returning to the freshly paved street and footpath. She nced at arge poster on the side of the building which was a notice to all the residents. "Do you need help reading it?" A human adventurer sat to the side, helping any resident who didn''t know elvish read it, mainly the tiger beastmen. Many could speak elvish, but very few could read it. "I can read it," Reba said, ncing over the poster with arge picture of a dungeon mining monster. Dungeon Notice We are currently in dire need of more miners for the great dig. Help the great dungeon in its expansion project and choose to give birth to miners for the next week. All residents are encouraged to ensure they pay attention to their health and make sure you have it inspected if you are feeling weak or ill. Come inspect the great chasm currently in construction on the thirdyer, just passed the night training grounds and tree nursery. ''What is this?'' Reba''s eyes widened in surprise, wondering what Styx was creating now. She had glimpsed the material refining and construction facilities more recently and knew the dungeon lord created some veryplex and extravagant things. She nced around the street and saw a lot of female tiger beastman and dark elves with swelling stomachs, impregnated by Styx''s breeders. She had never witnessed one of those working before, but she had heard gossip between the dark elves praising its size and range of techniques. A conversation she blushed deep crimson over and hurriedly left the area. The noted location was about an hour away, but Reba had little to do for the rest of the day, so after returning home to ce the food in the ice cupboard Styx called a fridge, she headed out and joined a group of young beastman to go investigate the new dig. ~~~~~ Styx stood on a wooden balcony above a giant circr chasm about 200 meters in diameter in the ground. This was the great chasm that was mentioned on the dungeon notice. The chasm was already about 40 meters deep, whilst over a thousand of miners constantly increased that depth. Beside him stood Aura, who was holding a pot nt in her hand that had arge, violet flower that had glowing, pulsating blue veins across the flower petals. "How is it?" Styx asked Aura, who was currently feeding the flower her mana. "It takes as much as I give. No problem." Aura had a look of pride that she could continue feeding the flower mana for days on end with her enormous mana pool, but Styx rolled his eyes. "I just need to make sure it won''t strangle itself, this flower is thetest creation, and has the harshest requirements for living." This flower, known as a mana eaters, sucked up as much mana as it could through its roots, nourishing itself and spitting out the rest into the air. Styx filled its manawork with his mana tendrils and inspected everything to make sure there was no damage. When they flower was in an area without enough mana, the suction power originating from its pseudo manawork caused the mana channels to shrivel in on themselves and the flower to inadvertently wither away. Styx could mana vein creation to further alter these and solve that issue, but he needed the flower to function in this way for the current project. Whilst the flower couldn''t be nted in the existing areas of the dungeon, if he were to dig down far enough into the earth, the mana density of the ground would be more than sufficient to support them. This chasm was for that purpose, and would allow the mass harvesting of mana from deeper in the earth. It was a giant reactor designed for resolving the issue of ambient mana deficiency in the dungeon, especially Styx''s factories. A bunch of elves, both light and dark, along with tiger beastmen of all ages visited the chasm and looked into it curiously from therge balcony walkway that Styx created around the outside. In order to give it more visual appeal, Styx created special arrays in the ceiling, which would periodically drop light bulbs of all colors into the chasm like a multi-colored rainbow of lights. "Styx, here you are. Would you exin this construction to the children?" Rhea, who was now fulfilling the role of a full time teacher despite her pregnancy, lead a ssroom of juvenile elves and tiger beastman cubs into the area as a sort of field trip. Piri, who was just reaching her growth spurt, ran out from the crown despite Rhea''s protests and wrapped her arms around Styx''s waist. "Will you tell me how the mana reactor works, pleeaase~" Piri showed Styx puppy dog eyes while pleading, but the dungeon avatar was unperturbed by her wiles. He was happy to tell them regardless, which is why Rhea brought them over. She didn''t understand the construction, so naturally couldn''t teach the children about it. Styx calmly and steadily exined the use of the mana eater flowers to grow deep in the earth, while other giant ring like structures would form a mana tunnel that would draw out all that mana and distribute it throughout the dungeon. This mana tunnel would be isted and controlled within the shaft by the control rings, so living spaces, passages and other areas could be built along the walls. It would be a different kind of environment from the rest of the dungeon, but there are species who likely prefer those conditions. Piri squeezed Styx one more time before running back to the ss and re-joining her friends. The three ves had been delegated carrying her items, while others also often deferred to her due to her being their dungeon senior and apparent future dungeon wife. The only person who was capable of reigning in Piri''s queen like attitude among the children was Rhea or the dungeon wives, who she always turned timid and subservient before. The tiger beastman children were much more sensitive than the elves, so they all picked up on Aura''s presence more sharply than the others and walked around with their ears t and tails tucked in between their legs. Without any warning, Aura abruptly vanished while Styx''s eyes opened wide in shock. "Well, students, it is best you all return to your ssroom for today." Right as Styx finished speaking, the entire dungeon shook and dust fell from the ceiling. Many of the weaker visitors of the core shaft panicked in fear of falling, but the railing and walkway were reinforced with array and held solid, protecting everyone and preventing any idents. ~~~~~ At the entrance of the dungeon, a white haired middle aged man with white cat''s eye pupils appeared out of a tear in space. Detecting the intruder first, Aura appeared before he even finished walking out of the space tear with the mana eater pot nt still in her hand, a low and deep growl that made the air and stone walls vibrate emitted from her. "Are you picking a fight, Wolf?" The man asked in a slovenly tone before casually checking his white suit to ensure there were no blemishes on it. "Go home." "Is that any way to treat a visitor? I came to inspect your new home ahead of the others. You have avoided divine retribution once again which is honestly quite astounding. Seriously, what is your luck value, Wolf?" "Go home." Aura''s nails and teeth grew longer as she prepared to attack. She knew that she couldn''t defeat the existence in front of her, but she felt confidence in at least driving him away. The man in the white suit sighed to himself while nonchntly stating with disinterest, "You are still as rude as ever, and so quick to attack. Isn''t this what lead to Spider hating you so much?" Aura didn''t respond any further and attacked. Space ruptured and the world flickered like an old movie as the dungeon entrance expanded infinitely in size. A set of world severing violet ws the size of mountains came crashing down upon the man. Despite the attacking in approximately a microsecond, space around the man bent and caused the attack to slip past him before he grabbed the wolf eared woman by the throat and mmed her into the ground with a force that shattered the world around them. The ground, walls and ceiling exploded in a shockwave of dust while space itself screamed under the pressure, evening unravelled in several small points at the epicentre of the explosion and release chaotic energies before rapidly repairing themselves. The entire dungeon shook and received damage to various degrees. Aura was on the ground but appeared unharmed overall. Her clothes were in tatters, but her body almost instantly healed any damage. She used her ws to try and rip off the hand holding her neck, the ws glowing in a violet light which would tear not just flesh but the soul as well. Seeing this, the white eyed man opened his mouth far more than seemed possible before billowing out a gigantice wave of silver me directly into Aura''s face which covered her entire body. The heat of the me was so great that the ground didn''t even turn to molten g and directly evaporated. The issue was the heat also destroyed the clothes of both Aura and his own "Tch," the man clicked his tongue before vanishing and reappearing in a fresh white suit. "Human clothes are far too fragile. A little bit of heat that they are gone." Aura didn''t share the same fire resistance the man did and was burned ck from the attack. The burnt charcoal quickly peeled off her body, revealing pristine skin and a figure that made Styx instantly enter heat. Despite the rapid healing to a seemingly perfect condition, Aura had taken a significant amount of damage from thatst attack, which Styx could feel through their bond. The man appeared to not be here to attack or destroy the dungeon, so Styx immediately called Aura back. The damage to the dungeon from them fighting was already significant, and he could see the structure of the earth had weakened too and would need manually reinforcing. If they continued to fight, he feared the dungeon may simply copse on itself, which would be devastating. Chapter 85: Dragon, Salamander Chapter 85: Dragon, Smander Aura appeared beside Styx who was still standing on the boardwalk above the great shaft excavation, a dark expression marring her beautiful face. "Go home an immediately get some clothes," Styx demanded sharply at the still naked wolf girl. Any other time he would take the chance to appreciate her wless body, even trying to take advantage of her, but they were currently in a very public location and he didn''t want any of his women exposing themselves so openly. Aura had a look of shock and anger on her face as she also realized the direness of her predicament. She immediately vanished and Styx saw he violently throwing around clothes in his house. He felt the veins in his temple throb however, as the clothes which wereunched were also torn into tatters. "Stop destroying the clothes!" Styx shouted into the wolf eared woman''s head, causing her tail to flinch and immediately take more care in sifting through not just her clothes, but those of the other girls too. She quickly located and wore a brown sweater that clung to her figure and a ck skirt. Styx had tried getting her to wear pants before, but she didn''t like how it felt on her tail. Beatrice hadpleted stockings and pants to amodate her tail, but the same problem prevailed and she wouldn''t wear them unless forced to. Right as she reappeared beside Styx, the space beside them split in a vertical line as if it was the most natural thing in the world. From the paper thin slit in space walked the white haired man who had nearly destroyed the dungeon with a single attack of repelling Aura. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance," The man nomittedly bowed to Styx like a butler, one arm across his waist and the other behind him. Aura growled once again at the man, but Styx grabbed her by the hair and pulled her into his embrace. "The polite thing to do is introduce yourself first." "Oh, my apologies," Styx was having trouble reading this man who spoke in a tone that held no sincerity, yet held no sarcasm either. "I was just so impressed on how you managed to tame this wild wolf that had always simply done its own thing. You can call me Dragon." "I take it that you are actually a dragon?" Styx narrowed his eyes while inspecting this strange Monster Lord while Aura spoke while growling. "Smander." "What?" "He is a smander." "You arrogant mutt! Are you trying to enrage me!?" Space immediately solidified as the Monster Lord unleashed his power in wrath. Aura flinched, but managed to withstand it while stating, "Your wings are fake. You don''t use them to fly." The white haired Monster Lord''s anger reached all new heights, but he quickly noticed the effect he was causing on the surroundings before letting out a breath of air so hot the air distorted and screamed in protest. "As you can see, this dog is not very good at getting along with others," He stated while releasing Styx and the other observers whom were watching from the side. "Let''s change locations," Styxmented before leading away the two Monster Lords, Fiore and Elena trailing them from a distance out of concern. ~~~~~ A small pic table was set up in arge farm area. Blue tipped mana grass covered the hilly ground while step upyers of mana rice paddies were off to the side. Elves and tiger beastmen worked in conjunction with monsters under Styx''s control to tend to the giant area of fields. There were a couple ofrge windmills for grinding up grains as well. There was no wind within the dungeon, but Styx had covered the windmill des with enchantments and arrays to have them catch the passing mana. As mana was produced by the flowers and naturally flowed from the highest to lowest density area, this intangible draft was not only absorbed by the windmills and fed into its internal mana lines, but also caused them to slowly turn. Each had a giant mana driven grindstone that fed off the windmill''s mana supply. They also had other facilities inside of them such as some living quarters, a lot of stabilized expanded storage space, and mana powered machines for other food processing requirements. Styx had recently introduced a day and night cycle within the dungeon, imitating the time outside. A giant array with glyphs of the moon and stars andplex astological forme drifted across the ceiling and created an artificial sun, while another travelled during night and produced a fake moon. The artificial sun was currently hanging low over a giant stone bridge which travelled around the dungeon in a maze as the upperyer of the first floor. Styx had tried to emte a real sun with this project, but it had been unable to support normal nt life underground. Fiore and Elena had kept their distance until Styx mentally ordered them to produce tea and some biscuits to cate Aura somewhat. They quickly brought out three delicate teacups and a steaming pot of tea grown locally and extremely rich in mana. What would have been poisonous to a standard First or even Second Step ranker, the white haired Monster Lord in human form casually picked up and drank a third of the cup in one mouthful. "Delicious," He said with a deadpan and seemingly disinterested expression. "I will take some back with me." Aura was about to spark up again so Styx pulled her over so her head was lying in hisp and ran his fingers through her hair while asionally feeding her a biscuit. Pleased by the intimacy, her tail curled around his waist while her body rxed. The dragon, or smander, Monster Lord finally had a change of impression as his eyebrows rose in surprise. "Just like Aura, you don''t have an actual name?" "I am just Dragon." "Very well, Dragon. Why did youe to my dungeon all of a sudden?" "Out of curiosity and desire." "Can you exin better than that?" Dragon finished his tea while Fiore quickly refilled it before moving back to wait off to the side. He paused and nkly stared at Styx, asionally tilting his head and tasting the air with a forked tongue before nodding his head. "I am curious about why Wolf liked this ce so much to make it her new home. I am also curious why your dungeon is so sessful. Watching this dungeon grow and create an internal ecosystem for life, I wanted to make my own." "And did you?" "Yes. There are a lot of dungeons within the Abyssal Forest, even in my territory alone. I conquered several and found one of them has what appears to be a B-Rank dungeon core. I started my own dungeon and even dug it out personally." "Are you a mole now?" A cold voice sounded from Styx''sp as the wolf-eared woman didn''t miss the opportunity to make a cheap, sharpment at the other Monster Lord. Styx wanted toin and teach her that when someone is clearly stronger than you, not to antagonize them, but the visiting Monster Lord was only angry for a brief moment before he controlled his emotions. "I have had monsters and forced some rare exotic races to live in there, but I constantly need to stop fights and provide food for them, both monsters and exotic races. Here, you have built a huge number of odd and grand constructions. I want to learn how to make them and replicate them in my own dungeon. I also want these flowers and other items." Styx didn''t think this Monster Lord was unreasonable, but he felt an intangible pressure on his existence to give him whatever he wanted even though he was retraining his aura as much as possible. Aura''s presence managed to offset that enough for him to control himself not to simply give his stuff away. "Then you need to be able tomunicate and or train the monsters. They also need to be able to hunt for food." "You provide food for yours." "They aren''t your typical monsters, but bred monsters belonging to myself." "Yes, I have produced some through the dungeon with the exotic races, but none as interesting as yours and they can only produce so many monsters." Styx had a difficult expression and exined the issues revolving breeding and how he counteracts that damage done to the womb with controlled or self healing. Dragon nodded his head several times, instantly understanding what Styx meant as he too could see mana, a skill natural to Fifth Step existences. "I can''t just give you my knowledge though, which is extremely valuable. What do you have to trade for items though?" "What items will you trade?" Dragon turned his head and looked around with his white reptilian eyes, his gaze prating through space and time as he inspected everything within the dungeon. "I can trade flowers, manufacturing machines and belts, refined ores or finished products. Food grains and seeds when avable. Anything I can produce." Dragon still appeared disinterested while casually asking, "What is the price?" Styx had an annoyed and slightly afraid Rhea bring over paper and ink. He grabbed a quill and rapidly drew out each item alongside a numeric value. He blew on the paper to dry the ink before handing it over to the Monster Lord. "We will work on a credit system. These are the values for each item I have, you can produce items of your own and we will negotiate on their value inparison." "How much for an individual of an exotic race?" "It would depend on their strength, gender, and race." "How much for protection?" Dragon suddenly asked as his forked tongue flickered in the air several times. "What?" "If I protect you and your dungeon, how much is that worth?" "I''m not sure. Do you mean as a permanent guard? Do you wish to sell yourself?" "No. I mean protect you when other Monster Lordse to make trouble. The threat of the goddess descending appears to have passed, so they will not stand back forever." Styx seemed to understand what he meant. He was offering to ce the dungeon under his sphere of protection, so if another Monster Lord was to attack, he would stand forth to stop them. "Unnecessary," Aura red at Dragon while growling, causing the ground to quake as she did so. Dragon waspletely unfazed as he casually said, "What can the weakest possibly protect?" Styx cleared his throat and went straight to the essence of the offer "Will the other Monster Lords simply attack?" "There is one who will." "The spider" Styx sighed while thinking of the mentioned Monster Lord who seemed to have a vendetta against Aura. "Correct." "How long do I have?" "Until she attacks? She is already here. Has been for a while." Whilst Dragon appeared uninterested and was mentioning it in passing, Aura''s ears immediately shot up and she vanished from Styx''sp, reappearing in the middle of an open in whilst ring all around, her abyssal ck eyes taking on a violet hue as she entered full attack mode. Aura''s power washed over the dungeon and caused everyone to be incapable of breathing. There was some panic, but most of the residents were used to sudden shifts in the atmosphere and managed to quickly adapt whilst looking for the nearest shelter. Dragon casually waved his hand and suppressed that aura around the wolf-eared woman. "How much do you want?" "Five thousand credits." "Five thousand?" Styx thought of the list and whilst that was a decent amount of items, it was actually very cheap to have this Monster Lord be a protective shield for his dungeon. He would also have to rely on Styx for producing most of his items, which would only be more apparent as he created more and more advanced items alongside his research. "Per month." This was a lot more, but still within Styx''s eptable range as more advanced items would be increasing in cost. He wasn''t worried that by assigning a value to items it would force people into a sense of personal ownership that would lead to hording and potential exploitation. This was only a value for trading with external people. "I agree. I will have a formal agreement immediately drawn up." Beatrice, who was busy reading through whilst trying to understand some middle grade magic theory books raised her brow as Styx ordered her to write up the agreement. She, along with everyone else, already knew of the visiting Monster Lord, but she hadn''t thought there would be an agreement between them and Styx, especially not so soon. Chapter 86: Arachne Chapter 86: Arachne Dragon immediately acted upon the agreement being made, reaching out and transforming his finger into a w before plucking the air. A spider string made of space itself vibrated before snapping in two, much to Styx''s astonishment as he never even detected anything as being there before. Half of the torn string broke down and turned into ordinary space, while other half whipped through the air like a snapped bowstring and sliced through anything it passed through. Everyone ducked for cover as the space string soundlessly passed through a tree and left a paper-thin cut deep into the earth. A screeching voice was heard as an Arachne with a human torso and head on a spider body revealed herself. She stood about four meters tall, and this was her polymorphed form instead of the guant spider she usually was. She screamed in anger, her bare, exposed giant breasts swinging as she did so. Dragon nkly stared at her as she already knew his intention, while Auraunched a sneak attack on the giant Arachne. The world twisted and turned as giant phantasmal ws left violet shards through the air as they struck at the Arachne''s abdomen. Despite being a sneak attack form a supposed blind location, Aura''s attack was caught and slowed down by multipleyers of previously invisible webs. The Arachne was further enraged and hundreds of small purple arrays formed up in the air above them. A giant tornado of mana unlike anything Styx or his women had ever seen was spinning around the Arachne as she fueled those magic arrays, each producing poison so powerful the air sizzled and burned. Before the deadly poison could rain down, Dragon appeared beside the two female Monster Lords and forcefully broke apart the fight. His leg connected with Aura''s abdomen and she immediately went flying, skipping over and tearing apart the ground several times like a stone skipping on water before crashing into the wall in the distance and sending cracks all the way up to the ceiling. The Arachne screeched and tried to attack with her razor sharp serrated legs, but he deflected one leg, crushed another, and unleashed a barrage of blows that broke and crippled her body. Just like Aura, the Arachne recovered instantly and continued attacking. The human body grabbed with her hands in thin air and reveal a spatial string of atom splitting webbing which was wrapped tightly around Dragon''s neck. Silver blood flowed out of his neck as he quickly grabbed and cut the rope before instantly healing the damage. He was about to breath out a breath of silver mes when Aura re-entered the fray, dashing on all fours and tearing apart the ground with each bound. She struck from below, her long hair flowing as she tore off all the legs from one side of the Arachne''s body while also gouging into its side with glowing ws. The Arachne screeched and rapidly regrew its legs. She vomited out arge amount of pure white spider silk, each thread hardening into barb tipped spears that she threw with full force as the wolf-eared woman. Dragon intercepted again, burning the spears to ash with his silver mes before striking an explosive blow on the Arachne''s abdomen that sent violet, poisonous blood everywhere. The Arachne knew she was at a disadvantage and red at everyone present with a hate filled gaze before retreating. Her webs broke through reality and created a path through subspace, where she immediately crawled into, her crimson, wrath filled gaze the final thing visible before the hole in space vanished. "Spider shouldn''t be back for a while," Dragon said insincerely, making Styx once again question his integrity due to an apparentck of using the proper tones. The Monster Lord chose a handful of refiners and various other machines worth 5,000 credits in total, leaving Styx only able to sigh and tell him toe back in three days when they are all prepared. Styx was currently busy repairing and reinforcing the substructure of the dungeon, which had been severely damaged from the battle of Monster Lords. All the women of the dungeon were informed of the event and that it was over, so everyone quickly went to making repairs and a list of items that had fallen off shelves and needed recing. Styx gazed at the destroyed ground, several ces where all the grass, flowers and trees had turned grey and were slowly crumbling into ash. This wasn''t from fire, but the Arachne''s poison that eradicated all life. These areas were still potent, so Styx cordoned them off for the time being until he could find a way to negate the poison or move it somewhere outside of the dungeon. "Aura,e here." The wolf-eared woman who was still in battle mode quickly moved back to her position beside Styx, although the table had been cut in half by one of the Arachne''s stray threads passing through it. He inspected her waist, which had suffered a gash from one of the Arachne''s legs and was heavily inmed. Given how potent the poison was, it appeared like it barely did any damage. Styx knew better though, as the sole fact that Aura was having difficulty healing meant it was even more frightening than he could imagine. "Does it hurt?" He asked while not daring to touch the wound, which would most likely immediately kill his avatar. "A little. It will heal." Styx sighed and nodded his head, leaving her to go eat some spirituals fruits from her stash that she hid and protected behind a phantasmal barrier in Styx''s home, not that any of the girls would try steal them anyway. ~~~~~ Several days had passed and the dungeon substructure had been repaired. Styx even reinforced several core parts of it with giant pirs of obsidum, making it stronger than ever but also draining his stock of the extremely strong metal. The Obelyon Mana Gauss Cannon which was installed in his throne room also had a track installed in a special tunnel in the ceiling. This allowed the cannon to be quickly moved to other important areas of the dungeon should it be required. "You are quite eager this morning," Styx grinned as a naked Irie straddled him, her hands on his chest and hips grinding against his. His penis hadn''t been inserted yet, but the horny woman grinded her pink slit up and down the shaft, rubbing her clitoris against his stick vigorously. "I can''t help myself, it just feels too good." Irie had arrived at the dungeon with several wagons full of goods from thepany''s warehouses alongside several loyal people to join the dungeon. They wereplicit in the murders she made in the city as she fled and had nowhere else to go to other than being ouws. All the people she held captive had been buried in an unnamed plot ofnd in between Lagoon Porter City and the dungeon. Ever since she had arrived and permanently moved into the dungeon, she had taken any chance she had to have sex with Styx during this honeymoon period. With enough fluid coating Styx''s meat stick, Irie raised her hips and held it in ce as she pressed it into her wet meat hole. Irie let her body weight do the work as she sunk down and swallowed up the entire pole inch by inch, ending up with her hips pressed firmly against his with her vaginal lips tightly wrapped around the base of his shaft. Styx let her have her way, only slightly raising his hips in rhythm with her movements. She grinded her hips back and forth while moaning loudly, waking up Beatrice who had been up all night making new clothes for Aura. Beatrice grumbled lightly and held onto Styx, who was grasping onto Irie''s giant, swaying tits. Irie leaned down over Styx and pressed her lips over his while raising her waist before mming them down again. Despite the awkard position of Beatrice hugging him from the side, entangling her legs with his and Irie''s, Styx wrapped one hand around Irie''s waist and pulled her down on him while using his legs to thrust his penis all the way inside her repetitively. "Haah~~ Nghhhh~ Harder~~~" Styx''s thick phallus pushed through her slippery vaginal walls as they tried to grab onto his rod and squeeze out the seed within. Irie''s vagina convulsed and tightened as Styx pushed up against the entrance of her womb, the head of his penis forcing open the seal and slightly poking into it. Her legs quivered and Styx held nothing back as he unleashed a thick load of dungeon seed, painting the inside of her womb white. [ Insemination begun. Please select seed to imnt: 3x Miners Burden (1) 1h incubation 2x Gnome Burden (1) 1h incubation 1x Goblin Burden (2) 2h incubation 1x Earth Ripper Burden (3) 2h incubation 2x Goblin Burden (3) 3h incubation 1x Ravager Burden (4) 4h incubation 2x Earth Ripper Burden (5) 6h incubation 1x Goblin Mage Burden (6) 5h incubation 1x de Ravager Burden (8) 11h incubation 1x Assassinator Burden (10) 11h incubation 1x Shapeshifter Burden (13) 11h incubation 1x Creeping Man-Eater Burden (15) 11h incubation 1x Gargoyle Burden (17) 11h incubation 1x Walking Armor Burden (18) 11h incubation ] [ 3x Miners selected Incubation 59:57 ] Beatrice wasn''t even fazed by the stench of sex in the room so long as she could continue hugging Styx. Iriey on top of the dungeon lord, his semiid penis still plugging her lower mouth as she convulsed periodically and massaged it in her inner folds. She closed her eyes and proceeding to rest in this position until it was time to give birth. The three tangled together in bliss, legs entangled and body warmth being shared. Chapter 87: Defiance Chapter 87: Defiance Gabralter stood at the head of a foray of adventurers who he had convinced to join his cause, although the greatest driving factor had been the desire to capture a dungeon core and live the rest of their livesvishly with more money than they could spend. Ever since the mutual agreement was struck between the dungeon and Duke Ashburn, the bounty on the dungeon at the adventurer''s and mercenary''s guilds had been taken down. Instead, there had been rumors of a trade route opening to the dungeon, or a town being constructed outside of it, where specialized items could be acquired. The dungeon was still open to any willing fortune seeker, and rumors of exotic and expensive items being found within only stimted people''s greed. Duke Ashburn had forbidden Gabralter from going near the dungeon, but he was bing more obsessed recently. He snuck outside the city through a secret passage in the city walls in the slums and met with his employed team of four adventurers outside. "Is everyone aware of the goal of today''s dungeon raid?" The adventurers looked at each other uncertainly. "To kill the dungeon monsters and extract any prisoners, right?" "Correct." "I hear that all of the prisoners are beautiful women." "And that the weapons made there of a higher quality than anywhere else." Gabralter sighed and ignored their hidden motives so long as they did what he was paying them a veryrge amount for. Once they entered the Abyssal Forest, the sounds of birds chirping and animal sprinting around the undergrowth became more pronounced. Despite the foreboding name of the forbidden area, it was teeming with life. Everyone remained alert as monsters could jump out at any time despite the thinning out of monsters in this area over the past few months. The passed by several groups of elves and tiger beastmen, whom barely nced at them as they passed by the underbrush and treetops overhead. The eventually came to the giant cliff face where the entrance to the famous dungeon was located. A giant, menacing temple entrance had been built around the entrance of the dungeon on the cliff, a giant stone sculpture of a monster with humongous tentacles perched on top of it. Buildings and houses and been constructed in the ever growing town, beautiful constructions of stone, wood and colored mortar. Several merchants had braved the rough terrain and brought heavy duty carts to scout and trade with the residents of this town, who were well known to actually be residents of the dungeon. Several beautiful elves with their husbands manned the shops, inspecting the coin and gems of the merchants who wished to buy exotic ores, grains and devices, although the amount they could purchase was currently limited due to output restriction. Just outside of the city, and on each of the buildings, which were written in elvish and human and read: Monsters are the guards of this town, attacking them outside of the dungeon is forbidden "What is this?!" The adventurers were wide eyed at the forming town and beautiful elves manning stores. They saw the signs and looked at the exotic monsters which openly walked through the budding town. Strange monsters they had never seen before pulled carts full of items and refined ores, while others lurked in shadows and looked over the town with piercing gazes. They weren''t the only adventurers who had decided toe to the dungeon, and everybody was nervous at the monster presence. "Young Master Ashburn," A voice filled with ridicule sounded beside them, breaking everyone out of their nervousness and turning to face the speaker. Gabralter turned and grimaced at the man with shoulder length blonde hair, his fringe cut straight above his brow and piercing blue eyes looking down upon them disdainfully. "Earl Housen," Gabralter grimaced upon recognition. "What are you doing here?" "I could ask the same thing. The studious son who lived through multiple lifetimes and just became more stupid with each one." "You!!" Gabralter was taken aback at the Earl knowing about his ability and highly wary of the man. He was someone from central, who were known to be cold hearted back stabbers. Many had fallen in central in another''s bid for authority and power. "Oh, don''t be so surprised, you hardly did a good job of hiding it. Even the dungeon lord probably knows by now too." The other adventurers were confused, rapidly trying to understand what they were talking about. It sounded like the duke''s son was someone who reincarnated several times, but they were missing crucial parts of information. This wouldn''t stop them from gossiping and spreading more rumors though. "I had thought the duke forbid you froming to the dungeon, given your proclivity to die. It appears destiny is more powerful though." The earl pulled out a device with a needle tip and went to jab Gabralter''s arm with it. The duke''s son tried to evade and make some distance, but the earl''s personally trained royal guards used a short distance teleportation skill upon the earl''s signal and blinked next to him. The other adventurers were all Second Step rankers, but the Third Step royal guards gave them a huge amount of pressure as they too were encouraged not to interfere. "Get your hands off me! The capital will hear of this treatment!" "The capital is not interested in hearing your whining," The earl arrogantly stated while jabbing his arm with the device and extracting a small amount of blood. The device spun asplex micro scale arrays lit up and analyzed Gabralter''s blood. "Odd, I had thought there would be some sort of influence on you, but you arepletely healthy and without signs of artificial tampering. Perhaps there is something more hidden though, or it done via a different method." Gabralter shrugged off the royal guards, who released him and stepped back, and red at the earl. "What the hell are you doing here? I had thought you tucked your tail and fled back to central." "As much as you would like that, I have more work to do here." Just at this moment, one of the other researcher''s from the Royal Academy of Research and Technology rushed out of a nearby house with a long printout of energy readings. "Earl! It has spiked again, this time even more than thest!" Earl Vermonte bon Housen ignored Gabralter and the other adventurers and immediately grabbed the paper, ncing over the charts and already identified life signals within the chaotic agglomeration of mana. "It''s back And with others too" The Earl''s expression hardened before it turned around and watched as a giant metal wagon that could hold several houses knocked down trees as it approached the town. A Third Step behemoth monster pulled the wagon effortlessly, its megalithic build even bigger than what it was pulling. The wagon was currently empty save a single chest that the women of the dungeon could see contained items incredibly rich in mana. The monster red at everything around it, instinctively wanting to kill and destroy anything rted to the exotic races, but it held enough intelligence to do its task properly and restrain those instincts. Walking in front of the monster seemingly effortlessly, yet each stride covering tens of meters, was a white haired man with silver reptilian eyes. He emitted an intangible pressure that made everyone want to bow and submit to him. Beside the Monster Lord known as Dragon, was a woman with long ck hair. She dressed very conservatively and maintained a business like expression. On her back was two pairs of wings covered in pitch ck feathers, while floating above her head was arge, circr ck crown twice the diameter of her head. The crown emitted a faint ck glow as it slowly spun, rich amounts of mana flowing through it. For those capable of seeing mana, they were abjectly astonished how for every one part of mana that flowed into it, ten parts flowed out. It was a mysterious phenomenon that defied all logic. A pair of ck ringlets also floated around one of her ankles, which jingled like a bird chirping with each step she took. The monster and giant wagon waited outside while the Monster Lord and mysterious woman ignored everything around them and vanished directly into the dungeon. Earl Housen knew more than Gabralter and the other adventurers, so he frowned with a stern expression upon seeing the woman apanying the Monster Lord. "How many Monster Lord''s of our kingdom are being scouted? I was unaware that those giant empires had set their sights on ournd. This is more trouble than it''s worth." The earl muttered to himself under his breath while Gabralter took the adventurers to challenge the dungeon, entering into the dark entrance and vanishing from sight. Chapter 88: Commentated Sport Chapter 88: Commentated Sport Styx had revaluated his approach to dungeon challengers. In order to prevent the gradual decline of adventurers and mercenaries who had deemed the dungeon too dangerous to enter, he lowered the difficulty and increased rewards. Treasure chests were hidden, especially behind challenge rooms that were opened and closed at random times, while retreating adventurers were given the chance to escape rather than being cornered and ughtered. The dungeon residents no longer participated unless it was to kill or capture the enemy. Styx had created hidden devices which recorded people''s challenge on the dungeon and it was bing a source of entertainment for the residents, especially the tiger beastman who were a more brutish race than the elves. The scarce human residents feltplicated about it, but they soon adopted to the trend and even began betting pools in which people bet theirbor or something of their own. Some even bet their love lives with one another and several new couples had formed from it. Styx didn''t care about monsters dying as they were easily reced and this cycle of killing and recing only increased his experience points faster. Even if he only killed 10 percent of challengers, that was still better than the supply of people drying up. As the dungeon expanded, people would also be able to explore deeper and spend more time uncovering the hidden secrets he created. Two of the current viewers were Kristof and Mauve, the former a Second Step human, the other a Second Step female tiger beastman. Kristof had been one of the selected people during Therina and Beatrice''sbat test after evolving and Mauve was the other person selected. Mauve had agreed to be his partner in the dungeon and give birth to his children, a slightly swelling stomach disying their rapid progress in that matter. Ever since falling pregnant, Mauve had be increasingly possessive of Kristof and also refused any further sex until she gave birth. "Mauve, let''s bet on this one. If I win, you let me do you tonight." Kristof clenched his fist in determination as the two sat in arge, bustling tavern for dinner in the middle of the town inside of the dungeon. Mauve leaned against him while purring, her tail waving in the air behind her. "What is the bet?" "Which will die." "Hmm, okay, who do you think will die. If you lose though, you are massaging me for two hourster~" "I think it will be the bow wielder in the vanguard, they always have weaker bodies and will be the first to go when there is nobody who can tank for the party." "But the duke''s son focuses on closebat and can protect the partly alongside the swordsman. He has skills for creating aggro too ording to whispers." "Styx will capture him, so it will definitely be the hunter." Two dark elves sat on the stage in the tavern reserved for speakers or singers. This male and female pair had taken a liking to formingmentary on streamed dungeon raids, and many people came to this tavern to hear themmentate. The video had no sound after all, so having the two form apanying speech brought a new level of atmosphere to the magic projection. On the screen, Gabralter and the four adventurers entered the dungeon in a tight defensive formation, with the Hunter, Fire Mage, and Healer following up behind. "Today''s challengers are all humans, although that mage looks like he has some dwarf in him as they simply don''te that short!" Onyx, the malementator began while Astrix, the female dark elfmentator, followed up. "Introducing all of today''s entrants, we have a swordsman with more confidence than he does skill, an archer using a longbow in the dungeon, a mage with stature issues, a healer that seems more interested in love than her life, and the famous duke''s son, Gabralter! Who will walk away with fortune, and who will leave their dreams behind, let''s find out!" Whispers andughter spread throughout the tavern as people made bets or discussed the dungeon raiders. "They areing up on their first challenge, a group of goblins lying in wait to ambush them." "You have encountered an ambush by a group of goblins!" "This wasn''t even a challenge to the Second Step rankers, easily dispatching those monsters. But watch out, more are watching from a distance!" "We can see in the distance, forest assassins, hordes of goblin mages and even some hobgoblins. There is even a nine-life firecat in the mix!" "A nine-life firecat!? Fortune is not smiling on these adventurers, this monster can revive eight times, and will catch them unaware if they don''t pay attention to that." "Ohh, they have changed direction and have jumped off the grand bridgeway. Whilst they now have more room to move around, there are more locations for the monsters to ambush from." "What do you think, Astrix, was this a good move?" "I don''t think so. It will be hard to retreat, while they don''t have enough people to properly guard the rear members. Oh, look, they have encountered a group of nearly forty monsters. Arge number of midnight guards, stone-tailed foxes and a couple of shadow leapers." "They need to watch out for those shadow leapers. Even though they may all be Second Step rankers, the ws of shadow leapers are incredibly sharp and they can strike from anywhere, severing limbs or even heads." "The ranger has engaged first! Releasing his subskills to destroy many midnight guards with arrows that are simply tearing through the battlefield!" "Oh no, a shadow leaper has struck, bounding out of the archer''s shadow and severing an arm! Our lord Styx isn''t showing them any mercy!" The watchers in the tavern roared in support at the bloody spectacle of the archers arm being severed on the screen. Without pause though, the human grabbed an arrow with his remaining arm and stabbed the shadow leaper in its ugly and twisted, ck head. "It appears the healer isn''t much of a team yer," Astrix called out in high energy. "She isn''t even bothering to heal the ranger, focusing on the front line defenders. She is clearly trying to determine who is the best to be her future husband and bear her children. Who do you think it will be, Onyx?" "I think she has her eyes set on our rising celebrity, Gabralter, but it is yet to be seen. She should know her limits and go for the swordsman or mage." "That mage is too short for her, so it must be the swordsman." The Fire Mage cast infernos of fire at the monsters, wiping outrge swatches of them with his heavy firepower, while the swordsman and Gabralter focused on intercepting and preventing the monsters from reaching the rear line. Thementators had focused on the healer and started painting a picture of her using this dungeon trip to find a husband, which waspletely unrted with the scene being yed out. The crowd loved it nheless and even calling out their favorite pick for her husband. The final consensus seemed to settle on the one armed Huntsman for some reason. "Our celebrity, Gabralter, is showing truly superb stricked with his gauntlets. Our monsters stand no chance, and even the stone-tailed foxes are being beaten back. The swordsman isn''t to be outdone by far though. He may not have skill, but he certainly has strength!" "Astrix, I think he should change that sword for a mace. It would suit him better." "I couldn''t agree more, Onyx. He would even capture that healer''s heart with a mace. Should she still be uninterested in him, he could just club her over the head with it and drag her back to his home." "He could do that with the t of his sword though." "What is he going to do with that? p her on the ass with it? That may be a good idea, actually, let''s test it outter." The crowd whistled and ordered more drinks as the dungeon raiders came out victorious from their encounter, the monsters either dead or retreating for healing. The Huntsman''s injuries were tended to while his severed arm was reattached with magic. It wasn''t fully healed though, and he couldn''t draw his bow at full force. The group then headed over small arched bridges over rivers and explored theplex dungeon, wildlife had moved into the dungeon recently, so there were rabbits and boars around. It was a developing ecosystem still evolving as all the food, flora and fauna in the dungeon had high mana content, which killed any animal that eat it. Only the animals which were able to adapt survived, and their numbers weren''t veryrge yet. "It looks like I''m going to win," Kristof said to his female tiger beastman partner with ascivious smirk on his mouth. "Hmph." The two watched and listened to thementary as the dungeon raiders entered a challenge room, a room withplex terrain that required bnce and strategy to pass. Two nine-life cats prowled the room while a small group of blood crystal bees flew around. The adventurers instantly knew this was a challenge room the moment they entered and were extremely excited. Knowledge of the challenge rooms had spread through many adventurer circles and was still spreading. Everyone knew of the rich rewards that they could earn by clearing one. At least one treasure chest would be hidden in the room, and a sign as to where it was would ur when all the monsters were killed. They fought valiantly, constantly moving to avoid the bees swarming them all at once while they fought off the nine-life cats. The first time one of the giant 2 meter long cats was killed, the swordsman had let his guard down, which resulted in a deep gash across his thigh that led to blood spurting out and the crowd in the tavern cheering. The female healer was sweating as she constantly cast healing and reinforcement spells on the party, doing her best to keep everyone alive. She was actually a married woman and was an adventurer pay for their living. Whilst dangerous, being an adventurer was a very high paying job, and so long as one was smart, they could earn a good living by being one. Being a mercenary was safer due to high numbers, but earnings were split between more people and they often did contract work too. As they were fighting, the Huntsman at the rear of the party was attacked by a nine-life cat that had revived once again. He raised his arm to catch the attack, but it was the one which was reattached not long ago. His arm went limp from the strike while the feline monster struck like a snake and bit into his throat. Gabralter had jumped over an punched arge hole through the monsters neck, but it had already torn out the Huntsman''s throat. The man grabbed his throat and the Priestess did her best to heal the injury, but he bled out too fast and died on the spot. No love was lost among the adventurers as they continued fighting the monster, nobody else dying but the Swordsman had been crippled and would take time to fully recover. Styx had been watching all this and controlling things from the shadows. He had been tempted to capture Gabralter and use him as leverage against the duke, but he decided against it. Whilst the agreement did not protect Gabralter if he was to invade Styx''s dungeon, his home, he was currently more valuable alive than dead. His vendetta against Styx''s dungeon led to him making more and more people aware of him, even bringing adventurers himself to the dungeon. Unwittingly, the duke''s son had actually been helping the dungeon in earning fame and experience points. The wall of a stone house in the challenge room copsed and revealed a in, wooden chest. It appeared nondescript, but it actually had several magic engravings on it to hide it from locating skills. A high level ranker would have little trouble finding it, but the rewards weren''t great enough to make theme to the dungeon. Inside the dungeon were a pile of gold, gems, and several pieces of steel alloy armor with reinforcement arrays engraved on them. They weren''t overly valuable, but everyone seemed happy splitting the rewards before retreating due to losses. One adventurer''s corpse remained while the others went home with smiles. Gabralter was the only one displeased, as he had higher hopes, but he couldn''t fight the dungeon alone while the remaining adventurers were adamant on returning with their spoils for the time being. In the tavern, Kristof turned his head to look at Mauve with a giant grin on his face, the pregnant female tiger beastman''s head still resting on his shoulder. "It looks I won." "Thene with me," She stood up and led him away back to their home, her tail wrapped around his wrist while she whispered in his ear. "I promise if the cubse out with white fur, I will chop it off though." Kristof paled slightly in fear of his manhood, but his libido which had been building up for the past month had made him feel like having sex was the greater priority at the moment, potential consequences be woe. He knew that beastman children being born with white fur was an extreme rarity and had nothing to do with having sex while pregnant. It was purely a wives'' superstition that spread through many beastmanmunities. Chapter 89: Fallen Angel Chapter 89: Fallen Angel Just before Gabralter alongside the four adventurers entered the dungeon, Dragon and the strange ck feathered, double-winged woman sauntered into the dungeon withplete disregard to everything around them. Styx had noticed their arrival the moment they stepped into his territory as they weren''t hiding their presence, unlike when the spider Monster Lord has snuck in and was waiting to ambush Aura. The woman apanying the Monster Lord on this visit had surprised him greatly. "A fallen angel?" Styx queried aloud, bringing the attention of the women apanying him. The girls looked at him curiously while he told them that Dragon had returned with a strange woman apanying them. Styx couldn''t tell how powerful she is as she was restraining her aura, but his instincts were warning him that she was at least of the Fourth Step and extremely dangerous. The two individuals walked through the dungeon at an extremely quick pace, each step seemingly taking them broad distances. Styx had people quickly start arranging a small feast for the visitors while he sat and waited upon his throne. Dragon and the woman could already tell where Styx''s avatar was as they headed straight towards him. "You have returned," Styxmented as they entered the throne room. "And with a guest?" "It has been three days," Dragon nodded and said in an insincere tone. "This is my assistant. She is in charge of managing stuff." The woman politely curtsied, her two pairs of wings slightly spreading out as she did so. "In your tongue, my name is Loreley. I am an envoy of Heaven in charge with assisting Dragon in any way he requires, including histest hobby of dungeon management." Styx looked at her in contemtion. She wore a long sleeved, ck and grey victorian dress with red trimmings. She also had a tight ck corset that pronounced her moderate sized chest. A lot of elves, dark elves, tiger beastman and humans were rushing in and out of the throne room bringing in assortments of mana rich dishes for them to eat. Whilst entering and leaving the room, everyone looked at the Monster Lord and especially the winged woman with a giant crown floating above her head. "You are a fallen angel, are you not?" "I am." Loreley curtly and professionally responded. "Aren''t fallen angels cast out from heaven? Or that fallen angels are angels that have been cast out?" Loreley raised her brow, her bright violet eyes opened slightly wider in surprise. "There are some doctrines in lower worlds which taught that in the past. I believe that was heaven''s 136th doctrine revision which introduced fallen angels. In the divine tongue, ''ck'' and ''fallen'' are synonyms, so it was a trantion used to promote the virtues as well as punishment to those who sinned. There are certain factions within Heaven which wish to bring back that doctrine, but they are mostly those stuck in the old ways." "So, a fallen angel is really just a ck angel?" "They are the one and same. You can call me a fallen angel or ck angel, it means the same to me. I am still an angel regardless, and a part of Heaven." Styx nodded his head in understanding before indicating for them to take a seat at the table that was situated in the middle of the bridge which led to his throne. "It''s not often we get such an esteemed guest, would you like to try some of our food." "I always enjoy trying new and exotic foods," Loreley curtly nodded her head and smiled as she assessed and chose food from several of the dishes. Despite the obvious difference between her and Styx''s strength, she remained humble before Styx which led to him having a positive attitude towards her. "I was unaware you were in contact with Heaven," Styx said to Dragon while piling up a stack of ck sauce covered meats and other baked goods that the cooks of the dungeon had created under inspiration of their own cultures and new foods. Dragon snorted and stated, "She wanted to help me, so I let her." Not understanding their rtionship due to hismunication habits, Styx looked at Loreley who patiently exined. "A small kingdom with only one god like this one cannot hope to iste its Fifth Step inhabitants who have potential to ascend into bing gods. Envoys, such as myself, from all over the universe seek out those individuals and recruit them. I assist Dragon with spiritual fruits, rare treasures and once he reaches , managing Heaven''s assets in creating and spreading a religion for him to acquire Faith and ascend into godhood. He would then be affiliated with Heaven and our divine realm branch." Dragon ignored their conversation and gorged himself on the free food, taking the initiative to indicate to several dark elves at the side of the room to bring in recements for several dishes. "Is that how one bes a god?" "Correct. One must first reach and then collect Faith to construct a spark of divinity, or in the case of monsters, a divine core, to reach . Further levelling up is done by collecting Faith instead of experience. At , one is already as close to mana as they can be so they cannot evolve any further. Bing stronger after that requires enhancing the divinity, which requires Faith." "I''m surprised you are willing to tell me all this. Isn''t this the kind of thing that should be kept secret?" "Why is that? It is only the most basic information that everyone knows." "" Styx had no words to respond with, and before he could say anything, Aura appeared in the room whilst growling at Dragon. She had just returned from a trip outside and immediately detected his scent, rushing over to confront him. Dragon nced at the enraged wolf-eared woman with his white, reptilian eyes and sneered. Styx felt he wasn''t actually being disdainful after interacting with him enough, but Aura felt much differently as all her fur stood on end as she entered battle mode, her power spreading out and suppressing everyone around. "Aura, enough." At Styx''smand, Aura reluctantly restrained herself. She appeared beside Styx and wrapped her tail around his waist, squeezing hard enough he winced slightly in pain. He was curious as to why this Monster Lord of his didn''t have an envoy, but knowing she was at Max Level, he could guess the reason why she wasn''t approached by any envoys in the past. Loreley seemed to detect something off about Aura and looked at her with eyes that glowed deep blue, a visible appearance by the application of some eye-based skill. Looking at her mana flow directly, the fallen angel raised her brows in pure shock, the greatest change of expression she had shown in the past hundred years. She then looked at Styx with a greedy gaze and asked, "Did you do this?" "Do what, exactly?" "Loosen up her soul and expand her potential." "I think it is a bit different, but it may appear that way in your perspective, however. Is it something that special?" "Yes and no. Powerful gods or divine treasures can help with this. Every empire is researching mean of increasing the bodies potential to allow their citizens to be stronger. There is none of those treasures or people in a backwater ce like this, so it could only be you." Dragon was inherently interested in these words and looked at the wolf-eared woman who bared her teeth back at him. In her mind, this was her home and she didn''t like it when the other Monster Lords within the Abyssal Forest intruded. Most of the Monster Lords were simr in this regard. Dragon understood the value in a person or existence capable of such a thing was worth, so he became even more interested in the dungeon. "Why don''t you be mine," The white haired Monster Lord sarcastically said. "I will crush my current dungeon core and you can rece it." Both the Monster Lord and fallen angel already knew he wasn''t just a dungeon lord, but the dungeon itself. It was surprising, but only managed to raise a brow or two over the matter for beings of their stature. Styx waspletely unwilling to submit to another and simply offered a counter proposal. "You should simply be mine instead. You can be a god of this dungeon." Loreley had a stern expression as she pped the table. "Poaching from Heaven is forbidden!" Despite her professionalism and friendliness, she was a stickler for rules and wouldn''t even joke when it came to matters of Heaven. "However, I can put forth a request for an envoy to assist you," She straightened her long Victorian skirt and looked at the dungeon avatar. "Normally we only attend to Fifth Step existences, but there are exemptions. For a dungeon of your talents, I have no doubt Heaven will offer great assistance." Styx still refused to be under anybody, so he refused the offer once again without regret. As huge as Heaven was, even being on the ranking board during the Myriad Flower Devil Festival, his core principle was to never submit to another. He had 4,000 years of experience, and it was always those to take charge of their own lives which lived the grandest. "What about you, Aura?" Loreley asked the wolf-eared woman, extending an invitation to her to receive heaven''s support. "Hey!" Styx immediately red up, "No poaching allowed, remember? She will be my moon devouring wolf god!" The fallen angel was unfazed by Styx and he suspected it wouldn''t be thest time this offer came, but he held confidence in the Monster Lord whom he already recognized as ''his''. The group finished eating and the maids and butlers hurriedly cleaned up the table as Styx led Dragon and Loreley to inspect the machines and whatnot that he bought with his protection fee. Loreley wasn''t impressed by any of the "backwards technology" as she referred to it, and offered to provide Dragon with several ythings, but he was uninterested in Heaven''s technology which could y even gods. These machines were much easier for him to understand and y around with in his dungeon. Styx had requested several items and knowledge of Heaven, but the fallen angel had refused and stated only if he came under the umbre of Heaven. Living golems loaded the machines Styx made for Dragon onto carts before pulling them towards the dungeon entrance. He had also written a manual on how to operate them and what they were capable of. Dragon and Loreley then left the dungeon with a battery tower, a couple of magmafurnaces, constructors, engines, T1 Conveyer Belts and T1 Item Pickers. There was also a book instructing on how to configure the item pickers, constructors and engines. They hadn''t seen the soulforge yet, and they currently weren''t for sale either. It was the highest top secret construction in his dungeon, and was protected behind multipleyers of magic concealment and Aura''s phantasmagoria working at full strength. Whilst Dragon or Loreley may be able to discover that something is hidden, they weren''t capable of discovering what was hidden. Outside the dungeon, Earl Vermonte bon Housen secretly took pictures of the devices before returning to his temporary rented residence. Styx, Dragon and Loreley all noticed his actions, but nobody acted against him. Styx was reprehensible as he was a noble of the kingdom and didn''t wish to aggravate the goddess if it were possible, whilst he also paid a very premium price for his current residence. He was constantly under Styx''s hidden gaze and just a few pictures weren''t enough for Styx to make a move. Even if he knew what the machines did, it meant little to him. Dragon and Loreley simply disregarding him as another human considering neither he nor this kingdom could threaten them. Chapter 90: Second Round of Class Up Chapter 90: Second Round of ss Up Styx sat down in his throne and looked around the throne room. A wide stone bridge nearly 50 meters long passed down the room, two waterfalls streaming down the walls and mostly silently running down the tapered floor and out of the room. Flowers of all kinds grew from garden beds built against the walls like shelves. At the end of the bridge were a grand set of stairs, his throne situated on top of them. He had only used this throne room for several months, yet it had lost its artistic touch in his eyes. Inparison to the rest of the dungeon, it was also quite small too. Deep underground, he begun digging a new throne room, one which was vastly bigger, and yet another project that would take months to build, even if he were to redirect all the miners digging the mana shaft. Opening up his status menu, Styx slovenly gazed at his enormous experience value. [ Species: Dungeon Core (Dungeon Master: None) Name: Styx Mana: 1,980/1,980 Exp: 127,399(+) Level: 15 Abilities: Dungeon Creation Mana Control Mana Infusion Mana Vein Creation Remote Control Mana Logic Construct Dungeon Control Dungeon Facility Construction Biomass Converter 100 mana Breeder 50 mana, 20 biomass Storage Crate 10+ mana, 10 physical material st Furnace 100 mana, 20 stone Storage Tank 20+ mana, 20 physical material Rotary Mana Engine 40 mana, 10 stone, 1 iron Material Refiner 150 mana, 10 stone, 2 iron, 1 emerald, 1 ruby, 1 amethyst Alchemy Table 200 mana, 5 stone, 10 iron, 1 ruby, 10 quartz Mana Constructor 400 mana, 30 steel, 1 manasteel, 120x gears, 450x screws Stable Storage Crate 100+ mana, 20 physical material Stable Storage Tank 100+ mana, 35 physical material Magmaforge (BP) 250 mana, 40 magmasteel, 5va, 0.2 brimstone powder, 5x brimstone flowers Soulforge (BP) 1,125 mana, 80 stone + 5 tortured soul powder (*Soulium upgradable), assorted items High Pressure Water Cutter (BP) 730 mana, 50 stone, 5 steel, 0.2 manasteel T1 Conveyor Belt: 1m (BP) 40 mana, 2 stone, 1 steel, 8x gears, 12x screws T1 Item Picker (BP) 70 mana, 2 steel, 0.1 manasteel, 30x gears, 50x screws Obsidum Mana-Saw (BP) 550 mana, 3 steel, 1x obsidum de, 1x engine, 20x gears, 30x screws High Speed Turbine Engine (BP) 680 mana, 0.5x manasteel, 1x steel, 5x gears, 10x screws Basic Dungeon Construction Scan 10 mana/m3 Blueprint Creation 275 blueprints Blueprint Manufacturing 275 blueprints Mental Projection 1 mana/min Visible Projection 5 mana/min Autobuild 4 mana/s Trap Construction Bait 5 mana, 5 biomass Spike Trap 20 mana, 10 stone Pitfall Trap 10 mana, none Arrow Trap 20 mana, 10 stone (5 on reload) Weak Poison Gas 50 mana, 1 stone, 1 biomass (expendable) Chaotic Space Trap 200+ mana Crushing Wall Trap 30 mana, 20 stone, 2 iron Internal Resource Storage (293,926/614,400) Physical Material Stone (170,000), Dirt (50,000), Biomass (24,125), Ardonite (5,200), Manasteel (485), Wood (200), Steel (5,145), Obsidum (127), Gold (25), Celendine y (575), Copper (7,459), Tin (1500), Firesteel (115), Magmasteel (145), Soulium (12) Liquid Material Water (28,458), Lava (358), Mining Basic Material Identification Mineral Detection Auto-mine Overdrive Earth Fracture Avatar Creation ] The speed in which Styx was collecting mana was increasing due to the increased number of residents in the dungeon. The number of adventurers challenging the dungeon had increased too since lowering the difficulty and letting most of them escape, some with treasure. Despite this, the amount of experience they have been bringing in dropped to half, but there was no longer the risk of this experience source drying up. Styx still only levelled up once, keeping the rest for the ever increasing experience requirement to level up. [ 11,564 exp used to level up. Lv. 15 -> Lv. 16 umted skill experience bonus: Mana Control -> Dungeon Control -> Basic Dungeon Construction -> Internal Resource Storage -> Avatar Creation -> ] Styx felt a wave of mana wash over him as his avatar was strengthened by the natural powers of the world as if it was the most natural thing. His dungeon core, hidden high in the ceiling also glowed and grew a further 5 centimeters. Just as everything settled down, Styx felt his consciousness grow heavy before fading into a state of inactivity. During this darkness, he floated in a void of nothingness. Thin white veins stretched out into the endless void and connected to all the woman who had a piece of him inside of themselves. Styx couldn''tprehend how it worked, but he knew this was thework that linked everything together. Some women were closer than others, particrly the dungeon wives, whom were very close. Not far from him, ir and Kale sat in the void holding each others hands and smiling. Niah was next, standing a little ways off with her back to him, facing the endless void. Fiore and Aura looked around as if lost or looking for something, Therina, Elena and Irie hugged hisrge glowing core, fighting for who could be the closest, while a fourth figure could be seen between their legs. Piri was forcing herself in and trying to hug onto Styx, but constantly held back, while Beatrice was the closest, curled up in a fetal position in the center of his core. All others had various distances, but they were all linked. ~~~~~ "What attributes did you want?" Styxy on his and the girls'' bed without a single article of clothing on. Elena, Niah, ir and Kale were sprawled out over him in equal nudity, their bare bodies pressing against his while showering him in kissed all over. A series of tentacles snuck thought the bed and wrapped themselves around the girls, constricting and massaging at the same time. All of the girls were dark elves, meaning they favored dark attributes, but there were differences in their sses and potential ss evolutions too. They had all been at for a long time and Styx held confidence that they should all be able to evolve and receive a significant enhancement during ss up, like Therina and Beatrice did. "I want an attribute rted to the moon," Elena, a Bowman, stated before kissing his shoulder and slyly slipping his hand between her legs. For all her proper manners during the day, she could be considerably outgoing when having intimate time with Styx. Styx chose a Yin attribute to imnt into her, which held close rtions to water and the moon and was the eastern diametric opposite of Yang, rted to fire and the sun. ir was an Apprentice Hunter and chose a basic wind attribute which should support her and a future Hunter ss evolution. Kale held the most powerful ss and was a Novice Dimension Mage. Styx had already prepared a rare space attribute mana gem, a violet cat''s eye amethyst which looked the same no matter which angle it was viewed from. "What about you, Niah?" Styx asked the Dancer, his spare hand pinching her fleshy rear to break her out of her thoughts. "I don''t know" "Shall I choose for you?" "What do you have?" "If you are unsure, then something rted to darkness. I have a rare shadow attribute which should work well with your Dancer ss and future evolutions." Niah tucked her long dark hair behind behind her ear and stated, "Then that one." Styx gently caressed his finger through her moist vaginal crevice, teasing the entrance of her vagina but not pressing it through the final barrier and into her. Niah moaned while leaning her body weight on him, moving her hips along with his finger. With a smirk on the corner of his lips, Styx ran his finger further back and gently prodded her rear door, causing the horny dark elf to open her eyes in surprise. "W-wait, that''s not-" Niah didn''t have a chance to finished what she was saying before Styx used her own vaginal fluid as lubricant to shove his finger into her ass. She quivered and breathed heavily as he grabbed her ass, one finger plunging deep inside of her as she tightly clenched around it. Elena also moaned as Styx had two fingers hooked inside her vagina and massaging her inner walls. ir and Kale weren''t about to be left out and the former began sucking on his engorged member while thetter stole his mouth while fingering herself with an arched back. Full of seed ready to eject, Styx filled his core in the throne room with yin attribute and felt a wave of ice flush through his veins. It was a bone chilling cold and he nearly lost his erection from it, but ir warmed it with her mouth before he flipped all the girls over. Fingers were removed while tentacles wrapped around and massaged, Kale forcing a phallus tentacle to directly prate her narrow vagina and force it open. With a rod of ice, Styx pushed Elena down below him with her face to the bed and pushed his meat stick between her cheeks. Her lower mouth was already drooling and she flexibly stretched open as he buried his penis deep inside of her. "Eeep!" Elena called out in shock as Styx''s penis felt like a rod of ice, causing her to tightly clench on it as the block of ice pressed up against and chilled the front door to her womb. Fighting against the urge to lose his rigidity, Styx pushed Elena into the bed and rhythmically pushed in and out of her. Her inner walls tightened and held onto him, helping him quickly reach a climax before depositing arge load of ice cold dungeon seed into her womb. [ Insemination begun. Please select seed to imnt: 3x Miners Burden (1) 1h incubation 2x Yin Gnome Burden (1) 1h incubation 1x Ice Devourer Burden (2) 2h incubation 1x Icerat Burden (3) 2h incubation 1x Underworld Guard Burden (4) 4h incubation 1x Moonfox Burden (9) 12h incubation 1x Living Ice Thorn Burden (11) 24h incubation 1x Ice Behemoth Burden (13) 24h incubation 2x Living Ice Thorn Burden (16) 24h incubation 1x Moongazer Burden (18) 24h incubation 1x Moonlight dedancer Burden (20) 42h incubation 1x Yin Frost Spirit Burden (22) 70h incubation 2x Moongazer Burden (24) 32h incubation ] [ 1x Moongazer selected Incubation 24:03:15 ] She was inseminated by a moongazer, an odd monster Styx had no idea was, but was certain it would y a crucial part in her evolution. As all the phallus tentacles would ejacte at the same time, he pulled them out of the other girls whom were enjoying the ice cold sensation and poured the dungeon seed onto their bodies, getting them dirty but nobody seemed to mind. "I''m going to evolve. I will go outside to undergo it," Elena tried to state primly but her face was flushed and dungeon seed leaking onto her inner thigh as she grabbed some clothing and reluctantly left the room with it. Styx attended to Kale next, injecting himself with the space attribute mana gem and felt as if space had be as thick as custard, making it hard to move. Kaley on her back and wrapped her arms and legs around Styx tightly as he pressed down on top of her, his thick and still slimy shaft hard once again and spreading open her pink, lower lips before burying itself down to the hilt inside of her. Styx felt her gentle yet firm embrace as he slowly moved inside of her. He pulled his hips back before sliding it back inside of her. He forced open the entrance of her womb around the head of his penis, bringing a whole new feeling of pleasure as the tight opening tightly constricted around his most sensitive part. Kale lightly moaned and showered him with kisses. Styx was gentle, only making small movements and causing her to feel changes deep within her feelings as she held onto him tighter than ever before with her arms and legs. "Release it all deep inside," Kale whispered in a rare, seductive voice as her heart melded into one with Styx''s in that moment. "Of course." Styx gave one final, deep thrust while Kale wrapped her legs around his ass and pulled him in as much as she could. He released the space attribute dungeon seed directly into her womb as her vagina tight clung onto his rod and refused to let go. [ Insemination begun. Please select seed to imnt: 3x Miners Burden (1) 1h incubation 2x Space Minion Burden (1) 1h incubation 1x Space Devourer Burden (2) 2h incubation 1x Leaper Burden (3) 2h incubation 1x Spatial Guardian Burden (4) 4h incubation 1x Void Prowler Burden (9) 12h incubation 1x Iniris Thorn Shooter Burden (11) 24h incubation 1x Devouring Guardian Burden (13) 24h incubation 2x Void Prowler Burden (16) 24h incubation 1x Void Mage Beast Burden (18) 24h incubation 1x Void Controller Burden (20) 42h incubation 1x ck Spatial Lyrapeta Burden (22) 70h incubation 2x Void Mage Beast Burden (24) 32h incubation ] [ 1x Void Mage Beast selected Incubation 23:49:35 ] Finally removing himself from her, Kale cleaned his penis off with her mouth before giggling and pulling an extremely red ir on top of her. She kissed her sister with short, yful kisses while Styx loosened her up with a finger before pushing his penis straight inside of her and forcing her to bite her lip to stifle a moan. ir was trapped in between Styx and her twin sister and had nowhere to hide. No matter how many times she did it with Styx, more often than not with Kale too, she still felt embarrassment from it, unlike the other dungeon wives. Kale''s attention was on her sister a little less than normal though, as her legs weaved through her sister''s legs and gently ran her toes up and down Styx''s calves. Niah also joined in with a stint of revenge as she shoved a saliva covered finger in Styx''s ass and causing him to raise his brows in surprise. She twisted her finger around and teased his prostate as he pounded into ir, ejacting arge amount of wind attribute dungeon seed inside of her. [ Insemination begun. Please select seed to imnt: 3x Miners Burden (1) 1h incubation 2x Wind Gnome Burden (1) 1h incubation 1x Wind Sprite Burden (2) 2h incubation 1x Galerat Burden (3) 2h incubation 1x Breeze Knight Burden (4) 4h incubation 1x Swiftfang Wolf Burden (9) 12h incubation 1x Tree Nymph Burden (11) 24h incubation 1x Wind Guardian Burden (13) 24h incubation 2x Tree Nymph Burden (16) 24h incubation 1x Gale Devil Burden (18) 24h incubation 1x Typhoon Spirit Burden (20) 42h incubation 1x Orion Beheader Burden (22) 70h incubation 2x Wind Glider Burden (24) 32h incubation ] [ 1x Gale Devil selected Incubation 24:13:04 ] Kale had been holding off her evolution for long enough and kissed Styx very intimately, her tongue immediately tangling with his as their saliva mixed together, before grabbing some clothes and escaping the room with a seductive shake of the hips. Styx wasn''t about to let the final yful dark elf off easily though. iry face down on the bed covering her bright red face in embarrassment, white goop flowing out of her slightly convulsing lower mouth. She covered her body with the bed sheets while shyly gazing at Styx who picked Niah''s waist up and positioned his engorged rod for a final round. Niah''s legs wrapped Styx''s waist as she held on. He thrust his hips forward and pushed his slimy rod straight into her pink lip. A phallic tentacle teased her rear entrance at the same time and didn''t leave her any time to protest before pushing its way into her asshole. "It''s too much! At least just one at a time!" Niah cried out while panting despite her legs tightening even more around Styx''s waist. Styx lifted her waist even more until she only had her upper back and shoulders on the bed. Her waist pointed straight up as Styx grabbed her legs and pushed them back up over her head as he plunged into her. Her tight entrance waspletely visible as his meat stick forced her open so far it tightly pushed against her inner thighs as it pushed in and out of her. "Huaahhhhhh!!!!" The dark elf loudly moaned as both Styx and the phallic tentacle pistoned in and out of her. Styx reached his climax as the dark elf''s vagina wrung his shaft out like a hungry subus, gravity forcing all of the dungeon seed to pool at the top of her womb. The tentacle also ejacted at the same time, filling her ass with an equallyrge amount of fluid. [ Insemination begun. Please select seed to imnt: 3x Miners Burden (1) 1h incubation 2x Shadow Gnome Burden (1) 1h incubation 1x Dark Devourer Burden (2) 2h incubation 1x Shadowbeast Burden (3) 2h incubation 1x Midnight Assassin Burden (4) 4h incubation 1x Gloomy Toxin Spitter Burden (9) 12h incubation 1x Shadowvine Burden (11) 24h incubation 1x Dark Golem Burden (13) 24h incubation 2x Shadowvine Burden (16) 24h incubation 1x Shadow Teleporter Burden (18) 24h incubation 1x Shadow Controller Burden (20) 42h incubation 1x Abyss Terrorbeast Burden (22) 70h incubation 2x Shadow Teleporter Burden (24) 32h incubation ] [ 1x Shadow Teleporter selected Incubation 24:03:15 ] Niah flopped weakly on the bed while panting and feeling the dungeon seed deep within her. ir rolled over under the sheets and hugged Styx, nuzzling her head in his chest as her shoulder length grey hair covered her face. "No evolution?" Styx asked curiously as he was confidence all the criteria to evolve had been fulfilled. The dark elf shook her head and mumbled, "Sorry." Styx looked at the panting Niah, who also didn''t appear to be about to undergo evolution, despite already selecting her evolved ss to ss Up into. "I wonder what I am missing" Styx wondered to himself as the other two girls were covered in cocoons outside. Elena was encased in a cocoon of zed ice that faintly pulsed along with her heartbeat whilst Kale was epassed by a perfectly egg shaped ck barrier that looked like a portal to the universe and showed a grand starscape beyond it. Chapter 91: Mana Generation Chapter 91: Mana Generation The next day, ir and Niah were still slightly despondent withrge, swelling stomachs. Niah had wanted to get stronger through evolution and felt left out, while ir hadplex feelings. Her sister had sessfully evolved, so she was happy for her, but at the same time it dug up old feelings of inferiority she felt toward her. She had gotten a better ss since reaching adulthood and was always more talented than her, and this distinction between the two twins had reared its ugly face once again. ir rubbed herrge stomach and held bittersweet thoughts on how she could support Kale more in the future. ~~~~~ Several days had passed and the two cocoons where Elena and Kale were evolving began to break apart, revealing the two dark elves within. At least they used to be dark elves, now their race transforming into something else entirely and bringing a new range of enhancements to their strengths. Elena''s skin had be much paler and her eyes had turned icy blue. A small vertical fold could be seen on her forehead, alluding to a hidden third eye. Two short red horns poked out of her head too, alluding to the devil part of her bloodline She had be a yin oni, the grass and flow petals rapidly covered by ayer of frost wherever she stepped, the air also rapidly cooling. Kale''s looks remained mostly the same, except she had intricate violet tattoos containing the secrets of space within them on her body, a faint sigil of a dark star on the back of her hands. Her eyes had also taking on a strange attribute as they would look purple when reflecting the light. Her long hair had adopted a simr violet hue within its darkness and be slightly straighter. On top of her head, a second set of ears appeared, these ones simr to a beastkin but more pointed and tipped with red fur. Kale was a cosmos prowler, something even Styx couldn''t understand. One of her abilities was the ability to control the space around her to fly though. As soon as she broke free from her cocoon, Kale teleported and jumped on the waiting Styx with her arms and legs wrapped around him. "I feel so different... and strong," She nuzzled her face against his whilst still adapting to her new powers. ir stood to the side with arge smile on her face, ready to congratte her twin sister. "Kale, I''m so proud of you." ir hugged her twin whilst Kale also responded. "Don''t feel bad, you will be able to evolve next time, I promise." ir simply smiled and didn''t say anything else. The two girls were still naked, although Elena had half gotten dressed before Styx stopped her and dragged the two of them off to truly try out their new and improved bodies. The following day, the newly evolved dungeon wives were in the birthing room with the others,rge swelling stomach and exposed vaginas that were contracting as they were ready to give birth. Elena did her best to maintain a steadfast expression whilst holding Kale''s hand beside her. She breathed deeply as Beatrice and Therina helped both girls rx as was ritual. An icy aura spread throughout within the room and everyone breath condensed into steam as Elena pushed the monster out. A mid sized ball-shaped monster with a single eye and short tentacles around its body was squeezed out of the narrow hole and into a waiting midwife''s, Beatrice''s, arms. Kale was also going through contractions as a catlike beast with three tentacle like tails was pushed out of her. These were a moongazer and void mage beast. The former was a monster that flew through the air and emitted beams of icy energy, thetter a strange monster which teleported and attacked with spatial des which curved through the air and attacked from hard to defend angles. ~~~~~ The great shaft, Styx''s new mana generator had finally beenpleted. The giant hole seemed to extend into the bowels of the earth as orbs of varying light hues drifted down from the array on the ceiling into the depths. Styx had already prepared enough mana eaters, therge violet flowers with pulsating blue veins through their petals. That were nted at the bottom of the chasm and immediately begun sucking up mana from the deep earth before sending it out into the air. As the natural mana density increased, several sets of giant rings began to absorb the ambient mana until they reached saturation point and activated. Each ring consisted of three sections. An upper section which rotated clockwise and a lower section rotating counterclockwise. In the middle was a static ring that didn''t move. It instead had severalrge ports on it that could have a mana insting pipe connected to them, allowing for easy distribution of mana to anywhere the connected pipes led to. In the upper and lower rings, countless finely carved arrays and glyphs were active, which not only lifted the rings up and made them float within the shaft, but also formed a barrier to keep all the mana inside except for the outlets on the central sections. Styx also had emergency pipes already in ce that would extract the mana within the containment barrier and eject it outside of the dungeon into the world should the internal mana density grow too high. Without more effective control measures, the dungeon lord didn''t dare allow the mana density increase beyond the point where its potency could enter a critical stage and form a mana cmity. Another benefit of the deep excavation was that it allowed Styx to locate severalrge deposits of ores and gems deeper within the earth. His mineral detection subskill createdrge sonars in the area around the excavation and revealed a multicolored disy of various resources. He begun digging the shaft wider and building living areas alongside the walls, its supports digging deeply into the walls. These houses were mostly built out of stone, butrge amounts of iron, brass and wood formed intricated details and fancy balconies around this shaft. There were several main thoroughfares that corkscrewed up and down the side of the wall, allowing people and cargo to be moved around easily. It also opened up easier passage to lower floors which could begin construction. Service shafts for movingrge quantities of materials were also being dug. ~~~~~ Reba Euklid sat at one of the taverns in the dungeon city and watched the magical projection of adventurers challenging the dungeon along with everyone else. She appeared free to move around, but she knew that any person in this ce could immediately be her supervisor. She was bing more and more reclusive as she constantly felt like everyone was watching her. She sat in the corner with a hood up over her head, sinking into the shadows. "What are you doing?" A dark elf child, Piri, stood next to Reba and asked in an innocent tone. Behind the child were three ve children, each looking at her with expressions of curiosity. "I am just watching the sport." "Really? You don''t seem to be very happy though." "Well, I am human prisoner after all, and there are humans being used as sport." "A prisoner? But mom told me the prisoners were held down below and were turned into Miss Aura''s food. Did you escape?" "No." ~~~~~ Reba left the tavern and went for a walk around the dungeon to clear her confused head. She had already gotten used to life here and was much more reserved than she had been growing up as the duchess'' daughter. She walked to where the great shaft was and stood on a balcony overhanging the endless chasm. The falling balls of light had been reced with rising will-o''-the-wisps riding on the surging mana. She looked down at the still being constructed living area and felt it held a distinctive beauty to it. She leaned on the railing of the viewing tform and absentmindedly gazed down into its depths, where a faint pulsating blue could be seen as if it were the earth''s heartbeat. "Beautiful, isn''t it," A masculine voice suddenly sounded behind her, causing her to jolt to attention and stumble backwards with a yelp. Reba stumbled straight into Styx''s arms and fell into his embrace. His hands wrapped around her waist and instinctively grasped onto her veryrge breasts and causing her to quickly protest. "Where do you think you are grabbing me, scoundrel?" "Oh? But I''m just catching you when you fell into my arms." Styx held on firmly and squeezed, taking advantage of her body before she grabbed his wrists and forced his hands off her. "You are being uncouth! How long until I can leave?" "Soon I assume. The duke has built most of the road here to the dungeon. Your mother is being very verbal about this affair after all. Even your capital and royalty have remained mostly quiet. You have gottenfortable with life here, are you sure you want to leave? It''s very convenient after all." "Of course I do!" Styx simply chuckled and ced one finger under her chin, lifting the beautiful blonde woman''s face up and moving in to kiss her. Reba was stunned and didn''t know how to react. Styx got close enough they could feel each other''s breath on their lips before her flight mode kicked in and she pushed Styx back. His Avatar Creation skill was high so his body was quite powerful, but Reba Euklid was considerably powerful in her own right and pushed his avatar back before escaping with only her scent remaining. Reba was flustered and her heart was pounding in her chest. She had learned many things during her life here, including how the dungeonmunicated with everyone. The women of the dungeon could also talk to one another over the samework, which she discovered after a while of running into people seemingly speaking into thin air. What she truly couldn''t understand was how breeding with the dungeon was not only not illegal here, it was encouraged and seen as an admirable trait. To be one of Styx''s personal dungeon wives was a dream many elves, and especially the female tiger beastmen, held. Seeing people withrge, swelling stomachs growing monsters wasn''t an umon sight either. Styx had created a system for allowing them to breed and receive social benefits and preferential treatment. Reba looked forward to leaving, but she would be deceiving herself if she said she didn''t like life here in the dungeon. There was a reason why all the nationless exotic races flocked to join the dungeon and why none of them left. Chapter 92: Release Chapter 92: Release The factories were once again at full capacity and growing more numerous as raw ores and items were fed to them in systematically arranged conveyer belts. The ambient mana density in the dungeon was constantly increasing as the output of the mana shaft continued to climb as the flora Styx nted in the giant base cavern below the shaft spread their roots deeper and begun maturing. A new unforeseen problem cropped up within the shafts though. As the mana density increased, the blood crystal bees could no longer enter the area to pollenate flowers and create honey from the incredibly mana rich nectar. Styx''s avatar was just as effective at absorbing mana as his core was, so even he felt like he was suffocating when he was down there. His natural mana absorption speed had been approximately one mana point every minute, increasing to one point every 27 seconds at its highest point. When he stepped into the base of the mana shaft, this immediately skyrocketed to a staggering 53 points every second. In order to solve this, Styx first designed and created an insted cast iron suit, as cast iron was not very mana conductive and would block most of it. It first needed to bepletely sealed, meaning it also needed its own life support system. Mana still leaked in slowly, especially from the seals in the joints, but a greater issue was that cast iron was incredibly heavy. While the girls and many other residents could wear one due to their strength, the bees couldn''t fly with a small cast iron suit protecting them. Scrapping the idea, Styx shifted and created a mana repelling bracelet. It followed the same principle as the barrier rings within the mana shaft, but instead of containing the mana within, it was inverted to keep mana outside. Instead of feeding off the ambient mana though, this bracelet was powered by the user themselves, although there was a slot for an emergency mana gemstone to be ced in alongside proper attribute filtering arrays carved into it. These bracelets where lightweight and could be powered by the wearer or a small quartz mana gem for a limited period. The bees had very small individual mana pools, so Styx had specially produced bands that they wore around their abdomens and would be powered by a mix of ambient mana along with their own. This allowed them to survive in the heavily mana rich zone for about 10 minutes at a time. Aura had taken a deep liking to both the mana rich shaft base and the mana potent honey that only she could eat undiluted. Styx hadbelled the honey at a mana content of 5.7 StSc, otherwise known as the Styx Score. For reference, standard rice in this fantasy world held a rating of 1.4 and was safe for everyone to eat. Styx''s mana rice held an equivalent score of 2.7, being a little over ten times as mana potent. This honey, at 5.7, was almost exactly 1,000 times more potent than the mana rice. ~~~~~ Styx had Reba apanying him today. The duchess'' daughter had been secluding herself as ofte and he wanted to prevent her bing aplete introvert. She had been lively and curious about everything at the beginning, but had been developing a sense of paranoia ever since. "Young mistress, I want you to y with the kids today," Styx leaned over and whispered into therge breasted blonde''s ear, his long dark hair dangling straight down. "Do I have to?" Reba asked, remembering her interaction with the young dark elf girl known as Piri the other day. "Yes." Styx wrapped his arm around Reba''s waist and pulled her into his grasp. The duchess'' daughter yelped in surprise but oddly didn''t try to escape his embrace. Her freedom was guaranteed the moment the Duke fulfilled his side of the bargain between them. Duchess Euklid had also visited the town outside the dungeon in a heavy handed fashion to demand to see her daughter, only to be forced away each time. Styx had every intention of honoring this part of the bargain, but the condition of her when she was released was never guaranteed. Rather than harming her though, Styx had been building up his rtions with her. He leant over her and softly whispered in her ear. "Do you want to be the same as everyone else? To see what they see, to hear what they hear, to fit in?" "" Reba didn''t respond, her mind currently in turmoil as to what to do. Her brain was telling her to escape, but her heart was telling her to stay in this position just a little bit longer. "Rx," Styx said as he ced one finger under her chin and raised her face up. He leaned in and ced his lips over hers, her body trembling in his arms at the same time. Styx extended his mana tendrils and probed her body. Her defenses werepletely down and those tendrils slipped inside and filled up her manawork. She felt like she was within the mostforting hug she had ever felt while Styx wasted no time and nted a small piece of himself in her head. The duchess'' daughter seemed toe to her senses though and she shoved Styx away, causing his avatar to cough for breath. Her fierce resistance also violently forced out his mana tendrils and left him in the pain of closing his fingers in a door. "It''s already toote, young mistress." Reba''s eyes went wide as she panicked at the voice that sounded directly in her mind. Her vision was also infiltrated as all the mana in the air, flowing through the mana lines underground and radiating from the dungeon residents all around her. She backed into a wall as Styx leaned over her, brushing her hair out of her face. "You should just ept that you are already mine." ~~~~~ Duke Ashburn hadn''t spared any expenses and had people working around the clock to build a road leading to the dungeon, the agreed upon trade route. It waspleted and the Duke alongside Duchess Euklid arranged themselves outside the dungeon trading town along with an armed force of 500 city guards ready to attack should Styx renege on their deal, even if it meant the duchess'' daughter were to be a casualty. Duke Ashburn was unsure whether he had been walking the correct path as he could see the dungeon was rapidly spreading above ground in the forest. Traders bargained with elves and tiger beastmen in charge of the stores in this town. Strange and exotic monsters that they had never seen before lurked in the shadows with crimson eyes ring out into the visitors. "Duke Ashburn," Earl Vermonte bon Housenmented while looking down his nose as the group from the Royal Academy of Research and Technology joined their force. "Earl Housen, why are you still here?" "Research, but that isplete now." "So, you will be returning to my city then?" "Just to collect the remaining of my belongings. Should this dungeon have been less of a high priority research target, I would not stay out in the ounds for this long." The duke snorted and ignored the pompous noble from central, instead focusing on the dungeon entrance where a small group of individuals emerged, including the elusive dungeon lord and Monster Lord residing within the dungeon. "Ba!" Duchess Euklid cried out and vanished from the spot, raising a cloud of dust and cracking the ground as she abruptly arrived before her daughter. Reba was in perfect health by all appearances. She had a new set of clothes on which were made with impable skill from high quality cloth. "Mom." Despite her clean appearances, the duchess could naturally tell there were some changes in her daughter from being in captivity for so long. "It''s okay now, let''s go home." ~~~~~ Back at Duke Ashburn''s mansion in the heart of Lagoon Porter City, Reba Euklid sat before a giant window and watched the crimson sunset over the horizon, a sight she hadn''t seen in what felt like years. Her mother, Duke and Duchess Ashburn, Gabralter, and her twopatriots, Lora and Dare, sat around her making sure she was okay. "That dungeon lord didn''t harm you, did he?" Lora, the blonde baron with silver phoenix makeup in the corners of her eyes asked while also nervously insinuating darker events. "You weren''t force to you know help make monsters?" Reba thought of her time in the dungeon and expertly hid her expression when thinking of her interactions with Styx over the past several days when he stole her first kiss and several more. "No, none of those." Duchess Euklid pushed a tray of small cakes and biscuits to her daughter and also asked, "Where were you being kept? They didn''t just lock you in a small cell, did they?" "No, I had my own home and was free to walk around." "So you saw everything in the dungeon." Reba was nervous but described various locations. Standing off to the side of the room, Earl Housen sat with a notepad and jotted down notes on their conversation, especially theyout and life within the dungeon. Several facts that Reba didn''t mention were that Styx was the dungeon itself, not just a dungeon lord, and that a piece of him was in her. Firstly, she didn''t know how to bring it up and exin it, while secondly, she was deeply embarrassed because she allowed it to happen. "There is one other thing that has been decided during your absence." "What is it?" "We have confirmed the wedding between you and Gabralter." At Duchess Euklid''s deration, a silence fell over the room. Reba forcefully nodded her head while the duke''s son grimaced and looked away. Whilst Reba had been in full support of wedding him to help her mother and create a protective over their territory, her heart was more disturbed now. Dare hugged Reba''s arm affectionately and congratted her while wishing her the best, but the duchess'' daughter could only think about Styx''s words which rung in her mind ''You should just ept that you are already mine.'' Chapter 93: Defying the Heavens Chapter 93: Defying the Heavens Styxmandeered an empty ssroom at the dungeon school with all his dungeon wives sitting around. There were a couple of bystanders too, which included Rhea, Vivy, and Vivy''s current favored reverse harem member. Fiore and Irie were the only two who hadn''t undergone the ss Up procedure to be Second Step rankers, while two of the others had failed to initiate evolution. "I want to work with everyone to determine the factors that are involved in triggering evolution. This is what we know so far." Styx wrote several items on the board. They were being pregnant with a monster, having a piece of himself inside of them, and the direct infusion of an attribute. "But why does it happen?" Therina asked curiously, as even she couldn''t understand why evolution was possible for an exotic race. "It is my belief that when you cross far enough over the line of being a monster of the dungeon, such as fulfilling all the conditions, you are recognized as a monster temporarily, triggering the evolution system alongside the ss Up system." Beatrice nodded her head in understanding and crossed her arms under herrge breasts, causing them to bound and be more pronounced. Kale floated just above her chair while pinching her chin in thought. "So why didn''t ir or Niah evolve? They fulfilled all of these criteria." "Because for some reason, they weren''t ssified as enough of the dungeon''s monsters to trigger it. I also don''t know why this is the case, but it means there is a missing link or piece of information somewhere and it is why you all are here. I want to discuss this with you all." Therina''s lips curved up into a grin as stood up and stated, "I know what it is." "Then kindly do exin." The lithic naiad stood before Styx and rested her body against his chest, her dream like two tails fully extended behind her and waving in the air. "It is the piece of you inside of us that makes the difference. When the person with that piece truly gives their heart and sole to you, it goes deeper within us, right down to our core~" "And you can measure this?" "No, it is just a feeling." Therina turned her head and looked at Beatrice with a cold gaze, her tails wrapping around Styx tightly. Beatrice turned her head a refused to meet her gaze, her actions confirming the former''s suspicion. Therina also nced at Kale, who just appeared confused more than anything, but she understood instinctively. "I never imagined Sister Bea had such powerful feelings though, she sure had hidden it well. Kale is a surprise too." "So what does this mean for the rest of the girls?" Styx asked while thumbing the base of Therina''s long, pointed ears, causing the naiad to look up at him with an amorous gaze. "Irie will be able to evolve. Fiore won''t, though." Fiore had a forced smile on her face. She was possibly the least concerned about whether she could evolve or not, but she still had held onto some secret desires. "Can I?" Aura askes with a nk expression. "You are already Fifth Step, you can''t evolve any more without undergoing apotheosis, but you are a monster, so you would evolve anyway," Styx answered the wolf eared woman while rolling his eyes. "By the way, you are close to levelling up finally, aren''t you?" "Yes." Her voice was steady, but her tail swayed and betrayed her hidden excitement. Her manawork had finally expanded enough for her to store enough experience to level up, All that remained was securing the final amount of experience to reach the threshold. ~~~~~ A Third Step bloodthirsty yatch behemoth slumped to the ground as its head was torn from its body and sent flying, crashing through giant ancient trees and sending wood chips flying everywhere. The ground shook as it bounced several times beforeing to a full stop, a line of ttened trees and destruction in its wake. [ Experience threshold met. Level Up! Lv. 83 -> Lv. 84 umted skill experience bonus: Omnivore -> MAX Overeating -> MAX Hyperspeed -> Gluttony -> MAX Sloth -> Instant Regeneration -> Presence Erasure -> Mana Burst -> Polymorph -> Spatial Movement -> MAX Time Stagnation -> Imprable Skin -> Phantasmal Fangs -> World Devourer -> Phantasmagoria -> All Stats(Excluding Luck): +16 ss bonus: Str +4, Dex +6, End +4, Vit +2 Int +1 Mana: 39,521 -> 45,134 + New Title: Fate Defier + New Title: Limit Breaker + New Title: Dungeon Guardian ] [ Skill level max limit exceeded. Executing forced skill evolution. Omnivore + Overeating bining with Gluttony Failed. Restarting Failed. Restarting Applying title: Consumer of All Sess. + New Skill Created: Sin of Gluttony + New Title: Queen of Gluttony ] [ Species: Phantom World Devouring Wolf Name: Aura Age: 347 Mana: 45,134/45,134 Exp: 0/1,151,388 Level: 83 Str: 647 Dex: 682 End: 600 Vit: 621 Int: 497 Mnd: 449 Lck: 23 Skills: Sin of Gluttony Hyperspeed Gluttony Sloth Instant Regeneration Presence Erasure Mana Burst Polymorph Spatial Movement Time Stagnation Imprable Skin Phantasmal Fangs World Devourer Phantasmagoria Titles: Kin Eater, Invader, Human Enemy, Human Nemesis, Human Cmity, Elf Enemy, Elf Nemesis, Consumer of All, World Devourer, Monster Lord, Forbidden Zone Ruler, God Defier, Phantasm Ruler, Fate Defier, Limit Breaker, Dungeon Guardian, Queen of Gluttony ] Aura had over a hundred years of built up potential stored within her body, inessible due to her withered mana veins. All of this came bursting out at once as the powers which governed the world also descended and endowed her with even more power from her new titles. Several of her skills hadbined into a new one called Sin of Gluttony too. This wasn Inside of her body was a storm that tore her enormous manawork apart before reforming again. He skin split open and vermillion blood spurting out of her body and onto the ground, smoldering the grass and torching the ground with its intense heat. Aura felt power far superior than she ever had and raised her head to the night sky before howling. Her howl was her shout to the heavens, expressing her defiance as she tore apart the restrictions that had been on her for over the past century. Trees blew away from the shockwave of her howl as the entire abyssal forest shook from the disy of her might. Her howl was heard not just in the dungeon, but even the nearest several dungeon cities heard the noise, high level rankers immediately waking up with a cold sweat as a deep sense of crisis assaulted them. Her howl fractured and broke apart the sky, a green and blue aurora spreading throughout the kingdom due to the chaotic region. As the heaven rending howl dissipated, everything was silent, people''s pets, horses, and all kinds of animals cowering on the ground without daring to make a sound. The other Monster Lords in the Abyssal Forest all looked in her direction with mixed feelings ranging from aversion and nervousness to eagerness. Aura wasn''t the only Monster Lord who had hit the feared Max Level, and to break through that whilst being in the Fifth Step was heaven defying. Secluded Monster Lords all over the Maple Dragon Kingdom''s forbidden zones, and even several in the surrounding countries, turned their heads and looked in the direction of the Abyssal Forest. Their incredibly powerful senses allowed them to detect this even from kingdom spanning distances. The two Fourth Step rankers of the kingdom also turned towards the Abyssal Forest with furrowed brows. Both the one in the capital city, and the one on the eastern border keeping the Neth''rite Demon Kingdom in check, worried deeply about this phenomenon. Whilst the Treaty of Gods and Ancient ordance was in ce, this sign was an ominous premonition in their hearts. ~~~~~ There were several adventurers doing a night raid on the dungeon, when several monsters were inactive while others filled in their ce. It was a team of ten humans risking their lives to earn a fortune. Styx had been lenient on this group, giving them a good chance to earn rewards and return with tales of victory. They fought against hordes of monsters, even some miners dropping from the ceiling to sneak attack from time to time. Goblin mages buffed the monsters and shot fireballs like cannons while more powerful monsters like regenerating golems, leaf devils and midnight guards skirmished against them. Ranged monsters would also attack from the shadows. This team was well coordinated and experienced however while the dungeon''syout was more and more well known among the adventurer''s guild. There were rumors about the power and beauty of the dungeon residents too, causing rewards for them to be posted by ve traders. The dungeon residents were seen as incredibly valuable and those in the very business saw the potential huge profits. Targeting the dungeon residents was incredibly dangerous, as most whom tried to did not return. This only increased their value due to rarity, so there most adventurers would enter the dungeon with submission cors or other magitech restraining items in case they got lucky. The current price for a First Step dungeon resident was 170 gold for a male and 320 gold for a female. This was an enormous price in the ve trading market and word of such lucrative deals travelled to distant dungeon cities along with merchants. Many residents of the dungeon city watched the livestream of this group fighting through blood and steel to acquire rare treasures and cheered. The localmentary heated up as the difficulty kept increasing and the two healers were struggling to keep everyone in top condition. They had stopped casting as many buffs and focused on purely healing. Aura''s howl and pressure travelled through the dungeon at this time, not only causing silence to fall over the watchers, but also caused the adventurer party to panic and fall in disarray. It was terrible timing as a nightmare vine and void mage beast attacked at the same time. The nightmare vine had deep violet thorns covering it as it grew between the dream realm and physical ne. It attacked from the ground and air at the same time, the Water Mage not having enough time to respond before it wrapped him in numerous barbed vines. The Water Mage''s eyes rolled up as the thorns prated his body and filled it with venom. Crunching sounds followed as he offered no resistance as the nightmare vine crushed and tore the body apart, drinking his blood through the same thorns pierced in him. He was then dropped on the ground as a shrivelled, dried husk of a corpse before a swordsman cut off several vines and caused it to retreat. The base level of a nightmare vine was , but this one had grown all the way to . Just like all the other monsters in the dungeon, those that died were reced, while those that lived increased in level. The birth, death, and leveling up of monsters was like a game of ckjack where Styx was the house, and the house always won in the end. The void mage beast dashed through the void, appearing in the physical ne from time to time as it would leap out of the void before jumping back in. The window to attack it was small, while it attacked the moment it leapt out of the void. It spatpressed balls of chaotic space rapidly like bullets, asionally building up arge one like an energy cannon before shooting it. They were transparent balls that were very difficult to track, making them especially dangerous even when the opponent was defending against it. This was one of thoserger cannon balls of chaotic space, which shed through the adventurers and connected directly with the head of a Second Step Cleric, causing her head to immediately explode in a shower of blood and brain matter. The adventurer''s were horrified and immediately begun retreating, leaving the corpses behind without remorse. There was a hint of insanity in their eyes whilst desperately guarding their porter who had this trips spoils. Styx eased off them and allowed them to retreat, this being a sessful endeavour for both parties. The live audience of all of this were feverish with excitement. They were used to Aura''s pressure by now and quickly recovered as their blood boiled at the battle. Chapter 94: Affection and Gluttony Chapter 94: Affection and Gluttony Styx sat on the end of his giant bed while Aura sat on hisp facing him, her arms and legs wrapped around him. Her tail wrapped around the two of them while she showered him in kisses and also licked his face and neck. Her breath was roasting hot and singed his skin where she breathed on him. She was also partially crushing him as she struggled to control her explosive increase in strength. She was full of energy as her joy ced her on cloud nine. Despite being crushed, her body being tightly wrapped around and pressed against Styx''s caused him to be dominated by his lust. He ran his fingers up the back of her shirt and across her wless skin. Unlike Aura, he didn''t have to control his strength and pulled down her back with his nails while stealing her lips with his own. Aura responded to all his actions passively, allowing him to have his way with her in whatever way he wanted. "You understand whates next, right?" Styx whispered into her ear while his hand slid down the back of her skirt and massaged the base of her tail. Aura looked him in the eyes with an amorous gaze andmented, "I am yours to do whatever you want with." Monsters had different values from humans or other exotic races, so no matter what he wanted to do, she held no aversions in doing. Styx grabbed her shirt and pulled it up. Aura cooperated as he pulled it off of her body, getting caught briefly under herrge breasts before beingpletely removed. Rather than pulling his shirt off in the same way, Aura followed up with a razor-sharp w-like nail passing down and cutting his shirt open directly. She leaned in and pressed her bare breasts against his exposed chest while kissing him. Styx rolled her over one the bed so she was underneath him. He pressed her tongue into her scorching hot mouth and tangled it with her own, only pulling it out when he couldn''t bear it anymore and taking a breather before pushing it back in. The dungeon lord knew that Beatrice hade to see him, but she was blocked outside of the room by a phantasmal barrier Aura set up. He secretly informed her toe backter when his current business was done. Aura''s skirt was pulled off while he removed his own pants to avoid them being cut in two as well. Styx looked at the naked wolf girlying on her back on the bed, watching him eagerly. Her perfect body wasid out for him to have his way with her, and she was also anticipating it as her lower mouth was drooling all over her lower region. Her body was the epitome of all that is perfect. She hadrge breasts that defied gravity, a slender and slightly defined stomach, broad hips and meaty thighs. She had curves in all the right ces and just looking at her lying down with her legs open made Styx struggle to not immediately pounce on her. As Styx got on the bed, the wolf girl took the initiative to hold and stroke his thick rod that was already fully erect. Styx felt a sense of danger as her razor sharp ws were so close to his avatar manhood, but the didn''t cut him in the slightest under her expert control. "You have been paying attention to the other girls for a while now, haven''t you," Styxmented with a sly grin. Aura responded by cing it directly in her mouth. He breath was scorching hot on his sensitive area, but at the same time her slobbery mouth and tongue felt incredibly good, leaving him feelingplicated as to whether he should have her keep going or not. Styx pulled her over his body so her crotch was in his face while she continued sucking on his manhood. Her vagina was directly in front of his face, a tight slit with pink inner folds faintly visible in the crack. He wrapped his hands around her thick thighs and spread her cheeks while raising his face into her vagina. Styx extended his tongue and pushed it between the folds of her vagina, his saliva mixing with her natural fluids covering the area. Her thighs squished the side of his face lightly as he pressed his tongue tightly against her clitoris. He left no region untouched and even worked his way down, or from his perspective up, to where her tight canal entrace was. His tongue pressed against the narrow depression and slightly pushed the tip in. She smelled erotic yet had the taste of honey, most likely due to her diet, causing him to get fully intoxicated in it. Aura continued bobbing her head up and down, sucking on his rod. She took the entire thing into her mouth as she forcefully deep throated it. Styx felt the heat in her mouth moving up and down as she seemed to be trying to tease out its seed. Her throught was just as hot as her mouth and he would be forced down it each time. Unable to hold on any longer, he wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face in her pink slit while ejecting arge amount of dungeon seed into her mouth. The wolf girl''s tail happily shook in the air as she pressed her lips around the base of his shaft. Styx fired his dungeon seed directly down her throat, which convulsed rhythmically as she swallowed it as fast as it came out, not a single drop even touching the inside of her mouth. It wasn''t just her upper mouth that was as hot as fire, but her lower mouth also held the same heat, slightly burning the tip of his tongue and also fingers which he pushed inside of her. Aura continued sucking on his penis and it momentarily became fully erects again, but Styx rolled her onto the bed and retrieved his thick baton which was a faint red. "You have paid enough attention, what position do you like best?" Styx seductively asked while cupping her face with his hand and running his fingers through her long, thick hair. The wolf-eared woman was unsure, but she followed her gut feeling and went on all fours, the doggy style position. "This way, I think." Aura looked over he shoulder at Styx who rubbed the head of his penis up and down her slit, collecting her vaginal fluids on it. She was both nervous and filled with expectations as her tail firmly wrapped around Styx, a sign of her affection towards him. Styx could barely hold himself back as he pressed the tip of his penis against the entrance of her vagina. She was tight, so tight in fact he needed to press harder just to force it open wide enough to squeeze inside. Aura lightly moaned and arched her back, lightly pushing backwards as Styx entered her inner cloister deeper and deeper. Her vaginal walls tightly squeezed on his as he plunged his entire shaft inside of her, her pink lips tightly wrapping around the broad base of his rod. Aura''s breathing increased in pace as Styx began pistoning, his hips pping on her ass each time. Styx leaned over her back and reached around to grasp her breasts in his hands, fondling and pinching her cherry nipples to his own pleasure more so than hers. The inside of her vagina was like a volcano, but as Styx became limatised to the heat, it simply felt far too good as she mped around him from time to time and prevented him moving. His urge to cum kept increasing as the wolf-eared womanyed her upper body t on the bed, only her ass sticking up in the air. Styx repositioned himself with his hands on her hips and thrust into her as deep as he could. He could see her wless vagina stretched wide open as his rod plunged deep inside of its red hot depths. Her vaginal lips kissed his pelvis as he poked the head of it into the entrance of her womb. Just as he was breathing heavily and about to cum, Aura''s feet raised and pressed against his rear, forcing him even deeper inside of her as the entrance to her womb also slipped down the head of his member. "Awuuu~~" Aura moaned lightly with an erotic expression as Styx poured his dungeon seed deep within her scorching hot womb. She held him in ce as her vagina gently pulsated around him, sucking out any residual seed and swallowing it in her womb. "Eh? No notification?" Styx asked when he wasn''t given a choice what to impregnate her with. Styx was unaware, but this was because Aura had directly ingested it within her, not giving it time to settle against her vaginal walls. "If it didn''t work once, let''s do it again." Styx retracted his semied,rge meat stick from inside of her vagina that still throbbed as if hungry for more and turned her over onto her back. She had a flushed expression and looked at him with a frightening amount of adoration. "I love you," Aura slovenly said, wrapping her limbs around him and pulling his face into her breasts. "I love you. I love you." Styx still held troubled memories with a certain goddess which made him feelplicated towards telling other he loved them, but he showed his emotions with actions. His once again fully erect penis forced its way into her tight vagina while he sealed her lips with his own. Aura raised her hips slightly as he forcefully buried his entire length inside of her. Hey atop of her whilst her hot inner walls seemed to massage and stroke him. He only moved gently, rubbing her deep walls and tight womb entrance at the end of the tunnel. Without pulling out and rubbing their pelvises together, the two cuddled and panted together. Even as he came deep inside of her once again, no notification appeared before him. Aura didn''t want to let him go and held him still enveloped within her. "I''m happy to stay like this for now," Styx whispered into her ear, "but you have to lower the barrier and let the other girls in." "Okay." The phantasmal barrier around the room vanished and the two continued to lie there, Aura managing to pull the bed sheets over them with one hand and not releasing Styx. The other girls soon entered to heavily erotic smelling room and were unfazed. On one hand, Styx had already informed them, while at the same time, they were used to scenes like this, and would often join in too. Everyone crowded into the bed and hugged the entangled dungeon lord and wolf-eared woman, Aura frequently murmuring "I love you" in bliss as they all slept. Chapter 95: Stormy Waters Chapter 95: Stormy Waters Reba stood inside of an extravagant room with gold dcor and multiple mirrors on the wall. All this detail was just for a dressing room, where she tried on several grand wedding dresses worth fortunes of gold each. "You look stunning," Styx''s nonchnt voice rung in her head, an ever-present part of her life now. Reba maintained a stoic expression and avoided making any sign to acknowledge that she had heard him. She turned around in front of the multiple mirrors facing her and admired her dress from all angles. "You''re not allowed to marry him. You are already mine." Styx''s tirade of words continued in her head as she happily smiled to the maids serving as her assistants. Unbeknownst to them however, her fingers were digging into her palms as she struggled to maintain control over her emotions. She didn''t know when the thought crept in, but she was reluctant to marry Duke Ashburn''s son, Gabralter. This feeling only grew as Styx forbade her from doing it, but her mother''s wishes and her duty to her family was more powerful. Her two cohorts, Lora and Dare, constantly stated how beautiful she looked and how jealous they were of her. She would usually be ted at their praises and would share titbits of gossip with them and other noblewoman matters, but currently she only felt disillusioned to it all. She still did her best to act normal, but it was all a faade to her true feelings which changed greatly during her time in the dungeon. Reba ended up choosing a dress with a tight corset and truly entuated her figure. It was pure white with silvercework and flower patterns down the sides and hem of the skirt. "You will wear it for me," Styx''s voice resounded in her mind onest time before falling silent again. ~~~~~ In the dungeon, Therina learned of the ns of the woman her darling had imed as his own was nning on marrying another human. As much as she despised both the woman and even more so the human she was to marry, she couldn''t allow her darling to be besmirched in such a way. It even made her be more disgusted towards the human race. The human dungeon residents suffered some of this from her in the dungeon, and it was well known how much she hated humans. It was never anything harmful though, usually just res or tantly ignoring their existence. Rather than forming a poor image, it instead led to a popr convention that it was great luck for a human to receive a single word from her, no matter how sharp it was. "How dare he" Therina muttered under her breath with cold eyes before opening a portal into the dream world. The naiad made her way into Gabralter''s dreams, just like all the unknown times before. Tonight''s dream was a peaceful nightmare. He walked through a city crumbling to the ground, nothing but ck silhouettes of people on the ground like shadows, as if their past presence were burned into the city as a memory of their existence. Therina silently stood behind the lonesome wanderer, her dream powers manifesting in her hands like tendrils of mana. She had learned a lot about herself and her newfound racial powers through experimentation. The choker around Gabralter''s neck, alongside the blindfold, were created by her powers, or at least, another timeline''s version of her. Just like everything else in the dream realm, the choker and blindfold were symbolic and manifestations of intent. Dream energies spread from her hands and wrapped around the oblivious Gabralter, infusing in his astral body and particrly the cor and blindfold. She reinforced her intent within them, not only twisting his thoughts subliminally, but also forming a spiritual suppression on him. This spiritual suppression was something each version of her in different timelines had umted, and she could feel just how enormous that amount was. His spiritual body waspletely unaware as it was being crushed by a tsunami of restrictive force. It was not affecting his physical body at all, but his spiritual body was already close to imploding from the umted force. It was a method which transcended the link between the astral body, which was a mere projection, and a person''s actual soul. The items were also projections, which was the true secret to how they were produced. In its essence, the soul of the person was being misguided into believing those things existed, so what was seen in the dream realm was a projection of a choker and blindfold that he himself produced. Her intent was then injected into these items, linking back to the soul. ''Darling truly is incredible, toe up with such a method,'' Therina thought to herself was a broad grin that broke physical limitations and almost reached her ears due to being in the dream realm. ~~~~~ The following day, in Duke Ashburn''s giant mansion, Gabralter stormed in on Duchess Euklid, Reba Euklid, and his mother having morning tea together. They sat in arge atrium surrounded by flowers and were having a joyous conversation up until then. "I refuse to marry her!" Gabralter bluntly dered while looking at Reba. Having been used to far more pressure whilst in the dungeon, the duchess'' daughter didn''t so much as flinch as she continued to sip her rose colored tea. "Gabralter, perhaphs we should discuss thister?" Duchess Ashburn said with a forced smile. "No! Cancel this wedding immediately." Seeing he was not about to calm down at his mother''s stern warning, his mother ced her cup down with an audible nk before responding. "What in thend has gotten into you? You were happy to go along with this marriage up until now." "No, I wasn''t! There is only one person I will marry, and she is still being held prisoner!" Reba''s mood was alsopletely spoiled. She looked at him and spoke in a tone neither loud nor quiet. "The elf is not a prisoner." Gabralter refused to believe anything other than his own viewpoint, while his parents were adamant about removing him from her and the dungeon''s influence. "You will marry the young Miss Euklid, and that is final." Duchess Ashburn''s tone was strict and didn''t leave any room for refusal, despite how much Gabralter tried. Reba politely excused herself from morning tea, her heart in turmoil and Styx''s words still fresh in her ears. ~~~~~ Auray across Styx''sp with her tail and arms firmly wrapped around him. Ever since they had sex, she had be heavily addicted to being close and intimate with Styx. The wolf-eared woman slept with the rest of the girls and had to exorcise heavy restraint to not forcefully dominate the best position next to Styx every night and instead share. The other girls were also allowed to touch her, but not intimately. "So you are saying you didn''t get pregnant, because you ''ate'' my semen?" Aura''s ears perked up in eagerness as she nodded. "I was just so hungry and it was incredibly fulfilling. It was the best." Her hand snaked through his clothes and grabbed onto his member, overly eager for more. "Can you not eat it?" "I don''t know. It feels so good that words can''t begin to describe it. Maybe if I was full?" "Why is that a question?" Styx rolled his eyes and set making the wolfgirl pregnant as his nest goal for her. Aura still had tasks to do for Styx though, so she was forced to leave herfortable spot. Just when he felt he was alone, Styx shivered as he felt an ice cold gaze on him. Up in the corner of the room, on the ceiling, a shadow so dark it seemed to have substance spread. A pair of deep red eyes emerged and looked out of it, straight at Styx. The dungeon lord was petrified as the pressure of a Monster Lord weighed down on him. It was only a small amount too, as the full pressure would be enough to easily snuff out the life of his avatar. Even though only the eyes were visible, Styx could recognize who they belonged to. ''Spider'' He secretly thought to himself while his gaze seemed to be incapable of looking away from those bloody eyes. This silent stand off seemed tost an eternity in which Styx was prepared to lose an avatar while calling Aura back and praying Dragon came quickly. The eyes began to fade back into the shadows while the pressure vanished as if it never existed. Immediately after, Aura appeared in the room with all her hairs standing on end and growling. Styx didn''t have time to cate her as there weer visitors. In the trading town just outside the dungeon, a Fifth Step Monster Lord appeared alongside a woman that appeared human save for her curved antlers. They weren''t the only ones to arrive, as he saw through the eyes of his monsters as a giant spaceship, a battlecruiser by appearance, had appeared above the town. Several rings dropped out of the ship and floated above the ground before several kobold looking creatures with two sets of arms appeared. These four-eyed kobolds were all at the Fourth Step, and one seemed like they weer about to reach the Fifth Step too. Also sensing their arrival in the area, Dragon almost immediately appeared alongside his assistant and Heaven envoy, Loreley. Chapter 96: Divine Might Chapter 96: Divine Might The four-eyed kobolds in extravagant yet regal clothing, the two Monster Lords and two apanying envoys looked at each other with cold gazes. "What is a pompous angel from Heaven doing here? Do you not know that this is Gtica Empire territory? And you" One of the lead four-eyed kobolds, who appeared to be themander, gritted his teeth at running into Loreley and the other envoy. The Monster Lords werepletely ignored, while they just seemed interested in watching the drama unfold. At first, Styx they were speaking elvish to be considerate to the local residents, but he quickly noticed a discrepancy with their voices and oral movements. They were wearing special cors that automatically tranted their words into the localnguage while also reverse tranting anything they heard from others. "This is a Maple Dragon Kingdom, not the Gtica Empire, despite your im to other''snd. Heaven is present everywhere." The kobold made a grunt that seemed to be a snort of derision. "You don''t dare to fight our empire; you would rather tuck your tail and broker peace every time there is a conflict. Heaven is just a paper tiger." Loreley''s expression turned dark as herrge halo began to hum ominously, a frightening pressure descending upon the area. Dragon managed to shrug it off while the other envoys and Monster Lord had stern expressions. "I suggest you choose your words carefully in the future. Heaven is not to be insulted, or you will suffer our wrath." The third envoy, the beautiful woman with curved antlers on her head and long, flowing green hair maintained her silence and let the conflict between the two megaliths y out. She was part of a nomadic empire that didn''t make public im to anynd and its people spread out through countless empires. They were The Void, but most just knew them as The Nomads. Nobody knew where the heart of their empire was situated, so they couldn''t even be invaded. There had been those who targeted their people in their kingdoms and empires to the point genocide urred, but not one of those kingdom''s survived The Void''s retaliation. Their people spreading throughout countless empires, they were able to influence entire foreign armies to attack empires while never even getting their own hands dirty. The Kobolds recognized her affiliation by the small Void tattoo on her forehead and simply decided to ignore her, while Loreley had known about her long ago whilst serving as Dragon''s assistant. It wasmonly known as chasing after the nomads was a fruitless endeavour, not when the location of their home was unknown at least. Aura detected the intruders the moment they appeared and was held back by Styx momentarily whilst he evaluated the situation. Once he decided to intrude on the meeting before Loreley and the kobold creature came to blows, she immediately vanished from his side. The space around the group of envoys twisted as reality itself distorted. At first they were standing on the outskirts of the town, then they were in the mouth of a volcano, a dusty old mansion void of life and sound, a prairie ravaged by countless thunderbolts and typhoons, a calm beech. Scenes flickered from one to another, everyone forced to use their powers to protect their body as the wolf-eared woman appeared out of a door that appeared. "You have definitely gotten stronger," Dragon said in a sarcastic tone, but he truly meant those words and was impressed. "But can you control yourself a bit?" Loreley''s halo expanded in size and created a protective curtain around her body, while the kobold''s activated a device on their wrists which seemed to project magic arrays to create aprehensive bubble shield around them. The green-haired woman with antlers smiled and weathered everything with her body alone, even protecting the Monster Lord beside her on asion. Despite how slim she was, veins protruded on the back of her hands and neck as she smashed and kicked away projectiles firing faster than rockets. "What is everyone doing here?" Therina entered the scene as soon as Aura''s Phantasmagoria settled down. "You can call me Ygralea," The green haired woman gave a beautiful smile to Therina whilst the kobolds directly ignored the Second Step ranker. "We detected a Monster Lord''s energy rapidly increasing and came to investigate. Such an increase would only happen with a Limit Break after all. This isn''t umon in lower stage rankers, but for a Fifth Step existence" "Practically impossible." "Correct. An extraordinary heaven defying treasure could help with this, but that would have been detected long ago if it were the case." "So, what is your purpose ining here?" Ygralea gave a beautiful smile and looked toward Aura, "I want to invite Wolf to join The Void. We will naturally offer her our full support and rare treasures to help achieve godhood. Our Voidgods will also help protect and guide her." "Just that?" "We also want to know how she broke through her limit." The leading Kobold red at her and stated, "You nomads pige and plunder from others without remorse." "Your terrible rtions with the surrounding empires have soured rtions with a lot of very powerful powerhouses. If you continue acting like this, The Void will also be added to that list. I think you are currently waging enough wars that you can''t afford to start more." The kobold envoy red at her silently, not daring to refute her as her words struck directly at his sore spot. The Gtica Empire were currently involved in four different wars and their forces were spread thin as is. If they were to start another one, they may be unable to survive anymore. The giant battleship floating overhead captured everyone''s attention in the town, even the citizens and Duke Ashburn of Lagoon Porter City gaze at the giant floating fortress over the horizon with apprehension. Within it, exotic races of all kinds were operating the ships sensors and weapons, investigating everything around them. Its sensors were capable of analysing 70 percent of the Maple Dragon Kingdom, and even the Fifth Step Monster Lords were of little threat to it. Goddess Eve''s gaze focused on this ship through her statues. She quietly suppressed her existence that mortals usually couldn''t feel. The weapons aboard this battleship, powered by a giant mana heart within its core, were even capable of killings gods. "If you know what is good for you, you will join our empire." The kobold threatened Aura, causing her to retaliate before Styx could stop her. His shield automatically activated and protected his body as her outstretch ws stabbed through the shield and were caught inched before his face. His expression immediately nched and drew a hilt like device with each of his four arms. Two of the devices erupted light de made from mana that serves as both swords and whips, while the other two be rifles. "You will pay for this foolishness," He grit his teeth and fired at her through the shield. Aura threw the envoy into the air, causing the rifle mana bolts to miss and dig huge trenches in the ground, destroying several buildings in the town but thankfully not injuring anyone. A giant phantasmal wolf head formed in the air and unleashed Sin of Gluttony at him, swallowing space, time, and anything else within its field of influence. Everyone, even Dragon, adopted severe expressions at the frightening power of this skill. [ Jor Yl Operan Ulson (Spectral Void Knight ) in by Phantom World Devouring Wolf! + 480 exp ] It was a seemingly pitiful amount of experience that Styx earned, but Aura was Fifth Step whilst he was Fourth Step, meaning there was an experience penalty of a factor of ten before his ten percent was calcted. The envoy was killed so fast nobody could react in time. All the remained of the space and time devoured was a small singrity and a distorted broken field. It appeared this was, but it was in fact a hole in the universe where ''nothing'' existed. The other Kobold envoys drew their weapons and the battleship above pointed several dozen weapons at Aura on the ground. Therina, after hearing from Styx, turned to face Loreley, Ygralea and the two Monster Lords and requested them. "Styx has stated that we are all a part of the Abyssal Forest. If you can stop the battleship and diffuse the situation, he is happy to work in reaching agreements with both of your forces going forward in the future." Even though there wasn''t a great deal she could do, Therina churned her mana as much as her body would allow, her mana channels straining under pressure. Ygralea watched her with deep interest, her antlers emitting a faint violet luminous fog. Aura was also fully prepared to defend against the battleship as best she could. Styx chastised her repeatedly in her head for acting without thinking, causing her to feel very guilty. Styx was rapidlying up with means of preserving his dungeon in the worst case scenario. Whilst understanding the potential consequences it could have on her, he ordered Aura that if hemanded, for her to drag the entire dungeon into her Phantasmagoria where it would escape the bombardment. The main problem with this situation was that Aura wouldn''t also be protected in the same way. The other option was to escape with his core and most of the citizens, but this would harm his entire development as well as integrity to protect his residents. "Allow me," Loreley stated with an ice cold gaze as a ball of ck light that defiedmon sense formed in between her hands. The ball exploded into a pir of light, piercing through the ship and leaving a small hole before vanishing amongst the clouds. Seeing the heavenly beacon, the remaining envoyspletely disregarded their own self preservation and frantically shouted, "Fire!" Mana array asrge as the town itself grew below the ship while its weapons fired world destroying bolts of crimson lightning at the group. Should this attack hit, half of the Abyssal Forest would be annihted, alongside the distant Lagoon Porter City, and every exotic race and monster within the area. The Monster Lords and envoys may survive, but that was all. Just before the attacknded, time stagnated. The sky rippled from where the earlier heaven beacon vanished as a response from Heaven arrived. Golden clouds spread out from this ripple and the divine hymn of angels resounded across thend. The attacks from the battleship and everyone else were trapped in the stagnant timeflow, yet pure white feathers rained down from the clouds almost peacefully. Whatever these feathers touched would evaporate in golden motes of light. Despite how calm and peaceful it seemed, it was annihtion in its truest form. The battleship silently evaporated into light without being able to offer up any resistance. These feathers were indiscriminate however, also falling towards the town and threatening the residents, merchants, and monsters within. A faint, hard to detect violet light broke through cracks in the ground and formed a giant dome over the town and dungeon. Any feathers that fell on this dome sizzled before vanishing, the dome immediately repairing itself of any damage. For those who could see mana, they watched in amazement over theplex, seemingly impossible ways that mana adopted specific traits or ''intents'' and was used to attack. Some of the dungeon residents even seemed to get a faint inspiration, including ir. Time returned to usual and the singrity Aura left in the air also dissipated at this time, the world healing itself. The remaining two envoys of the Gtica Empire were on the ground dead, their eyes rolled up in their heads with broken, jelly like bodies. Nobody saw how they died, but it did not appear to be a pleasant one. There were two additional people among the crowd, a male angel with four sets of pure white wings and shoulder length straight blond hair, and a stunning woman with pointed ears and very long violet hair with ornate ruby hair pins in it. "Your lordship." "Your eminence." Loreley and Yzralea deeply bowed to the two grand figures in a hurry. They had both sent a signal containing information to their home empires, but neither had expected such grand figures to appear personally. "I hadn''t expected one of the elusive Voidgods would appear here," The angel stared at the seductive woman with a callous gaze. "Oh, don''t be so rude. When an angel of your level descends, how could I not be interested." The Voidgod giggle with her hand over her mouth. She appeared friendly on the outside, but her power was the real deal and the fate of the remaining Gtica envoys could have only been her doing. Styx had exited the dungeon himself by now, Therina and Aura immediately joining beside him. The two gods looked at him in slight curiosity, but mostly disregard. "Your honors, I imagine it was quite tiresome descending. Would you like toe inside and try our hospitality?" Knowing that there was nothing he could do to stop them, Styx instead adopted a more humble attitude. The male angel looked at him andmented, "At least you know some propriety." "It is easier change the flow of a river when you move with it, after all." Styx chuckled to himself and led to group inside the dungeon. The Voidgod however tapped her bare feet on the ground seemingly pointlessly andmented. "Something doesn''t smell right." The angel briefly extended his divinity, covering the entire kingdom and more, let alone the dungeon beforementing, "You are imagining it." Chapter 97: Gods? Chapter 97: Gods? "You can call me Samael," The blond angel introduced himself, a name which caused Styx to raise a brow as it was a biblical name, not just some ordinary god. Unwilling to be outdone, the violet haired beauty smiled and stated, "You can call me Pris." Styx didn''t recognize the name, but he figured she should be at least equal to Samael considering how they interacted. Loreley and Ygralea were both subservient before their respective gods, following behind them silently in case they requested anything. Both of the envoy''s Monster Lords also carried along. Neither of the two had expected such grand figures to descend when they requested support from their respective forces They sat at a grand table with Styx at the head, the gods in the highest seats of honor just next to him, followed by Aura and Therina. Beatrice and Rhea waited on the table while Fiore and several of the dungeon''s finest chefs cooked meals. Just like Aura, the gods were highly appreciative towards the incredibly mana rich honey produced from the mana eater flowers. Samael looked at Dragon, the Monster Lord who was to join Heaven upon ascension, and Peacock, the other Monster Lord. "Not bad at all," Hemented with a warm smile toward Dragon. Pris also nced between the two of them and snorted in annoyance, the disparity between the two obvious to the eyes of gods. Dragon was superior to Peacock in almost every way, so Samael was naturally proud of his side''s acquisition while her mood was soured. Instead, she turned and focused on Aura, the Monster Lord who miraculously broke through her limit. "Aura, right? How would you like to join The Void, I will promise you the best of resources and conditions." She felt as if getting this Monster Lord would offset the disadvantage The Void had against Heaven had in this backwater kingdom, but Styx was the one who responded in a resolute voice. "She is mine." "Oh, you can join too. Whilst it is rare for a dungeon to join a force, you are a rare dungeon." Pris didn''t see any value in Styx outside of his rarity, but him joining alongside Aura was inconsequential to her. Samael, who had received far more information from Heaven than what The Void had, looked at Styx with appreciative eyes and valued him even more than Aura. It was also the main reason why he personally descended to intervene, rather than Heaven just using some divine weapon or having a Fifth Step angel arrive. "Styx, how would you like to join heaven? Not only do we have an enormous number of treasures, magitech, and knowledge, but all our angels are beauties." Everyone was surprised by the strange yet uncharacteristic offering from the high level god, especially Pris who looked toward her envoy who also had a quizzical expression. Styx however, was truly enticed. He almost immediately jumped on the offer, but managed to restrain himself at thest moment. It was a response clearly seen by the gods, and Samael especially knew how effective his tactic was. The dungeon lord, who could expand someone''s potential, was like an extremely rare treasure that never ran out. He was priceless, but Samael knew just how to ''buy'' him. "I can only apologize." Styx shook his head and rejected them. If anything, he felt the gods were too surreal, almost fake. This wasn''t because of any particr feeling they gave off, but what they didn''t give off. He had been in the presence of Anthea, the goddess of the harvest, as well as the goddess of the earth. There was a particr aura about her which these gods simply didn''t have. It was something intangible that couldn''t be expressed in mere words. "It matters not, you did promise to bring our rtions closer though." "Of course. As long as your demands are eptable, I will do my best to aplish them." "I will have Heaven establish temples here." "We will also create Void Temples." Styx sighed and didn''t know how to respond. It wasn''t an unreasonable request, but he had hoped to build a temple for Aura when it was time for her to ascend, while two superpowers forpetition would be like some unknown brand going up against Microsoft and Apple at the same time. "You must provide your own resources, and can only build it in a location I decide on. If there are any specific location restrictions, we can negotiate on that." Samael nonchntly waved his hand, signalling it was of no concern. He did make a briefment however. "We will have some angels serve as priestesses. You are also free to touch any of them as you choose." "That seems a little too good to be true." "I am sure they will be very receptive of your services." Styx understood that he meant the ability to help people increase their manawork, while Pris was getting irritated by not understanding. "Further discussions can be made with our priestesses." The group shared more small talk before the feast ended. Getting what he wanted, Samael ascended straight back into the Divine Realm, while Pris vanished alongside her force''s envoy and Peacock. Styx knew gods and these giant forces worked on their own schedules, and it could be years before said temples were even arranged to be built, so he went back to his daily routines and ced it at the back of his mind. Once they established their temples, despite the downsides, it would form a strong repulsion towards any invading forces. ~~~~~ In the Maple Dragon Capital, the royal pce. The Royal Military Advisor, Julius, was looking over a report that was transmitted to him with the highest priority. He frowned while looking over the information which recorded a giant battleship descending from the sky, before two gods also descended and annihted it. One of those gods was identified to belong to Heaven, a force so frightening he got cold shivers just thinking about it. Nobody had ever gone to all out war with Heaven and won. Angels were known to be fanatical about Heaven, and even the children would fight tooth and nail to protect it. Disregarding each individual''s enormous strength, the angels had a form of devotion that had never been replicated elsewhere. Not long after, a priestess bearing the will of Goddess Eve arrived under urgent news. An oracle had been passed down onto the devout followers of the goddess. "The dungeon located in the southern region of the Abyssal Forest is a breeding pit of sodomy and death, soon to be a portal for other empires to invade. It, and the Monster Lord residing within, must be eradicated as soon as possible." The king and queen were convened with all the military and state advisors to discuss the news. Three hourster, the doors of the war room were swung open and orders for a call to arms was sent out. 40,000 Third Step soldiers were convened, 10,000 of those being very extravagantly paid adventurers and mercenaries. There were also 2,000 portable war cannons ready to be immediately deployed and fired. This was the greatest force the kingdom could summon, and it was truly pitting all against the dungeon, or more specifically, Fifth Step Monster Lord. Goddess Eve''s orders were absolute within the kingdom, so the king immediately put everything he could afford into this campaign. In the Royal Academy of Research and Technology, Earl Vermonte bon Housen looked at the report with a gloomy expression. A force of this magnitude was incredibly powerful, but he held his doubts. "Even if we win, it would be crippling to our army. There are plenty of better methods, so why would Goddess Eve order the kingdom to attack in such a way? What is she thinking?" No matter how he tried to figure out her thought process, he came to a single conclusion. Either way, he had to rapidly focus on his research of being able to stimte people to be able to reach the Third Step faster. This was imperative to producing new soldiers for the kingdom. ~~~~~ Styxy on his back beside a stream running underground, flower spread out over the small hills all around. The sound of bugs could be heard within the dungeon now, these small creatures adapting to underground life and living in the mana rich area. Along with bugs, were several spiders to prey on them. The dungeon lord marvelled at how despite not building this part of the ecosystem, it developed by itself. His dungeon wives alsoy on the ground among the flowers next to him except for Therina who sat on her knees just above his head. "What are you thinking about?" Therina asked with tenderness in her voice, her fingers massaging his temples while her tails curled around and formed a pillow for him. "A hundred things, yet nothing in particr. The recent events have just been very intensive. I am just rxing now that things seem to be calming down." Fiore, who had beenying to his right, calmly said with her eyes closed, "I want to do the ss Up procedure." Irie had also recently reached , so she also said she wanted to as well. "Well," Styx said with a grin, "I always sleep best after sharing my seed." Chapter 98: Final Class Ups Chapter 98: Final ss Ups Fiore, Piri''s aunt, was always tender and caring in bed. She tightly held Styx in her embrace as his thick rod slid all the way inside of her. Her light grey, shoulder length hair spread out messily on the bed underneath her as she panted into his ear. Styx wasn''t to be outdone, nibbling on her grey, long elven ears. His chest pressed tightly against herrge breasts while he grinded his hips against hers, trying to push it as deep as he could. Irie leaned on his back and used her body weight to push down on his hips too, causing Fiore to seductively moan as it pressed open the entrance to her womb "Haahhhh~~" "Press it in more~" Styx was sandwiched between the two woman, Fiore digging her fingers into his back while Irie ran her nails up and down his sides. He lifted Fiore up until they where in a sitting position, her vaginal walls clenching around his shaft as she moved her hips back and forth with her head hanging over his shoulder. "Hurry up~" Irie seductively moaned whilst tangling herself around the two of them. "I want my turn too~" Styx rolled his eyes and reached on hand behind him, slipping it between her legs and fingering her pink slit that was covered in vaginal juice. His other hand supported Fiore behind her back as she grinded his shaft. Fiore tightly gripped onto Styx and her whole body shivered in ecstasy as she came. Her vaginal walls constricting rhythmically around his shaft which also spurted his dungeon seed directly into her womb. She also hadn''t known what attribute to use, so Styx had her follow the same route as ir and give her a wind attribute. [ Insemination begun. Please select seed to imnt: 3x Miners Burden (1) 1h incubation 2x Wind Gnome Burden (1) 1h incubation 1x Wind Sprite Burden (2) 2h incubation 1x Galerat Burden (3) 2h incubation 1x Breeze Knight Burden (4) 4h incubation 1x Swiftfang Wolf Burden (9) 12h incubation 1x Tree Nymph Burden (11) 24h incubation 1x Wind Guardian Burden (13) 24h incubation 2x Tree Nymph Burden (16) 24h incubation 1x Gale Devil Burden (18) 24h incubation 1x Typhoon Spirit Burden (20) 42h incubation 1x Orion Beheader Burden (22) 70h incubation 2x Wind Glider Burden (24) 32h incubation ] [ 1x Gale Devil selected Incubation 24:13:04 ] Fiore hugged him tightly and buried her head in the crook of his shoulder as she felt her womb being painted white until Irie lost her patience and pushed her onto her back before cing herself between Styx and her. Shey face down on Fiore with both of theirrge breasts pressed against one another. "There is no need to be impatient," Styx slid his engorged penis out of Fiore''s tight cave and spread Irie''s ass cheek before rubbing the head of his penis against her slick pink slit. Styx watched as her vagina was pushed wide open as she pushed her hips back and swallowed him whole. "Hngghh. hahhh hahhh~~" Irie panted as she felt a deep satisfaction from Styx filling her narrow entrance up to the brim. Fiore, who was trapped under her, gently fondled her breasts and pinched their pink buds. Styx wrapped one hand around her waist and another under her leg, pulling her up and holding her in the air whilst still submerged. Fiore locked fingers with Irie and helped keep her bnce as Styx thrust up into her deepest recesses. Irie was an Apprentice Earth Mage, but she had dabbled in multiple elements and developed affinities with them, so Styx had specially prepared a unique mana attribute for her. It was an agglomeration of fire, water, earth, wind and lightning elements. From his research, the lightning attribute formed a static bond with the other elements and helped meld them together, creating what he called an elemental attribute. It was mostly useless in standard applications, but for a mage who held multiple affinities, it was very useful. Styx felt humid whilst burning up, cold as a breeze passed through him, and jittery from all the lightning attribute involved. It was a feverishbination, but he had confidence Irie would be able to control it. He let Irie fall forward and rest atop Fiore as he pumped her full of seed. [ Insemination begun. Please select seed to imnt: 3x Miners Burden (1) 1h incubation 2x Dwarve Burden (1) 1h incubation 1x Fire Gremlin Burden (2) 2h incubation 1x Earth Ripper Burden (3) 2h incubation 2x Fire Gremlin Burden (3) 3h incubation 1x Thunder Ravager Burden (4) 4h incubation 2x Earth Ripper Burden (5) 6h incubation 1x Goblin Archmage Burden (6) 5h incubation 1x Thunder Beast Burden (8) 11h incubation 1x Frost Armor Knight Burden (11) 14h incubation 1x Ice Golem Burden (13) 17h incubation 2x Frost Armor Knight Burden (15) 24h incubation 1x Disaster Valkyrie Burden (17) 24h incubation 1x Earth Bender Burden (20) 42h incubation 1x Ruin Mage Burden (23) 70h incubation ] [ 1x Disaster Valkyrie selected Incubation 24:13:04 ] The two womeny down on the bed hugging whilst Styx felt exhausted after having thatst elemental attribute mana run its course through his core. Just like it was previously predicted, Fiore was not able to undergo evolution, while Irie was encapsted in a ball containing all the elements rampaging around it. Fioremented slightly as she carried the gale devil in her womb, but she understood she had been unable to give that final, undyingmitment to Styx like the others had. Either way, she had undergone her ss Up procedure and be a Wind Drifter, the same as ir and had her bond with the fellow dungeon wife be closer as a result. Irie emerged from her cocoon without any apparent changes visually. She did get a single mole under her right eye however, much to Styx''s amusement. He found it beautiful, but could not fathom why that was the only physical change. ''Perhaps it has something to do with humans being apletely neutral race, which allows them to adopt various bloodlines and other alterations within their bodies easier than any other exotic race. They are basically a race of Kirby''s,'' Styx humorouslyughed to himself. Irie evolved from a human into a race called a magus, which came with several perks. One was a soulbound weapon which she could summon or dismiss at any time. In Irie''s case, it was arge engraved pure white spear with a ck tip. Her manawork had gone through enormous changes from the racial evolution as well as the ss Up into an Elementalist. Her manawork was also directly connected with her Valkyrie spear too, which served as not just a weapon but also a staff for amplifying cast magic. The downside to the weapon was that by being connected so intimately with her, any damage it sustained, would also be transferred to her manawork and psyche. ~~~~~ Weeks went by and Styx was in an extremely sour mood. Reba Euklid''s wedding arrangements had been finalized and it was scheduled to take ce the following day. "This idiot woman! Does she not understand that by epting me within herself, she has already epted her position beside me?!" The brass goblet in his avatar''s hand was forcibly crushed, the imported wine spilling over the armrest and down the side of his stone throne. Beatrice stood beside him and asked, "What would you have us do, hus- lord?" "There is nothing you can do. Therina has alreadyid out the arrangements. We need to avoid any form of culpability in this action. The goddess of the kingdom probably already knows of our recently formed connection with Heaven and The Void. It was such a big ruckus in her kingdom, there was no way she could have missed it." "Can she monitor the dream realm?" "Highly unlikely. I really should have asked Loreley, but I don''t want to reveal Therina''s ability to affect people and manipte their minds via dreams. We must keep our trump cards hidden until they need to be used." Beatrice nodded her head in understanding. If someone didn''t know what wasing, they wouldn''t be able to prepare defensive countermeasures in advance. ~~~~~ Reba Euklid wore her extravagant white wedding dress and walked down an isleden with marble pirs and bouquets of roses. Her mother led her to the alter amidst hundred of watching eyes. "It is not toote toe back," Styx''s voice sounded in her mind once again. She didn''t understand why, but she held a fondness towards his voice, despite her knowing she should hate him. Nheless, her expression didn''t so much as flinch as she ignored him and walked up to the alter, where an even more unwilling Gabralter stood in a ck tailcoat suit. Gabralter had been increasingly difficult as he had tried to escape the marriage numerous times. Reba didn''t know how, but she held her suspicions that Styx had secretly done something to be so repulsed with marrying her. This was a loveless marriage formed out of pure politics. Duke Ashburn wanted to get his son away from the city and change his seemingly doomed fate, while Duchess Euklid wanted the tie the Ashburns to her own family, so that she could request their soldiers protect her city in a time of need, her own soldiers nearly all killed by the monster wave during the festival. Little did she know that all he had Therina do was pile on top of the lifetimes of maniption, that marrying someone not her was betraying her. His mind didn''t reject this suggestion in the slightest, which formed a stable tform for her to insert more whispers to control his subconscious. This would normally be impossible, but several lifetimes of maniptions had worn down his inner mind until it was but a candle in the wind. It was such an esoteric way of targeting someone too that without any skills rted to dreams or knowledge about them, it was almost impossible to defend against too. "I stand here, under the presence of Goddess Eve, to bless Duke-to-be Gabralter Ashburn and Duchess-to-be Reba Euklid in the holy ceremony of marriage, to forever walk down the same road until their fates diverge." A high priest of the Temple of Eve stood before the two and began speaking his rites. It was a ceremony usually any priest or priestess would coordinate, but Gabralter and Reba were the direct descendants of dukes, so a higher degree of respect given was required. Gabralter stood before the priest with empty eyes, not just out of unwillingness, but his mind was currently copsing. Reality was fast draining from his vision as his memories drifted away like soap bubbles. He stood there in pure silence throughout the ceremony. "Do you take Duchess-to-be Reba Euklid as your partner in this life, to join your fate with hers and walk a path anew?" The high priest asked him, but Gabralter didn''t hear his words. He simply stood there in silence. "What?" Gabralter asked in genuine confusion. The high priest repeated the question but the duke''s son repeated his confusion. It was at this point that everyone in the attendance seats began to detect that something was wrong, but before anyone could react, he copsed to the ground like a puppet who just had his strings cut. Styx spoke directly into Reba''s head. "I told you that you are not allowed to marry him, now hurry up ande home." Chapter 99: Fated Death Chapter 99: Fated Death The entire Lagoon Porter City was abuzz with whispers and feelings of turmoil. The marriage between Duke Ashburn''s son and Duchess Euklid''s daughter was a grand asion talked about the entire week leading up to the event. When Gabralter Ashburn copsed at the alter and fell into aa, the news spread like wildfire. "Duke, can you pleasement on the state of your son? Do you know what happened?" Reporters from The Relevant swarmed the duke whenever he left his mansion. He waspletely at their mercy despite being an immensely powerful Third Step ranker. The duke was stone-faced as he stated Gabralter was under the best care at the Eve Temple, the healers there were doing their very best. Secretly he was brooding with a storm brewing in his chest. He didn''t have any evidence, but his gut feeling was that the dungeon was deeply involved in this, potentially something they did to Reba Euklid whilst she was in their custody. Undetectable to the duchess'' daughter at the time, but poisonous to Gabralter who came into contact with her. He held a confidential report from the Royal Academy of Research and Technology that the hunting dagger retrieved from the elf known as Therina created injuries to a person''s soul itself. It wasn''t a magic, but an extremely rare material that waspletely unknown until now. It was unknown how it was made, but many nobles and researchers were deeply curious. Attacks which affected the soul itself were generally restricted to Fifth Step existences, a part of what made them so dangerous. The demons in the neighboring kingdom also had several methods for attacking the soul, which the Maple Dragon Kingdom had always had difficulties in dealing with. Knowing that his son was a regressor, the duke suspected the dungeon had targeted his soul with an attack beyond even his perception. If it was the Monster Lord residing within the dungeon though, it was definitely possible. ~~~~~ Deep within Gabralter''s mind, theatose duke''s son floated on the surface of an endless body of water. Waves crashed as a storm wreaked havoc across the entire ocean except for this small region around where Gabraltery. Even the blood stained water had broken its connection with his body, the giant demon''s skull in the distant sea less foreboding. He didn''t move nor appear to breath, merely floating there in a state of stasis. Just next to him, Therina looked down on him with aplicated gaze. "Do you feel guilty?" Styx spoke into her mind. "No, it is something that must be done." "Then what is it?" "It''s just I feel conflicted." "How so?" "I hate humans, they are utter scum. This one even dared want toy his hands on me, but how much of that was him?" "What do you mean?" "I can feel it, the intents of other me''s gathered upon him. Endlessyers of curses piled on his bodies, so much that he is polluted by me. I think the root of his obsession with me was not of his own desire to save me, but to draw himself closer to my existence, like a familiar scent in his soul." "He should have had his own fate to live, but he had be a product made by us to reach an end. He won''t even remember this lifetime, trapped in an endless loop of being used. Darling, isn''t itmentable?" "The falleny in unmarked graves. The world only favors the victors, those who continue walking forward until they too stumble and fall. In this way, it ismentable. His death can be called undeserved, but this series of events were set into motion long before an armistice was reached. Are you having second thoughts?" Therina shook her head, her gaze hardening as she ced one foot on Gabralter''s chest and gently pushing him under the surface of the ocean, his spiritual body drowning and triggering a final copse of his mental processes as the naiad''s dream energyden intent flowed back to his body and told his mind to shut down entirely. Her twin tails casually reached into the air in front of her and opened a dream portal as she emerged from the dream realm, appeared beside Styx who sat in the town outside of the dungeon, staring up into the starry nightscape. "I will never hold second thoughts," Therina quietly said as she embraced him from behind. "For you, I would destroy the entire world." ~~~~~ Within the Eve Temple, Gabraltery on afortable bed in a brightly lit room, several priestesses casting healing spells while others used specialized tools to monitor and maintain his body functions. All of a sudden, his vital signs began to steadily drop. The priests and priestesses immediately panicked and did their best to maintain his health, but his body seemed intent on dying as it rejected any attempt to keep him alive. "Hurry up and bring an emergency life stone, we will directly imnt it in him!" A high priest ordered a junior priestess who ran out of the room like the wind, returning not long after with a blood colored crystal shard half the size of a finger. The high priest held this crystal shard and stabbed it into his no longer beating heart. Sparks of red lightning shot out of the stone as several deeply embedded arrays containing heaven runes lit up, scorching the skin around the stone before it fully integrated into his body. "High Priest, it''s it''s not working." A senior priest examined the arrays monitoring his condition with a frightened gaze. Gabralter''s heart had started beating again and injecting life force into him, but this life was being immediately expelled by his own body. It simply refused to live. "Why? Why is this happening!? Hurry up and call the duke!" ~~~~~ Duke Ashburn was in a dim, vast ballroom in his mansion, several empty bottles of highly potent alcohol lined up on a table beside him. No maid nor butler was present as he sat alone in the grand ballroom, pouring his own drinks. His wife also wasn''t present as she was desperately looking through medical and magic books to try find out what was happening to their son. They had two other sons, both younger than Gabralter, but they were currently in one of the most prestigious academy in the royal capital exclusive for nobles. The duke had long sent them news that until further notice, they were to not return to Lagoon Porter City, instead residing within the Duke''s residence in the capital. The church''s bell rang the death knell before the messenger could reach the duke, his guards showing a middle aged priestess into the empty ballroom where the duke sat in grief. Duchees Ashburn charged into the ballroom in a panic not long after, having heard the death knell herself and instinctively knowing who it tolled for. "Wait outside," The duke ordered the guards and priestess. "Husband please, tell me it''s not." "It is." "No." The duchess grabbed her husband''s cor as tears fell from her eyes. They knew of the possibility of this happening, but they had thought they had more time. "He will wake up in the past again, this time hopefully learning from his errors and being able to change his fate," The dukeforted his wife. "Now, let''s go see him." Duke Ashburn helped his wife dry her eyes and led her out to where the guards and priestess were waiting. "Husband you are" "I am fine." Despite his words, his heart was bleeding as he vowed vengeance against the dungeon, regardless as to whether it was behind his son''s death or not. ~~~~~ In another corner of the mansion, Reba Euklid sat beside a giant window, still in her white wedding dress. She absentmindedly stared out into the clear, starry sky and nebr stretching down to the horizon as Dare and Lora, the two baronesses'' daughtersforted her. "Ba, it will be okay. I heard Astrid from back in our days at the academy had her husband suffer grievous injuries against a demon invasion. They didn''t even think he would live, but he fully recovered although he still only has one arm." "Cheer up, you didn''t love him, did you?" "No, I didn''t" "At least you are safe." "Am I?" "Why wouldn''t you be?" Reba nonchntly responded to them, almost out of instinct while the conversation was at the back of her mind. It was at this moment that the death knell from the temple resounded across the dungeon city and the room fell silent. Reba closed her eyes and buried her feelings, vowing to never reveal them to others. At this moment, she felt relief. Chapter 100: (Heroes) Escape Chapter 100: (Heroes) Escape As the heroes were heading to Godoza Vige, Alex was in the back half of the hero procession with his head tilted towards the ground. He grit his teeth in frustration at the way he was treated, clearly despised by the other heroes. While not paying attention, he stumbled into the back of Edward Parker, a Strategist who frequently chatted with Jake, the bone fide hero and leader of their parade of justice. "Watch it," Jake said with a distasteful expression as he turn his head to see who walked into him. "S-sorry." Alex deliberately walked slower as everyone began filing into the vige. Once they were all inside, he was at the back of the party and simply stopped outside the gate. ''You all think I''m useless!'' He cried out in his heart in pain. ''You look down on me, scorn me, judge me, and talk about me behind my back. I hope you all die in there!'' Biting his lip and clenching his fists, he turned away from the town and silently snuck off, his presence not even noted as being gone which only hurt him further. He felt a grievous pain deep within his chest as he headed into the woods nearby where all the trees had yellowing leaves and looked sickly. The woods themselves were eerily silent, as if there was no life left within its canopy. The volcanic ash was still in the air so without the healing from the heroes with that skill, he wet a cloth with a detoxifying agent and tied it around his mouth and nose. Sticks and dead leaves crunched under his boots with every step, breaking the silence in the air. Sometimes, it even sounded like it came from elsewhere, causing Alex to jump and turn around while drawing his sword. No matter how many times it happened though, there was never anything other than more dying trees. The AWOL hero was constantly in a state with his nerves taut, causing himself to quickly be mentally exhausted. Unaware to him, a two meter long, lizard-like monster gazed at him from high on the trunk of a tree. Its skin shifted color to blend in with the tree as it silently gazed at the hero with its yellow slit pupils. If followed his movements with its eyes only, a predator waiting to strike. One it sensed the prime opportunity, it leapt off the tree and at the hero. Alex didn''t even hear anything this time, he just felt the entire world spin as an enormous force hit his back. His armor had saved his life as the monsters ws caused spark to fly everywhere, which would have torn him to shreds if he weren''t protected. The monster was unperturbed that its ambush didn''t kill the target and immediately snapped its maw full of razor-sharp fangs at Alex. The training that had been ingrained into him since he was summoned suddenly took over his mind and he rolled away from the monster and avoided the teeth by a hair''s breadth. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Apraisal!" [ Mawlean ] Alex cursed and hurled an acid potion at the monster from his belt while drawing his sword. The vial smashed on the monster and its scales sizzled, but it wasn''t to the degree that there was any significant damage. The monster itself didn''t even seem to register the attack as it pursued the young hero. "Die! Die! Die!" More vials flew at the monster and he also swung his sword. Unfortunately, its scales proved to be more than sufficient to resist the damage as it began to force him into a corner. No matter what Alex did, he was incapable of dealing any significant damage to the monster. He was running out of offensive vials too, his belt getting lighter the longer he fought. "Damn it! This can''t be how it all ends!" Alex regretted everything, but more than anything, he regretted his own weakness. The monster hissed and lunged forward again, this time its ws striking true and carving down Alex''s faces from his brow to chin and tearing out one of his eyeballs in the process. "ARGHHHH!!" Alex cried from the burning pain assaulting his face, his vision now only half what it was moments ago. He was desperate, bleeding, and expecting death. With all reason and hope thrown aside, he lunged at the monster and threw a handful of corrosive potions into is mouth and stabbed it straight in the eye with his sword. The monster wed back cutting his arm and finally piercing his chest armor. It didn''t get any further though, as Alex''s reckless final attack had proven sessful and the monster finally died. [ Mawlean killed! + 284 exp ] [ Experience threshold met. Level Up! Lv. 2 -> Lv. 3 umted skill experience bonus: Appraisal -> Compounding -> Throwing -> All Stats(Excluding Luck): +1 ss bonus: Int +2, Mnd +2, Vit +1 Mana: 128 -> 191 + New Title: Child of Mana ] [ Species: Human (Otherworld Traveller) Name: Alex Brown ss: Compounder Age: 16 Mana: 170/170 Exp: 127/309 Level: 3 Str: 7 Dex: 7 End: 7 Vit: 12 Int: 16 Mnd: 16 Lck: 10 Skills: Appraisal Compounding 2-Item Mix 5 mana/min 3-Item Mix 7 mana/min Separation 30 mana 5-Item Mix 11 mana/min Throwing Titles: Otherworld Hero, Otherworld Traveller ] Alex ignored the monster corpse and dragged his wounded body away from the area with on hand holding the injured side of his face. He was incredibly lucky at this time that he didn''t meet any more monsters as he escaped the area. His body was truly at the brink and he had lost a lot of blood though. He saw a farmhouse within walking distance and forced himself to go there. He barely stepped before the front door and knocked before he lost consciousness and copsed on the ground. ~~~~~ Alex woke up with the sounds of birds chirping outside and while still feeling groggy. His vision was darkness on one side, fuzzy on the other. "Oh, you''re awake?" I wizened old man with a long beard bent over him from above. "It''s best you don''t move for now, you''re in pretty bad shape" There was another person in the room, a woman with a twittering voice who shared words with the man, but Alex had already passed out again before he could understand what they were saying. The next time he opened his eyes, his body was feeling much more whole again, and he was unaware of how much time had passed by, but it felt like days. "How how long have I been asleep" Alex woozily said this time while he propped himself up. The room waspletely empty and he felt like an idiot for talking as if someone was there. He forced himself to stand and walked to the door on weak knees. "Why am I so weak Where am I?" He asked, while looking around an empty house. "You are in my home," The old man whom he had seen the first time he woke up walked out from another room of the house. "You copsed on my front door, I couldn''t just leave you there." "How long have I been asleep for?" "Hmm? I gave you a concoction to help keep you asleep for your body to recover. That was about a week ago." "A week!?" "You had a nasty poison in your blood, well, what blood you had left." The old man helped Alex into a dining room where he sat him at the table. "Lyra, help get this young man a bowl of hot soup to fill his stomach. He needs sustenance." There was a woman in the room, a beastkin with feathers around her neck and bird like wings attached to her arms. She had auburn hair cropped at her shoulders and wore a gentle smile on her face. There were signs of some wrinkles in the corner of her eyes, indicating that age was beginning to catch up on her, but it did little to detract from her beauty. "Yes, master." "Oh, how often have I told you not to call me master, Lyra?" "Every day, master." A bowl of hot soup was ced before a silent Alex whom stared down at the food with uncertainty. He was feeling delirious, as if the entire world around him was false and naught but an illusion he was just seeing in his head. The soup looked and smelled delicious though, and he nervously scooped a mouthful of it into his mouth. Surely enough, if it looks delicious, and it smells delicious, it is delicious. He felt warmth spread from the pit of his stomach as the soup entered. Once one mouthful had been eaten, more quickly followed and his spoon was soon hitting on the base of an empty bowl. "Haha, get the boy some more, Lyra," The elderly man gingerlyughed upon seeing him looking at the empty bowl with plenty of desire but no courage. "Can I ask you something?" Alex nervously nced at the old man, seeing him sitting the smiling gently at him. "Of course, what do you seek guidance in." "Why did you help me?... I certainly don''t deserve it..." Lyra refilled his bowl and also smiled at him before exining, "Master is someone who has spent his life helping others, myself included. When a bleeding, dying man copses on his front door no less, it is basically divine revtion to help." "You are quite faithful towards providence." "Master was an important member of the Eve Temple for quite some time, after all. I also worked there under him. Having faith is quite important." "So how did you meet him then?" "I was originally sold as a ve in the city master served the temple in. He was quite young then, barely an adult." "Lyra-" The old man only known as "master" raised his voice in protest but was immediately silenced as the bird beastkin woman moved behind him so fast it frightened Alex and sealed his mouth shut. "Master, it has been so long since I''ve been able to tell someone of your benevolence, so please let me have this one." The old man mumbled while Lyra maintained a glorious, broad smile as affection on her face. "Master had seen me for sale and bought me to save me from a far less than fortunate life which could have awaited me. He brought me into the temple, gave me food, work, knowledge, and the chance to work with the orphans there." "I fell in love with master whilst we were living together, but he refused it at the time, stating that he couldn''t love his ve. The very next day he took me to the ve trader and paid to have me freed, before telling me he could now love me. I was very mad at that time, you see, but I still loved him." "We shared a long life since, and that is our story." "I see" The old man cleared his throat with a cough to bring attention to himself and stroked his beard in thought. "The more important question is why you are here, youngd. The only people that remain in these dangerousnds are those who can''t or refuse to leave it." Alex bit his lip and exined his situations, from how he was from another world and summoned through a hero summoning ritual. How he was ostracised by the other heroes, and how he admittedly fled from them. "So, they did a summoning, huh. It looks like things are far more dire than I ever thought." "Do you know about it?" "The ritual? A little bit." "They said it was impossible to go back. Is that true?" Alex was deeply hopeful. He had been constantly looked down upon, been outperformed by all the other heroes, and even now had lost an eye. The old man had used high level magic to erase even the scar, but he couldn''t regenerate his eye, leaving him permanently blind in it. "Well It''s not impossible." "It''s not?!" Alex shot up from his seat, but was ovee by a bout of dizziness from the act and fell back down. "Young hero, you need to understand. For any magic to reach across the world borders and interact with another, the use of divine power is required. For something such as summoning, which doesn''t hold a specific target, fine control isn''t required and divine power can be substituted for some extremely expensive materials. But to go the other way around, it is much more delicate. A god or goddess must directly control the ritual." "Then! Does that mean if the goddess helps, I no, all of us, can go back home!? Why would the king say we can''t go back, then!?" "Calm down, the king did not lie. Even if they could reverse the summoning ritual to send you back, they would not be able to do so." "What!? Why!? You just said that it could be done!" "Calm, calm. It is indeed impossible, because our goddess would have to descend, whiches at arge cost. She would be weakened to the extent the demon god belonging to the invading demons would be able to seize the advantage. Sending you back would require the sacrifice of this entire kingdom" "Is there no way, then?" "If we can win this war, and allow our goddess to regain her former strength, she would no longer have the hold back the foreign demon god, so it would be possible." "Former strength? Is she injured?" "Yes. It is suspected to have been a surprise attack by the demons, but she suffered a grievous wound and was weakened to the extent the foreign demon god decided to act." Alex was deeply conflicted in his heart. On one hand, he wanted to go home to his family and warm bed, whilst on the other he was afraid. "What should I do?" Chapter 101: (Heroes) Creeping Madness Chapter 101: (Heroes) Creeping Madness Jake pushed himself, and the other heroes, through one battle after another. Each battle chipped away at his heart as he became more and more ruthless. Of all the various demon races, those without any intelligence were the lowest of the lowest in social position. They were ordered around and treated like ves by those above them. The heroes constantly fought these minions at first, before going after stronger, higher ranked demons. These battles were a forge for the heroes, strengthening them and reinforcing their resolve. Not all des survived the forging process though, and five heroes perished along the way, bringing their numbers down to 17 heroes, with one more who went rogue at the start of their field training. "Wretched, filthy humans. You may have destroyed this fort, but we will destroy your entire kingdom and sacrifice you to the honor of the high gods!" A woman almost human in appearance, but with light brown skin and silver tattoos on it, along with tworge, curved crimson horns on her forehead, cursed at the heroes. Everything around was broken and shattered, several fires still burning in the halls of the captured fort. She was a Second Step demon noble, a Dark Knightess. For all her skills and strength, she was defeated by the heroes who hadn''t even reached Second Step yet. Her swordy broken to the side as Jake grabbed her by the hair and picked her up with one hand. "Do it, human. Kill me." "Brian?" Jake called for the hero who was currently a Dream Mage. The hero who used to have bleached blond hairbed to the side, now had weathered features and a head of hair half blond, half brown waved a staff at the demoness and shot out a multi-coloured ray of light into her head. He closed his eyes and entered a pseudo trance before shaking his head and stating, "Her mind is sealed, I can''t get anything out of it." Jake didn''t hesitate and swung his sword across her neck, beheading the demon noble in one swift attack. [ Yx''ildrid (Abyss Tamer ) killed! + 1,457 exp ] The demon''s body fell to the floor while her head was still in Jake''s hand, her severed neck dripping ck blood and an expression of hate locked on her face. Jake turned to the rest of the heroes and gave them a broad smile. "The fortress, which the demons took overst year, has been retaken by us. The demons are also focusing on us more, so we need to retreat before they send stronger forces against us than we can handle." Everyone was relieved to hear those words and let out long sighs. They had been through so many battle that they were all between and . They had begun this mission as cubs and were now returning as tigers. "Jake, now that everything is over, I hope that you will be easier on the others," Ms. Greenwood plucked up her courage and confronted him. Jake looked back at her and calmly answered, "I only do this for everyone''s benefit." "People your ssmates have died." Ms. Greenwood clenched her small fists but didn''t dare raise them toward Jake. He had takenplete control over the hero party during their expedition and to bepletely honest, she was afraid of him. Many of the heroes held at least some level of feat towards him. "They simply couldn''t keep up." Jake smiled while saying it, but there was no gentleness on his face. ~~~~~ Jessica worked hard running around mediating people''s fears and building nerves and was quite respected within the hero party. She truly was a saint who healed everyone. She held a kind yet attentive attitude towards the others and would frequently check up on their health and make sure everyone was okay. She was almost singlehandedly responsible for setting up purification wards every night too, to keep the sulphur and volcanic ash out of their camp. Everyone was in a much better mood on the way back home, but there was still a lot of tension in the air. Edward Parker was a mousy-haired short kid with freckles. Before transmigrating, he had been heavily into roley, dungeons & dragons andic books. Among his small friends circle, he often hosted D&D games of his own design, acting as dungeon master as he knew these scenarios the best. He spected that somehow, this was rted to why he received the Strategist ss when he transmigrated into this strange and new world. The main two skills of this ss were Parallel Thought, a powerful ability that allowed him to process multiple trains of thought at the same time as if it was the most natural thing in the world, and Prediction. Prediction waspletely overpowered in that it allowed him to calcte the probable oue of any situation he had enough information on. The first subskill of the skill was foresight as well, exchanging mana as it powered his brain to predict the very future itself. It was actually very simr to rolling dice in a game of dungeons and dragons while he was also the game master, in which he would be able to know what are the possible oues, and what are the chances of achieving that oue. As it levelled up, it even became more precise. He held confidence because of this ability and would calcte all his moves carefully before making them. It kept him safe in battle, and helped him be friends with more of the other heroes. Using this ability, he formed his own small clique within the group and secretly controlled their actions with his own. His Prediction skill constantly warned him about Jake and that warning had only be more powerful as ofte, so he always kept a distance. Now that the danger was over though, he secretly wanted more control within the group. He didn''t wish to go against Jake, but he heldplete authority within the heroes, so he had to bring criticism onto him in order to sway the others'' opinions to favor himself more. Their former teacher, Ms. Greenwood became the crux of this n, and he made small movements to make her criticize him, along with the other heroes. They didn''t even need to publicly speak up, so long as their emotions were swayed, it was enough. Jake wasn''t fooled though, and during one incident where he had taken a slight risk of the dice and had indirectly influenced Jessica to criticise him during dinner, the Hero among heroes had calmly walked over to him. "J-Jake-" Edward had begun as his Prediction skill began sounding out warning rms, but was cut off abruptly as he was picked up one handed by the cor. "Ed, Edward, surely you don''t think I''m that stupid, do you?" Jake had a smile on his face and unperturbed by all the gazes locked on him, but Edward could see the madness swimming in his eyes. "I I don''t know what you mean" "We all know what your skills are, and I understand they are a part of you now. But, I won''t have you sowing dissention among us out of your own greed. Do you understand?" "Y-yes." "Hmm? No, I don''t think you do." Edward had Prediction operating at full strength and was even using the subskill foresight, but what he saw caused his face to rapidly turn pale in fear. Jake''s hand was coated in holy enchant before stabbed his fingers directly into Edward''s chest, tearing muscles and tendons alike before grasping firmly onto one of his ribs. "JAKE!" Jessica called out in shock while everyone else looked in fear on his bloody actions. The heroes had all killed on the battlefield over the past month and be hardened against violence and death, but seeing one of their own being treated in such a way was incredibly difficult to not feel pain for. Ms. Greenwood was outraged and stormed forward to save Edward, but a single re from Jake had been enough to make her cower and bite her lip, afraid to speak up. Jake nced at them before raising his voice to ensure everyone could hear. "I need you to understand, Ed, that we are a coherent group. By conspiring in such a way, you are not just harming me, but you are harming us all." Jessica had reached him and tried to pull his hand away, but Jake''s strength was far above the other heroes. "Enough, stop this!" He paid no attention to her at first and a cracking sound could be heard from Jake''s chest as his rib started to fracture. "Do you understand me, Ed?" Edward was so afraid he could no longer talk. He did however manage to barely nod his head, at which Jake''s smile broadened and he extracted his blood coated fingers and put him down while wiping the blood off on his shirt. None of the other heroes dared meet his gaze as he returned to his usual position in the group. "I''m so sorry," Jessica said while tending to the gravely injured hero, holy light particles drifting off her arms and into his chest. "He didn''t use to be like this. With all the pressure and expectations the princess has put on him, and all the battles we have been forced into He''s doing his best." Edward tried to smile, but he couldn''t stop his body from shaking all over. Jake nced over, fully capable of hearing what they were saying with his razor sharp senses but didn''t say anything. He just smiled briefly before going back to eating. Ms. Greenwood knelt down beside Jessica to help tend to Edward as she also quietly shared her thoughts. "I understand, but we have all been thrown into this situation." Jessica looked back at her with a sad gaze. "You don''t understand. Jake is expected to be at the very front when danger approaches. He is expected to be the strongest, to win no matter what. The princess is not a good person, and her ws have already dug deep inside of him and refuse to let him go." "The princess?" Edward had tried to stay even further away from the princess in the past due to his skills warning him about her, but he never understood why. He finally manage to calm his body somewhat and asked in the quietest voice he had ever managed. "What about her? I know she was to marry one of the heroes, but isn''t that just political ploys?" Jessica pursed her lips in displeasure and nced at Jake, who was busy talking to some of the other heroes, before responding in a hushed voice. "No, that is just an excuse. She isn''t going to marry one of the heroes, she is going to marry The Hero. She has already been having private visits with him" "They have already-" "No, they haven''t done that yet." Ms. Greenwood frowned and asked, "So what is it, then? Is she infatuated with Jake?" "Sort of." As if detecting some hidden meaning, the former teacher pressed, "What do you mean by that?" "What I mean is that the princess isn''t infatuated with Jake. She is infatuated with the hero." Chapter 102: (Heroes) Ingrid Rose City Chapter 102: (Heroes) Ingrid Rose City Alex left the cabin residence of the former Eve Priest and his wife, the bird beastkin Lyra, feeling dejected. He was afraid of this battle for domination between kingdoms, where soldiers'' lives are extinguished like cutting grass and nobody was safe. If he was to return home though, the human kingdom needed to win. This wasn''t some simple goblin extermination quest, which he could solve with nning and some hard work. He held onto dreams of being the hero of the battlefield, swooping in and saving everyone from a perilous situation, but the best he could do now was create basic medicines and weak acids. His sword and other weapon aptitudes were so terrible he couldn''t even learn the Swordsmanship skill, or any others. He learned Throwing, but his ability to throw daggers or hatchets was average at best. Leaving the area, he made his way onto one of the kingdom''s highways and made his way towards the nearest city. The old man and his wife had filled up his depleting rations, enabling him to survive for long enough to reach the city. Hearing the trot of toroton hooves, a fantasy oxen like beast which grew twice the size as earth horses and had countless times the strength and stamina. Alex looked over his shoulder and saw a procession of several caravans withrge, arched tarp covers approaching down the road and waved at them to stop. In front and alongside the caravans was a mercenary group on warhorses, each fitted with thick armor and ready to jump into battle at a moment''s notice. The warhorses themselves were monsters known as longstriders and were faster than most Second Step monsters. They had razor sharp teeth and would tear flesh with them. The driver of the forefront caravan began to slow down the beast before stopping beside Alex. He looked down from his seat high up on the caravan and addressed the young man who was blind in one eye. "Can I help you?" The merchant was a rough looking man with a thick beard covering half his face. He had amber eyes that gave away his beastkin heritage, although it was impossible to tell what kind. The mercenaries remained silent and just went alongside their employers wishes. Several edged closer to Alex however, ready to attack should he turn aggressive. "Can you please give me a ride to the nearest city?" Alex asked while warily ncing at the mercenaries with their hands on their weapons. "We aren''t going to Violet Terrace City, but Ingrid Rose City, much further off. Sorry, I can''t help you." "That ce is fine too!" Alex hurriedly answered before the merchant started moving the caravan again. "I will go there then." The merchant nced down at him and struggled with his thoughts. His beard twitched several times when some of his partners called out from behind. "What''s the hold up? Hurry up and keep moving!" He looked down at the young hero and stated, "20 copper." Alex hurriedly pulled out a small handful of copper coins and tossed them up to the merchant before climbing up on the front seat beside the driver. The merchant just nodded his head and whipped the torotons to get moving again. "Are you sure about this? We aren''t responsible if he attacks you." The merchant looked at the young hero, who merely responded, "I''m only production ss." There were some doubts as it was all too easy to lie, but a significant amount of the distrust in the air seemed to dissipate. The merchant didn''t ask Alex any personal questions and let him ride alongside him. Alex was thankful of this as he didn''t know how to exin his situation without giving him the image of a deserter. ~~~~~ The journey with the merchants took almost a week as they bypassed several cities on their journey to Ingrid Rose City, arge dungeon city of 3 million residents and a central hub for traders and merchants alike. During the meal times of their journey, Alex got to know the merchants better, but he was told several times to mind his own business when he asked questions that were considered rude. The merchants had a couple dozen ves, but they seemed pretty well fed and weren''t mistreated in any way. Of course, the ve mark engraved in their body would punish them should they not follow orders, but that was a separate issue. Alex had nced in the back of one of the wagons at one point and spotted crates full of armor, weapons, and some high level demon corpses. "Is there a problem?" Several of the mercenaries asked behind him, ready to silence him in at any time. "N-no, of course not." Alex understood exactly what these merchants were. They were the kind which looted the battlefield and brought back any valuables to resell. It wasn''t explicitly illegal in this kingdom and especially in this world filled with war, but it was heavily frowned upon by many merchants and locations. A sword forged from ''clean'' iron and a sword pried from the fingers of a corpse had very different values. It was illegal to sell such weapons without designating them as ''battlefield equipment'', but many would have them cleaned or even reforged and do just that. This only increased the notoriety of this kind of trading, but people were too susceptible to greed to ept smaller profits. ''Who am I to judge someone else for their actions,'' Alex thought to himself with a sigh and made an obvious disy of ignorance to state that he wouldn''t mention anything in the future. ~~~~~ Alex split ways with the merchants at Ingrid Rose City. It was here that he stood in the middle of a bustling fantasy city with all kinds of exotic races passing through its streets. There were all kinds of people wearingrge suits of armor or carrying around giant mage staves, sometimes both. The city extended beyond the horizon and giant defensive pirs rose into the sky alongside the wall. Wagons carrying monster corpses passed up and down the streets, but even the stench of blood was quickly washed away by the smell of exotic food. It was highly advanced for a fantasy world too. They had light poles for night lighting, and all the basic infrastructure. There was no electricity here due to the extensive use of mana, and many of the upper districts even had underground mana lines connected to houses, so their magitech appliances could be directly plugged into sockets on the wall. Alex didn''t understand life here, but he knew from all of the literature he had read, that joining the adventurer''s guild was the mostmon approach. "Excuse me," Alex intercepted a beautiful elf on the street, "do you know where the adventurer''s guild is?" The elf looked at him in disgust, her nose twitching in annoyance at his body odor after having not bathed properly over the past week. "It is, that way," The elf spoke in broken humannguage, pointing down what looked like a main road in the city. Alex hadn''t expected her to immediately fall head over heels in love with him, but he still held nave hopes that it could be the start of a longer conversation with the beautiful elf. The frank disgust she directed towards him was a significant blow to his ego. Walking down the street for almost half an hour, Alex reached a ce where all the main guilds held shops. There was a merchant''s guild, mercenary''s guild, and several others. Each one had pretty modern looking advertisements on therge windows out front, inviting people to join their guild. He continued on to the adventurer''s guild where he joined a short line of people at the front reception desk. "Good morning, how can I be of assistance today?" A young blonde woman with a tight sweater that hugged herrge breasts asked with a standard smile. "Ah, good morning, yes. I would like to join the adventurer''s guild." "Not a problem, sir, just fill out this form and bring it back along with your citizenship card." "Umm" "Is there something else?" "I can''t well, you know read or write." "Are you illiterate, in this day and age? Did you not go to school?" The woman looked at Alex as if he were a barbarian, while he could only sigh and nod his head. "You can ask one of the other adventurer''s in here for their assistance, I suppose. To be illiterate, this is such a rare urrence." Alex hurriedly epted with a stomach full of shame. He could feel all the adventurers'' derisive gazes on his back and wanted to find a hole to crawl into. "Th-thank you," Alex stuttered and took the application form before leaving the guild. He then found an inn to stay at and paid a cheap fee for several nights. He approached the kind middle aged innkeeper and asked for her assistance in filling out his application. She also looked at him incredulously as apparently even the kids in the slums could read and write, but still helped him nheless. He returned the following morning with his application filled out and returned to the same receptionist, the blonde beauty today wearing a low cropped top that showed enough cleavage to stimte Alex. "You''ve returned, do you have everything?" "Y-yes, here." The receptionist checked everything before taking it to a desk where it was ced atop arge device which buzzed as formations lit up andpleted the registration process. An adventurer''s card was the ejected from the machine, which the woman returned alongside his citizenship card. "Here you go and wee to the adventurer''s guild. Do be aware that we are always here to help." "Well" "What? Do you need something else? Shouldn''t you find a party to join and startpleting requests? Do you wish to book an assessment exam?" "No, the thing is Shouldn''t you exin to me the rules, and how ranks work?" "Did you apply without even knowing the rules? Ranks are something everyone understands, why would I exin them to every new applicant?" "Hey!" One of the people waiting in line called out in annoyance. "Hurry it up, would you? I have ces to be and manticores to y!" The receptionist was feeling a headacheing on, so she pulled out a small booklet and handed it over to Alex. "Here, this contains all the basic rules and what you should know. It''s on me, so read up or have someone read it to you first beforeing back, okay? If you will excuse me, there are other customers waiting." "R-right, sorry." Alex bowed awkwardly before leaving the adventurer''s guild once again. It was only his second day in this town and he was already feeling like an idiot. Chapter 103: (Heroes) Vanishing Maid Chapter 103: (Heroes) Vanishing Maid The heroes knelt before King Wanther XII. The throne beside him, reserved for the queen, sat empty as usual. Thete queen was not talked about much, but it was rumored that she was assassinated. One the step below the king, Elric and Elrond Wanther, the crown prince and second prince, made a rare appearance and sat in wait with bored expressions. Princess Zoerina sat two steps below the King, smiling warmly at all the heroes as if they were her children. The heroes were summoned to this world as children, but had be full adults and battle hardened warriors over the course of numerous battles. Their shoulders were broader, backs straighter, and expressions steadfast. Their height had increased and their bodies more muscr. The soft fat that once existed on some of the former students was now no longer visible, instead reced with hardened features and the asional scar. There were still tensions among the group, especially an underlying fear of Jake, who only became more and more unpredictable. He was the most powerful of them all, his holy sword cutting the enemy down mercilessly. The citizensuded him with all their hearts, as if he were their knight in shining armor. "Heroes, your campaign again the cruel and vile demons was a grand sess," The king praised them with a broad and friendly smile. "Whilst it hasn''t been any of the crucial battlefronts, you have grown into the heroes you were destined to be. You exceeded that and even recovered a border fortress fallen to the demons many years ago." The crown prince, Elric, looked down upon the heroes and unemotionally stated, "We will honor yourrades who fell in battle, but I am curious, what of the hero who ran away from his duty?" "Brother!" Princess Zoerina sent the crown prince an icy re. Elric''s position in the royal family was only below the king, so his sister''s look of warning failed to intimidate him. He merely snorted in response and only gazed at her briefly. "Dear sister, did you know that I asked for that hero''s maid?" "" "I was hoping to get to know what kind of person he was, and why someone we invested so many resources into felt the need to flee." "That person is not a hero." "Enough with your obsession, Zoe." The temperature of the room began to climb as Princess Zoerina''s temper red. The heroes all felt their chests clench and struggled for breath as her power washed over them. The princess'' eyes turned into reptilian slits and therge polished tiles on the floor began to smoke around the heroes feet, causing them to wince in pain as the temperature prated their boots and scorched their feet. The crown prince sat behind the princess on a higher step, so he could look at her, but she couldn''t look at him. She could turn around, but to do such would be an enormous breach on formality andnd her in a lot of trouble. It could even be seen as treason in the most severe cases. The king watched the two below him while maintaining a regal expression, but there was helplessness in his eyes. He knew his children wouldn''te to blows over this though, so he let it slide. "Bring that person''s maid," Princess Zoerina forcefully calmed her emotions andmanded the nearby guards/ Two guards immediately bowed and hurriedly left the throne room. What followed was an awkward silence as everyone waited for the guards to return. The throne room was so quiet a pin drop could be heard. "I''ll save you the time," The crown prince stated while rolling his eyes. "Nobody knows who the maid is, nor do they even remember her name. Whoever she was, she was not employed formally by the castle." The king''s eyes widened while the princess had an ugly expression. "What is going on?" Jake, who was standing at the forefront of the group of heroes, asked with a frown. Princess Zoerina looked down on him with a tender expression, but the words that came out of her mouth were anything but. "A whore of the abyss." "?" "Where is the runaway hero?" Wanther XIImanded in a severe tone, prompting a report on the hero to quickly arrive. The crown prince took the report and read it aloud. "The runaway hero is currently residing within Ingrid Rose City, an ounds dungeon city under the rule of Earl Salvador and known for their rich gemstone mines and jewellery exports." The heroes'' former teacher, Ms. Greenwood, had a nervous expression as she asked, "What are you going to do with Alex?" The crown prince was wholly disinterested in the runaway hero and answered nomittedly. "So long as he remains within the border, nothing. He will have to fight to protect that dungeon city from invaders regardless, or he could hide in some cer, I care not. Should he try to leave the country, he will be processed ordingly. We have invested too much into you heroes to let you simply leave without giving us a return." Ms. Greenwood was conflicted, but it didn''t seem that her former student was in any immediate danger. "The abyss has taken an interest in my heroes," Princess Zoerina spoke with a dark expression, "We need to kill this whore." "Killing is thest resort. We will apprehend her first," The crown prince corrected his younger sister''s deration. "We can''t afford to provoke and go to full war with the abyss in our current position." Wanther XII furrowed his brows as hemanded, "Assemble a squad of Third Step royal guards immediately. The hero needs to be retrieved as soon as possible. We will permit the usage of the royal teleportation formation." "What should we do?" Jake asked withplete disinterest in the wellbeing of the hero who escaped. Not only that, but he was also secretly nning on killing him to prevent his former ssmate from causing any future trouble. "You will do nothing, perhaps when you are stronger." Princess Zoerina stood up from her seat to the surprise of the king and her elder brothers. "Daughter, where are you going?" "A witch has appeared in our own home and we are likely to sh. Our forces are already spread out thin with recent detatchments, I will kill this bitch myself if she dares appear." Jake swallowed at the cold light in the eyes of Princess Zoerina. She walked over to him as he bit his lip in frustration. "You performed excellently in this trip," She whispered into his ear in a quiet voice while pressing one finger on his chest with a pressure that felt like a mountain. "Keep up the good work and when I return, I will be sure to reward you." Chapter 104: (Heroes) Experienced Isekai Heroes Never Told Me This! Chapter 104: (Heroes) Experienced Isekai Heroes Never Told Me This! A month passed by and Alex becamepetent atpleting all kinds of small jobs as an adventurer. Most of his days werepleting F rank requests, which mostly considered of manualbor jobs. He had pruned hundreds of hedges, helped build a house for a week, and been on one herb collection request. When taking out his food and lodging expenses, he only made a measely 40 copper coins from his work and hadn''t even levelled up. Goblin extermination, the most basic of quests, was E rank, which he needed to be a member of the guild for at least a month andpleted ten F rank requests in order to reach. Today marked that day, so after he finished his current request for the day, he strolled straight into the adventurer''s guild with his head held high. "Yo, Readathon!" A samurai dressed swordsman called out to Alex with the nickname he had earned over the past month. "Come mow mywns for me, my wife has been on my case for the past week to get it done. I''ll pay you top coin for it." "Yeah tomorrow, alright?" "Hahaha,e take this request to the receptionist." Alex epted the request instinctively, feeling like ackey to these adventurers. He clenched his fist and swore he would get stronger, but that day seemed to be getting further and further away. "Oh, awn mowing request this time?" A man desk attendant this time tagged Alex''s citizenship card with a device that made the request get sucked into it in a truly fantasy world way. "Readathon, why do you keep epting so many of these requests all the time?" A beautiful ck haired witch leaned on his shoulder as he sat down at a long bench with a pale of local beer, a luxury he learned to appreciate recently. "That''s what we all have to do to get up to E rank though, ire." "Next to nobody does that though, you know?" "Eh?" "They are only to earn some basic money when you are young. Why don''t you level up at the dungeon and apply for an assessment exam? That''s what everyone else does." "What dungeon?" "The city dungeon?" "Where is that?" "In the city" The witch called ire abruptly pulled out a chair and sat next to him, her arms crossed under her breasts and legs crossed. "Hey, Readathon, don''t tell me that you don''t know about the dungeon?" "Do you mean that there is a dungeon in the city? Isn''t that a bit dangerous?" "" "What?" "Where do I even begin?" "I''m the confused one here!" "Do you know what type of city this is?" "A city?" "A dungeon city." Alex had heard the term of a dungeon city plenty of times before, but it had never urred to him as to why it was referred as such. He had just assumed it was something to do with it being a fantasy world. "So, this city has a dungeon?" "Every dungeon city has a dungeon." Alex''s jaw dropped open while ire broke out into a high pitchedughter, causing plenty of the other adventurer''s to turn their heads and look at them. "Can you believe it," ire looked at the nearby adventurers, "Readathon hasn''t been harvesting mana crystals and instead doing menial jobs because he didn''t know that there was a dungeon inside a dungeon city." It took a moment to sink in before everyone joined in on theughter. Alex was humiliated and buried his face in his arms. The door to the guild swung open and a man with red hair and crimson te armor strolled in, arge spear strapped to his back. Behind him, a full party followed behind him. There were three men and two woman, who stayed closer to the party leader. As soon as the group appeared, everyone quietened down a lot and the previous jovial atmosphere immediately died. "Two victims this time, huh?" iremented in a dry tone, looking at the red-haired man in disdain. "What is it?" "Jovran the Red. It looks like he is back with two new party members." "I don''t know him." "That''s fine, he hasn''t been here over the past month so it''s understandable. He isn''t a bad person per se, but he is notoriously sexist and treats men poorly while often getting his female party members pregnant." Alex looked at the man who was undoubtably extremely handsome and felt pangs of jealousy. He was handsome, powerful, rich and had all the women he could want. Alex was the exact opposite, so he held himself in starkparison. "And woman still join his squad?" "Some don''t know, others do and believe they can resist him, or join just for him. Either way, he is an extremely powerful Third Step ranker who is suspected to be close to reaching the Fourth Step." "You sound like you''ve experienced it yourself?" "Come on," ire changed the subject and patted him on the back hard enough he nearly coughed, "Gather your stuff. I have some time so let''s go to the dungeon and try your mettle." "It''s at mfpphhh" "What?" "I said, it''s at the inn" "We will go there first then." ire picked Alex up by the cor and practically carried him out the front door of the adventurer''s guild. The two returned to the inn he had been staying at, the innkeeper immediately raising her brow at the two of them together. "Alex, dear, you are finally bringing a woman back." She said while making a motion of wiping fake tears. "If you stain anything though, you are paying for it." "Th-that''s not it!" Alex immediately defended in embarrassment. "Am I not good enough for you, a mighty Compounder?" "N-no, I didn''t mean that at all!" "So, what is it?" The innkeeper grinned at him, relishing in the awkward position he found himself in. Alex''s mind span and he didn''t know how to react when ire whispered into his ear. "If you want me to take your virginity, you just have to ask nicely. I have some experience in the area." "I-I''m not a-" "You are~" "For-forget it!" Alex grabbed his belt of vials, sword, and shield. He also equipped his expensive armor which he had contemted many times whether he should sell it and purchase a cheaper one. Then he would have enough money to fund his Compounding skill training. ~~~~~ "So, this is the dungeon?" Alex asked with wide eyes as ire and himself got off the public carriage transport in the heart of the city. "This is just the public entrance, the main dungeon is the following 50yers underground." ire exined while leading Alex into a grand cathedral with nearly a hundred grand double doors serving as entrances and exits. Inside, there were a plethora of people with advertisements for party members, or to join a party. Others wanted porters to carry their goods, a role which anyone could instantly find a party if they wanted to do that. "This is just for the two of us, let''s head straight in." ire wrapped her slender fingers around Alex''s wrist and led him through the crowd to the main entrance of the dungeon. Dozens of city guards created a barricade and signed people in and out of the dungeon, ensuring that everything was documented. ire and Alex descended a grand staircase after passing through the checkpoint. They descended for what Alex felt was far too long a period to go one floor down, but when they arrived at the enormous underground cavern that felt as big as the city itself, he quickly understood why. "Come on, draw your sword, let''s see what you are made of," ire giggled and blew in his ear, causing him to jump. Alex only had a limited amount of potions, so he did his best to fight with a sword and shield no matter how clumsy he was with it. The monsters on the first floor consisted mainly of goblin like creatures which had brown skin and attacked with stone clubs and spears. It was the perfect floor for beginners and even Alex was able to easily defeat the monsters. Each one would dissipate back into mana, but they would also leave behind tiny shards known as mana crystals. These ones were rtively cheap, and many vendors wouldn''t even buy them, but higher level monsters left behindrger and more valuable stones. Alex did struggle however when they attacked in numbers, especially when one came from his blind angle. ire stood by him the entire time and guarded his back. "You really are , aren''t you?" She asked while poking him with her staff. Alex was somewhat frightened by the witch who would cause a goblin''s head to twist 180 degrees with a twitch of her staff, or effortlessly and brutally cave its head in with the same weapon. "I''m currently near though now." "I actually don''t even think a standard would have as much trouble as you are." "Urgh" "Hehe, most aren''t blind in one eye, though." Alex looked at his eyes in the reflection of his sword, one green while the other was a cloudy white. "Sorry for being weak." "Oh, it''s okay, you are just the kind I like." ire wrapped her hands around his neck from behind and embraced him. Her breasts weren''t overlyrge, but Alex felt them squish on his back and couldn''t help but get shy. "Y-you''re just teasing me, now. What would you do if I really pushed you down?" "I would force you to marry me, of course~" Alex couldn''t deal with her joking attitude, so he went back to hunting monsters until he reached . "I''m curious, how does someone as weak as you, with no money, talent, is illiterate, and doesn''t know about dungeons," ire rubbed shoulders with Alex while they rested on the entry stairs, her every word stabbing into his heart like sharp knives, "have such expensive equipment." "It was given to me." "By whom?" "By" "Hurry it up, I''ll give you a present if you tell me~" "By the ones who summoned me into this world, the royal family." "Eh?" Alex sighed and exined his circumstances to the witch, who became more and more interested over time. "I had heard rumors of the summoned heroes, I didn''t expect one of them to have run away." "Do you think I''m a bad person for it?" "Nope, you are so weak you would make everyone else weaker, after all." "Urgh" Alex felt like his heart was cut into countless pieces by her words. "It''s not all bad though. If you like, you can be my own personal hero. As for your present~" ire leaned over and covered his non blind eye with one hand before leaning her head over and kissing him on the lips. It was very brief, just a faint touch, but it left the taste of cherries on his lip as her scent engulfed his senses. Alex staired at the witch stupefied at his ''present'', who grinned before leading the way out of the dungeon. "Halt!" An intimidating guard stopped the duo as soon as they exited the dungeon. "You need to undergo a procedural inspection upon leaving, please line up alongside the other adventurers leaving." ire pouted and directly stated, "This is anything but procedural, what''s going on?" The guard hesitated, but quickly exined. "An unknown intruder set off an rm, causing us to enact our safety procedures. You just need to have your bags inspected and a higher levelled identity verification." ire waved nonchntly at the guard to signal she understood before leading Alex to join the others leaving. "Well this is annoying, what a mood killer" ~~~~~ Alex returned to his innte in the night, only to find a familiar woman waiting outside the front door of the inn patiently. She stood below the subtlemplight of a magic street lights, her ck hair cropped at her shoulders and a small beauty spot under her eye. She wore her standard maid uniform yet appearedpletely natural under the night. "Irene" Alex said in a stupefied yet somewhat frightened tone. Chapter 105: (Heroes) Protagonist Harem Flags Chapter 105: (Heroes) Protagonist Harem gs Alex had originally wanted his maid in the royal castle, Irene, to leave with him, but she had informed him he would need permission from the king first. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever met and just her kindness alone had made him fall in love with her. She currently stood out He had also just today gotten his hopes up with ire, a witch he had known for only 2 weeks yet she had taken a deep interest in him. She even kissed him, however brief it was, so the sudden appearance of Irene made him feel conflicted. ''Am I the protagonist?'' Alex silently pondered in his mind. ''But how did Irene find me here, in some out of the way city?'' "Irene?" "That is my name, young hero." Irene answered with her ever-present smile that Alex was familiar with. "Why are you here?" "After the hero ran away, as your personal maid, I was likely to receive a heavy sentence as well, so I could only escape." "B-but whye find me? And how did you find me?" "Didn''t young hero want me with him after leaving? I merely followed the trail from where you left the heroes along with listening to rumors and asking some questions." "Was it that easy?" "Maids are very resourceful, young hero." "Does the castle know where I am?" "That''s almost a guarantee. But I can help us vanish if you like, young hero." "If if they know I am here, why didn''t they do anything?" "Because young hero is dead weight." Irene''s words cut into Alex''s heart just as harshly as ire''s did. It was as if only sharp-tongued women were drawn to him. Conflicted by his emotions towards the two women, Alex hesitantly asked, "Would you like to-" "I have already reserved the room next to yours, so I can be of assistance in any way." "O-of course." "We can discuss my fees tomorrow. I require money for food, lodging, and luxuries, especially thest one." "Right." "Surely young hero didn''t expect me to pay for all that myself while working for him?" "O-o-of course not! That would be ridiculous." Alex bobbed his head up and down like a chicken but felt warmth in the maid talking to him in the exact same way he was used to. The truth was he never even considered the money side of having her around, but it made sense that he had to pay for her if she were to be his maid. Deep inside of him, there was also the fantasy of both ire and Irene, one woman in each arm as heid on arge bed. "Is something the matter, young hero?" "N-no, not at all. Let''s go inside, I have some quick business to attend to, then let''s sit down to talk some more." ~~~~~ "Do we really need to go into hiding?" Alex asked the following morning as he headed towards the adventurer''s guild. "No, because young hero is worthless. They won''t hold any desire in reiming you." "Urgh" Alex groaned and nervously touched his blind eye. He truly was weak, as much as he refused to admit it. What he needed was funds so he could use his ss skills properly, but he struggled to make ends meet and just when he discovered he could make more money with selling mana crystals, Irene showed up and he was now paying for her too. "If I am so worthless, why would youe to me?" "Young hero promised to treat me well if I left with him, didn''t he?" "You said I needed to get permission from his highness first, though." Irene just smiled and said, "That was before you ran away and left me in danger of punishment." "Would they really punish you, just because of that?" "The crown prince came looking for me after news of your escape reached the pce. Now, I am just a runaway maid out of employment." Alex sighed and pushed open the well oiled door of the adventurer''s guild, the warm air inside taking forcing away the bite of the morning air chill. ire was in themon area talking with a party of adventurer''s and waved Alex over with a broad smile the moment she saw him. When she saw Irene, in her maid attire, standing behind him, she immediately felt danger and her gaze hardened. Alex may not be able to tell as he was mostly clueless on intuition, but the maid behind him was hiding an incredible amount of power within her body. The were no obvious clues on Irene''s body, but ire was close to the Third Step and had been in countless battles. She could sense the danger radiating from the maid no matter how well thetter hid it. "It''s only been a day, and you already reced me with another woman," The witch spoke in a pained voice but her expression was all too fake. "N-no, that''s not it at all!" Alex immediately tried to salvage what he thought was a deteriorating situation, but ire onlyughed and pressed a foot against his crutch from under the table, a sly grin across her face. She had slipped that foot out of her shoe, allowing her to curl her toes around his manhood and grip it through his pants. Alex went bright red and tried to secretly push her foot away, but the witch was too strong for him to budge. Her heels pressed right against his privates just hard enough to only slightly hurt and moved around. The hero hid his face in embarrassment, during which time ir shot an icy re at Irene. The maid didn''t even flinch and simply kept smiling. At this moment, the door to the guild swung open and Jovran the Red strolled in with his party with an annoyed expression on his face. "Hey! You guys should have told me if the emergency request was alreadypleted!" Jovran stormed to the front of the line and mmed his citizenship card on the table in front of a staff member. It was the blonde woman who helped Alex sign up to the adventurer''s guild whose desk Jovran aggressively confronted. The employee looked at him with a forced smile and responded in a terse voice. "Sir, there is a queue you need to join." "Huh? Who the hell do you think I am? I do most of your high risk jobs, now answer my question!" The blonde woman looked at the waiting adventurers who were watching the confrontation like a sport and dug her heels in. "Sir, go to the back of the line." Jovran red at her, but he wasn''t known as being sexist for nothing. He immediately changed his attitude, rxing his expression andbing his fringe back with a sigh. He leaned on the desk with his forearm and asked in a much gentler tone. "Can you please inspect this emergency request and find out why me and my party travelled all night to the farnds to save a rural town from an earth dragon that made a nest nearby, only to find it had been taken care of several days ago?" The attendant was a bit flushed and she was unsure how to respond when his beautiful face was so close. "Hey, no fair!" Several adventurers called out from the line, no longer enjoying the conflict between Jovran and the worker. "Sir, p-please join the queue then I will assist you." Jovran felt like he had made a small victory and happily joined the back of the line without qualm. He waited for his turn patiently before having the request inspected and him beingpensated for the error by the guild. He then whispered into the attendants ear, causing her to blush before turning away with a grin. He spotted Alex, alongside ire and Irene at this time and his eyebrows shot up. His party members sighed as he swaggered over to the group, Alex raising his head in suspicion after noticing the footsteps heading his way. Jovran looked at Irene with ascivious gaze, focusing especially on her giant breasts which her maid attire clung to tightly. "I haven''t seen you around before? A maid too? Are you looking for a party to join?" Irene nced at him and stated with a smile, "I am not." Even though there was obviously no threat, Jovran felt his highly trained senses screaming at him to retreat. His expression hardened and he grasped his spear from his back, instantly moving into a defensive stance. The entire guild fell silent and even his party members looked at him with confused expressions. "My apologies, I am a littlecking sleep." It was an excuse, but it was the best one he coulde up with at the time. He shifted everyone''s attention immediately afterwards by addressing the witch on the other side of the table. "ire, my offer still stands. There was never a need-" "It is unnecessary. Do not waste my time." The witch cut him off with a re and sharp words. Alex sat in the middle of this confrontation and went bypletely unnoticed by Jovran, who didn''t nce at him even once before departing. He didn''t appear to rush to leave, but his hand never left the shaft of his giant spear. "What is going on?" Alex asked in confusion. Chapter 106: (Heroes) Exposed Chapter 106: (Heroes) Exposed ire stuck much closer to Alex ever since Irene appeared, and she always seemed to be at odds with her. The maid, however, never showed any retaliation nor seemed affected. Alex developed very intimate feelings towards ire during the following months, but Irene always held a special ce in his heart. Unbeknownst to the runaway hero though, ir was constantly fighting against Irene. "What the hell are you?" ir asked with blood trickling from the corner of her mouth as she confronted Irene in a dim back alley. "I am just a maid serving the young hero." "Bullshit, you are a monster in the skin of a woman. What evil ns are in your mind?" ire casted a bone shattering curse and tried to break the maid''s neck, but her head barely twisted before the spell shattered like the mana itself was unravelled. "Please mind your manners. I am just here to serve the young hero." "Do you ever stop lying? Your entire story is rubbish. I swear I will drag Alex away from your venomous grasp." The wind stirred through the alley and ire felt like a truck hit her in the stomach, sending her flying and smashing through a concrete brick wall. ire was a Witch, so whilst her ss wasn''t one with a particrly powerful body constitution, she was still very strong. Despite this, she suffered severe internal injuries and all her organs groaned in anguish. She crawled out of the rubble while vomiting blood, her body forcefully holding itself together. Under her robe, ire''s entire stomach was turning shades of ck and purple, signifying how serious the injury was. "Why are you even so interested in the young hero," Irene asked while tilting her head in confusion, her face no longer smiling but with an ice cold gaze, like looking at an insect. "You have only known him for three months now. That''s a bit too quick, isn''t it? You have never even had sex." "What the hell would you know, monster! No, not a monster, you''re a witch, aren''t you?" ir wiped the blood off her mouth as she spat those words in hate, causing her lips to be stained crimson by her own blood. "A very good guess, it looks like I will need to dispose of you tonight now though." "Because of you whores, I was ostracized by the party I was in and forced to leave. My ss is a Witch whilst you witches had be a taboo throughout the kingdom. Not only did I end up in a party with that bastard, he even took my first time. Now, I found someone who is just like the past me, and you appear with sinister ns." ir mmed her staff into the ground with all the strength she could and poured her mana out into her skills. "Like hell I will let you have your way!" Weakness, shattering and withering curses attacked in an invisible storm of mana waves. Her internal injuries worsened as a result of the exertion and she vominted more blood, copsing to her knees. Irene waved her hand and a three foot thick walls of hardened stone rose from the ground before dashing off to the side and up the building as fast as lightning, avoiding the curses andnding behind the fallen Witch. She picked her up effortlessly by the hair with one hand, the other pping her face and causing two teeth to fly out of her mouth. "Not bad for a Second Step, but you are simply too weak." "It was over this way!" The distant shout of the city guards could be heard alongside the tter of steel boots on the ground. Irene sighed and shook her head, dropping ire to the ground where she copsed on the spot. "How irritating, I want to kill you, but that is just going to make things more annoying. I will just take the young hero away now instead." "Like I will let you." "You can''t even stand up, there is nothing you can do." "How about me?" A man in crimson armor dropped down from above with his giant spear drawn. His body spewed mana as he thrust the spear down at Irie, creating several sonic booms that destroyed parts of the surrounding buildings in coteral damage. Dust erupted from the epicenter of the collisions, but when it cleared, Irene was still unharmed. She held her palm up and stopped the spear with a bubble shaped mana barrier around herself. Unlike ir, Jovran the Red was a true Third Step ranker, and a very powerful one too. His party members lined themselves up along the rooves, casting support magic while another vanguard charged at her with an oversized shield. "Tch," Irene clicked her tongue and mmed her foot into the ground, causing the entire ground to quake and giant bs to raise from the ground. "There is no point holding back anymore." Irene deflected the heavy armored Third Step tanker away and summoned a magma whip in her hand, striking at his exposed back and digging deep into his armor, the surrounding metal turning red hot in the process. His armor was an extremely hard alloy and capable of blocking most attacks of the Third Step. It had cost the party a fortune, but it had been cut through in a single attack. The tanker sweated bullets under his armor as he knew that if he were wearing a cheaper product, he would have been cut in two by that attack. "Fuck! That hurts!" He shouted and quickly sought help from the party''s mage, a woman who cast a water based spell to rapidly cool down the white hot area on the armor. During this brief interlude, Jovran grabbed onto ire and carried her away. The archer and mage of the party bombarded Irene with attacks, but the maid casually deflected, dodged, or negated each attack. "What a monster retreat for now and reform with the guards. Two hands can''t stop a hundred attacks." "Are you fleeing like a coward?" Irene''s gaze had be crazed and her smile sinister as she watched the party retreat over the broken buildings. Jovran didn''t fall for her taunt and prioritized securing ire. "Are you crazy, fighting a monster like that head on?" "She''s a witch" ire weakly said as she felt her consciousness fading. "And where do you think your hand is?" Jovran was carrying his giant spear in one hand while ir was under the other, but his hand was tightly gripping onto her breast and asionally squeezing. "I figured as much, that was really dumb of you." "Tch, you''ll keep grabbing my breasts despite me telling you not to" "Don''t sweat the small stuff, I did save your ass after all. It''s not like it''s the first time either." The party quickly found the approaching guards and reported the situation before Jovran had the other female of his party, a Third Step Radiant Healer, tend to ire''s wounds. ~~~~~ Irene didn''t chase after them but instead went to grab Alex from the inn and take him away. "Eh oops." Irene widened her eyes in surprise when she found that the destruction from herst attack had levelled even the inn, which was almost a block away. She rapidly threw debris away with her magic, even uncovering several wounded people who were caught in the damage, but Alex wasn''t to be found. Little did she know that Alex had snuck out after the Irene left the inn. Abination of his weak strength, now a Compounder, and sheer luck allowed him to slip under her awareness and follow in secret. He witnessed the confrontation between Irene and ire with abject horror. ire had previously approached him secretly to get him to escape from Irene with her, but he had always ced it down to jealousy and did his best to mitigate the conflict between the two women. Irene had been patient and appeared to try get along with ire, but thetter was always against Irene, no matter the quest they were on. The maid had shocked Alex during their quests when she demonstrated her magic, casting fireballs, me whips and water des, but it was nowhere near the scale of power she showed as she crushed ire into the ground. Alex wanted to save her, but her was terrified. His entire world seemed to copse around him as he fled. "Please! Please save her!" Alex called out as he ran into a patrolling city guard squadron. He quickly exined the situation and the guards reported the incident before rushing in the direction Alex directed. Terrified and feeling vulnerable, Alex hid inside of a dark alley behind several dumpsters while the sounds of battle and destruction only continued to increase in scale. "What the hell is going on" Alex hugged his knees and continued to hide even as the sounds of destruction faded. "What is Irene?" Chapter 107: (Heroes) Dragon Princess Rage Chapter 107: (Heroes) Dragon Princess'' Rage "I found him, he''s in here!" Alex abruptly woke up as a shadow was cast over him. He had fallen asleep in the alley after not moving for long enough. As he opened his bleary eyes, he saw a guard standing over him in thick, gold trimmed te armor. His mind was confused at the sight, as this was the armor of the royal guards from the capital. The guard reached down and picked him up from the cor before walking him out of the alley. Alex''s eyes shot open wide when he saw an entire small battalion of nearly a hundred Third Step royal guards converging on the area with strict discipline. Among them, was an older man and a young woman he was all too familiar with. "Pr-princess?" Alex stammered out of shock. Princess Zoerina was dressed in battle gear, a valiant dragon designed suit of armor covered most of her body yet left enough room to not restrict her flexibility and mobility. "The traitor has been found," Zoerina dered in a regal voice while casting a disgusted re at him. "Everyone get in formation, that witch will appear soon." "Are you actually a prophet?" Irene appeared on the roof of the adjacent building where there had previously been nobody and asked with an innocent smile. "I don''t need to see the future to predict what a whore of the abyss will do," The princess turned and red at the maid, her eyes turning into amber reptilian slits. "Surrender immediately or lose your head." "The princess herself came, how could I not show an appropriate amount of courtesy? You are holding something I want, so how about you hand it over before your kingdom loses their only princess?" "Die, whore!" The air in the street turned so hot it began to distort. Alex felt himself burning up and was about to pass out when the old man in the group cast a spell and covered him in a thin barrier. "This isn''t a battle for greenhorns like yourself or old timers like me," He chuckled and retreated with Alex. "Duke Montreal, I may require your help," Princess Zoerina stated before conjuring a spear of dragon fire in her hand andunching it at the maid. Irene merely raised her hand and blocked the attack with a mana barrier, the spear colliding with the barrier like a missile and detonating in a violent explosion of fire sorge the sky appeared to be covered in fire. An evacuation warning rang out within the city, prompting the citizens to get as far away from the battle as possible, but it was inevitable that there would still be casualties. "What a ridiculously thick barrier," The princess spat in disgust upon seeing Irene unharmed, the barrier slightly cracked but immediately repairing itself. "I feel conflicted hearing that from someone who casually throws dragon fire like sparks." "Shut up and turn to ashes!" "It would be unfair if I didn''t reciprocate." The royal guards drew their swords, spears and bows, which glowed red under their systematically trained skills. Each were hardened warriors and charged at Irene from different angles, aiming to kill. Lightning broke out around Irene''s body and snaked across the building, causing destruction to everything it passed by. In the sky, an enormous amount of mana congregated as pitch ck clouds rapidly built up, full of so much lightning energy that everyone''s hair stood on end. "Fuck, you''re not some average witch, huh?" Irene ignored the princess'' words and cast her hands down. Giant bolts of lightning as thick as tree trunks struck the ground, destroying concrete, stone and steel in pure violent collision. The bolts didn''t immediately dissipate, but snaked along the ground and buildings, leaving a wake of destruction behind. The royal guards and the princess rapidly dodged as best they could, but whilst they left afterimages behind and dodge giant bolts snaking past them, there were too many bolts of lightning to dodge altogether. Not all of the royal guards couldpletely dodge the lightning bolts, and none could break the attack formation to attack Irene. The lightning melted armor, shatters bones and tore limbs apart, even if the person had a body of a Third Step ranker. Several royal guards lost an arm or a leg, several more were hit directly by the lightning and torn into pieces by the violent lightning energy. A spear wielding royal guard got trapped in the air as a bolt of lightning approached. He was resigned to his fate but unwilling to go down without one final attack. The air around him burned in crimson spark of lighting before heunched his spear directly at Irene''s heart. Whilst controlling the lightning bolts, Irene''s defenses were weaker and allowed the spear to finallynd a hit on her. She sacrificed her hand without hesitancy to offset the spear, which pierced through her hand and shoulder instead of her heart. "Tch. I was careless," Irene clicked her tongue as she pulled the spear out, the wounds rapidly stitching themselves closed and healing. This created a briefpse in the lightning cmity, allowing Zoerina to cover herself in dragon fire and charge through a building to attack Irene from behind. Irene sensed hering without being able to look and fired several meteors of stone at the dragon princess. Zoerina smashed apart those cannon ball like meteors with her armored fists, not hesitating as she charged head on at Irene, smashing her shield with her armored gauntlets and causing it to dangerously crash as the maid used the recoil from the blow to increase their distance. "Whore, fight me head on if you dare! I will take your head today!" "Us mages have weak bodies, don''t bully us." "The nerve!" Irene cast several giant water des that cup apart buildings and forced Princess Zoerina to dodge once again and throw a giant piece of building at the mage maid in a fit of rage. Irene stared at the iing giant block of stone, concrete and wood before flying away to another building with the wind. More royal guards tried to intercept her now that the lightning storm was finished causing her more difficulties. Several attacks got through and caused various injuries that she was forced to heal from. "Don''t lose your footing, hot-headed princess." Irene distanced herself from the guards and created another earthquake, causing countless buildings to copse and everyone to lose their bnce as giant blocks of earth erupted from the ground. The veryndscape was altered to give Irene the advantage, which she took to sever the heads of several disoriented royal guards. Out of nowhere, a red beam of energy shot through Irene and punctured a fist sized hole in her stomach which began spurting blood down her body. Irene turned her head and looked at a group of adventurers and mercenaries who wereing to reinforce the royal guards. "Witch, your head will roll today!" Jovran the Red headed the paid reinforcements, his giant spear head gyrating and emitting smoke as several formations emitted an enormous amount of energy. "This is truly disadvantageous. I honestly hadn''t expected the royals to care about a failure of a hero who fled from the battlefield." "We didn''te for the traitor, we came for you, witch. You arepletely surrounded now, surrender." Irene looked at the princess whose entire body was emitting power, her rage being converted into raw mana by her bloodline. Zoerina''s body had undergone changes from overexerting her bloodline, a pair of obsidian dragon horns emerging from her head and a thick, crimson dragon tail extending behind her. "Princess, I dare say, can youe back from that? Do you still count as human, now?" "If it means destroying the abyss and you monsters, I will turn into the ancestral dragon itself." Irene didn''t give any warning as she snapped her fingers, causing countless magic arrays to spring to life over the battlefield where she had passed, including two on Princess Zoerina''s body. Nobody had time to react as the formations all imploded on themselves before erupting in a violent explosion which tore space itself. Buildings copsed and even the reinforcing adventurers and mercenaries were forced to protect themselves from shrapnel asrge as bricks flying like cannon shots at them. Princess Zoerina had two of these formations on her body, secretly nted on her by Irene when she got too close. The dragon princess was sent flying, crashing through several buildings and creating a crater in the center of a marketce still not fully evacuated. She rolled over in the hole and vomited blood that was so hot the stone melted and began tobust. "Whore!" Despite the damage, with blood running down her face and out of several joints in her te armor, the princess'' body had forcibly withstood it. "And you call me a monster," Irenemented as the princess reappeared covered in blood. "I will kill you, whore!" The princess screamed, her rage shaking the space around her. "Unfortunately, I already have my prize." Irene had Alex under her arm unconscious and bleeding from the head. Her stomach hadpletely healed too, fresh pure white skin visible through therge hold in her maid dress. Princess Zoerinaunched herself at her and crushed the building under her fist, but Irene had already vanished with the hero, the image the princess attack only a mirage caused by magic. Chapter 108: Revealed Chapter 108: Revealed Styx stood in argeboratory where most of histest research and experimental products took ce. There were currently over a thousand miners freed up after the mana shaft dig, many of which be repurposed into expanding the dungeon by digging new areas, including his new throne room. There were others which would be ced in the mines, extracting iron, copper, tin, and many other ores. The mana shaft had also revealed giant ores of gems and other new materials too, which all needed mining and their own manufacturing lines for processing. With all the excessive materials, and now over abundance of mana to use, his next task was increasing his production capabilities. One means was to replicate his current production lines several times, but this consumed an enormous amount of space and increased the time material spent in transit. The better option was to upgrade his current devices, mainly the T1 Conveyer Belt and then the T1 Item Picker. A T2 version of each item would allow for more items to be processed along the same line, while also allowing him to increase the efficiency. "Urgh, why is this so difficult!" Styx shouted in frustration in theboratory after his experimental T2 Item Picker began to slow down while missing several items. Beatrice and Rhea were assisting him with taking notes, drawing diagrams and assisting with design suggestions. Beatrice eyed Rhea''s swelling stomach with envy, her now well into her pregnancy and embodying one of the former''s deepest desires. "I''m sorry, I don''t know enough about magic to be able to input anything," Rhea bowed her head in regret. Styx''s problem with the T2 upgrade was that such an upgrade brought an entirely new set of challenges, both on the mechanical and magical side. The T2 Conveyer Belt wasn''t overly difficult, it just had to move faster, but still needed a new design for a track to grip onto ores and items better and prevent slipping when they were ced on or taken off. The T2 Item Picker was much harder as the faster the w arm-like device moved, the more precise it had to be and smaller the margin of error could be. The existing design and magic array system could not amodate this, so he redesigned it from the ground up. The arm was a bit more bulky due to additional springs and wheels in it, and the mana arrays had beenpletely redesigned too. "Let me have a look at it again" Styx turned the device on again and the array it was installed on, alongside several one the arm itself lit up. He tweaked the array and tested it on several items, but the problem persisted as once it moved too fast, it would start to get out of sync and slow down to a crawl, missing most items altogether. "Fuuu New problems need new solutions. This on is back to the drawing board to understand why this is happening, and a new solution." "Yes," Beatrice quickly scribbled into the notes the particr failures of the device to investigate. Just as they were moving onto the next item, Styx tilted his head in puzzlement. "Why are all the merchants hurriedly leaving our town?" "What do you mean?" "The monsters are watching many of the merchants in the dungeon town hurriedly packing up and leaving. It is strange." Styx also contacted Therina and Irie, but they also didn''t know what was going on. "Someone is deliberately hiding things from me" Styx muttered with a dark expression. ~~~~~ Duchess Euklid sat down beside her daughter, who had been much more silent these days than she used to be. It was like she had be someone else entirely during her imprisonment at the malicious dungeon, even though it wasn''t anything particr about her that seemed all that different. It was just an agglomeration of many little things Reba watched the mana flow through her mother''s body like an intricatework of tree roots and secretly sighed in admiration. She knew her mother was extremely powerful, much like Duke Ashburn, but even then, she had still severely underestimated her. She currently suspected that had any of the Third Step guards fought her, they would lose instantly despite being at the same tier of strength. "Ba, you have been smiling much lesstely." "I have been smiling plenty, mother." "Do you think a mother can''t tell when her own daughter''s smile is fake? You are trying to swindle a swindler, I have much more experience than you." Duchess Euklid wrapped her daughter in her arms and embraced her. "I am still the same, mom. I''m just conflicted. I don''t know what to do." "For now, we will be returning home with me to Orchidia." "No." "What?" "Eh, what? Sorry, I spoke without thinking." "Why would you want to stay?" "Well, we didn''t achieve the duke''s support in helping defending Orchidia, did we? Home is in a desperate situation." "His son died, on the alter no less. Well, he copsed on the alter. Even though you two weren''t officially married, I will be lucky if you aren''t considered a widow or unlucky in the eyes of the nobles." "I can still do it. There are other noble houses who won''t consider things that way. If we move fast-" "Enough, Ba. We can try again in the future, but for now, we need to leave the city." "Why? I don''t understand, mom." Duchess Euklid bit her lip and lowered her voice, ensuring that only her daughter could hear and no potential eavesdroppers. "Ba, I''m not supposed to tell you this as there is a silence order from the capital, and speaking of it is treason, but there are already rumors beginning to spread... The capital has dispatched a force of 40,000 Third Step soldiers to exterminate the dungeon where you were held captive" "What? Why?" Reba''s eyes opened wide in shock, whilst her confused emotions only fell further into turmoil. "I don''t know, everyone is keeping quiet as it seems this attack is supposed to capture that illegal dungeon lord unprepared. I do suspect that the disturbance from the Abyssal Forest a while ago is likely rted though. It''s hard to say for certain." "Mother, they have a very powerful Fifth Step Monster Lord protecting the dungeon, those soldiers would be decimated!" "You see the problem. What do you think will happen after that?" "They would seek revenge." "Yes, and this dungeon city is the nearest stronghold of our kingdom. Duke Ashburn also isn''t in his right mind either. He can handle losses on the battlefield, but his son dying truly stabbed him in the heart. I don''t know what they are thinking, but I hope they have nned for the Monster Lord in advance." "No, it isn''t just one! There is another, much, much stronger too." "Reba Euklid what was that?" "There is a second Monster Lord." "Why are you only just saying this now?" "What do you mean why? I''m telling you, aren''t I?" The duchess looked at her daughter with an increasingly estranged look. She didn''t know what it was, but there was something off about her daughter. "Enough of this, we are going home immediately, before we are caught in the revenge strike of now two Monster Lords. Go wake your friends and pack your things, now." The duchess left in a hurry to file a secret report to the iing troops to prevent any ns they had catastrophically falling apart. As Reba sat in the room alone, a dark, sinister voice echoed in her mind, so cold it sent shivers down her spine. "I see that is what''s going on." ~~~~~ Duchess Euklid tied a wax sealed letter to the ankle of a hawk like bird. There were magical means ofmunication, but there was no interconnectedwork throughout the kingdom andmunicating long distances was incredibly cumbersome. It took a huge amount of mana gems to power such a formation, while even the adventurer''s and other global guilds kept intercity and interkingdommunications down topact messages that could be sent at lower costs. Not to mention she would not be able to connect to the iing battalion of Third Step soldiers to warn them of the second Monster Lord. Thanks to the mana restriction, the bird was a heavily used means of sending messages among nobility, armymanders, and evenmon citizens. It was expensive to own a bird, but plenty ofpanies provided affordable intercity postal services and received a vast number of customers as a result. Being just amon bird, it held a weak presence and even monsters didn''t care enough to attack them, meaning letters were usually delivered without mishap. This message contained everything she knew about the dungeon to the capital, who could then ry the information to the marching army. This was one of Duke Ashburn''s messenger hawks, his wife having given her agreement to using it while she also tried to get through to her husband about the dangers. She sat the bird on a strange magic array, the system of magic not one she was familiar with, and selected the royal capital. Information on where to go was directly imprinted on the bird''s mind and it immediately flew into the air. "I can only pray now" ~~~~~ As the messenger hawk flew enroute to the Maple Dragon Kingdom capital, the sky above it suddenly shot out a bolt of lightning. There was no prior warning, not so much as a cloud, and the messenger bird didn''t detect it either before it was turned to charcoal, the message it was carrying crumbling to ash as it fell from the sky in an unknown wastnd of the kingdom. Chapter 109: Rally Chapter 109: Rally "You heard your mother, it''s time toe home," Styx spoke directly into Reba Euklid''s mind in a grave tone, his mood soured from the earlier piece of information. "I will be returning to my home, not yours." "How long are you going to fight it?" "You do not understand." "What?" "It''s not about fighting anything. Nobles enjoyvish lifestyles and wealthy coffers, but first and foremeost,es our duty." "Surprisingly honorable, I wonder how many nobles share such sentiments." "Most. We be nobles by controlling dungeon cities, and should they fall, we lose our nobility. I may not understand much of what nobles do, but I do know that any ipetent nobles are thinned out naturally through this process." "I can''t say the same about other cities, but what of yours? From what I have heard, you seem to be in pretty dire circumstances." "During the Myriad Flower Devil Festival, our city of Orchadia suffered a simultaneous beast raid. Our walls were breached and 40 percent of our poption became food for monsters. Our defenses were crippled, walls broken, and not enough hands to rebuild, let alone defend it properly." "So, you abandoned it?" "No, father can continue acting as the dungeon lord whilst mother and me are here. My siblings are also actively helping some of them, at least. We need weapons and soldiers, especially if another beast wavees." "Why do you not marry me, then?" "That is impossible." ~~~~~ "Damned stubborn woman!" Styx cussed aloud back in the dungeon, flinging a dagger at a small rabbit among the bushes in the dungeon. The small rabbit darted away in fright as the knifended in the earth beside it. It moves so fast it was a wonder it wasn''t a monster yet. "Styxie~" Vivy, followed by three human bearded males, came running over. Sheunched herself over and hugged the dungeon lord. "Please help me evolve." Styx looked at the exotic beauty who deliberately exposed her plump thighs before him. "I don''t share my women." "I know, I know," Vivy wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips close to his ears. "I have given birth to so many monsters for you, all I want is the attribute." "Do you know the conditions necessary?" "I asked Bea, who told me what I need to do. I can fulfil those conditions." Styx looked at the three men, all as attractive as humans came, before looking back at the dark elf whose face was so close he could feel her heated breath. He pushed her face away, but she was determined and used her strength superiority to bring herself even closer to Styx. "One of those conditions is to ept me in your innermost depths," Styx stalely said whilst he could feel the tips of her lips brush on his ear. "I love all my men, but you are the only one I would die for. I can evolve, I know I can." "The next point is it needs to be during your ss Up, you went ahead and did that without waitingst time." "Of course, I am at the maximum experience threshold of ." "Already?" "I have worked very hard, especially as nobody fills me up like you do~" Styx knew she meant the way he filled her manawork with his tendrils, expending and strengthening them. He also knew she was overly fond of this and would frequently use the breeders with his automatic processes for it. He had taken to ignoring her during these times as he wasn''t the only one ''filling'' her during these times, so he had naturally missed how fast she reached the peak of the Second Step. "Very well, give me some time to organize it and think carefully on what attribute you want. Don''t be impatient again." Vivy hurriedly nodded and forcefully kissed him on the cheek before departing with her reverse harem elites in tow. She had actually given Styx a form of inspiration. He already had automatic processes to enable more people to breed monsters and enjoy elevated statuses, but only the direct dungeon wives had ess to the possibility of evolution. He needed to create a system, and even a new breeder design, that would enable people to fill it with attributed mana. Even if they couldn''t evolve, they would at least be able to adopt an attribute and improve their advanced ss selections. As Vivy left the throne room, she ran into Beatrice and Therina who looked at her askance. "Are you trying to drag darling into your reverse harem again, Vivy?" "His spot is forever reserved. Therina, you should get him to grow out a beard." "Why?" Vivy slyly grinned and whispered into thetter'' ear, "Elven men don''t grow beards, so we never really considered it, but the facial hair makes things feel so much different." "It makes what feel different." "Don''t pretend you don''t know. I mean when your thighs are wrapped around his head." Therina merely scoffed, but Beatrice''s imagination flew a thousand miles while imagining it. On the outside, she gave a disinterested look at Vivy, but she was secretly considering asking Styx to try it. As soon as the naiad and phenelf entered the room, Styx had long had a dragon in his pants roaring at the heavens and directlymanded them, "Strip." ~~~~~ A giant grand stage was constructed in the heart of the town inside the dungeon. It wouldter be repurposed into ys and creative arts, or a ce to garner attention to anything. For now, Styx stood atop it behind a podium and spoke to the thousand plus dungeon residents, to his side all the dungeon wives. "Do you who call this dungeon home, call it safe haven, enjoy it here!?" "YEESSS!" Everyone called out in enthusiasm. The tiger beastkin roared while elves and dark elves tittered their voices. Humans thumped their feet on the grounf and everyone expressed themselves in their own way. His voice didn''t just reached the ears present, but also the ears of human women he had imed within Lagoon Porter City too. The barmaid, Hilda, was one of these women. Her long back hair was tied up in a rough bun while several loose locks hung down beside her face. Still in her work uniform, she sat on an empty crate behind the tavern she had taken over with a smoldering tobo pipe in one hand. She sat under the fading light of dusk, looking up into the sky with a devout expression while listening to Styx''s words in her ears. "The Maple Dragon Kingdom can no longer tolerate us, so they have sent an elite force of 40,000 to eliminate the dungeon and everyone under its protection!" The crowd was as silent as it was solemn, many people holding fearful expressions. "How long will you remain in fear, hiding in the shadows and forever at the mercy of the kingdom. They have revealed their teeth, so we will show equal force in return! We not only have Aura, a dungeon wife and Monster Lord. We also have Dragon, the most powerful Monster Lord in the Abyssal Forest guarding us!" "Whoooo!!!" The crowd begun to regain their vigor at mention of the Monster Lords, symbols of terror in the hearts of countless, but now the greatest guardian too. "We will not hide and runaway from the kingdom, we will fight for our own existence! We muste together more now than ever before! Should we win, we will grow greater and expand faster than ever before!" "What if we fail, the central armies have weapons that can even repel Monster Lords." A voice called out from the crown, Styx looking down to see it was, Kristof, the Second Step human ranker who married to Mauve, a Second Step female tiger beastman who was already pregnant with a swelling stomach. "Repel but very difficult to kill. A battle of this scale is not determined by any individual, but army tactics. Whilst Monster Lords can break this rule, the inherent battle of tactics of formations still remains the same. If they wish topete with me in tactics, they will receive a very harsh lesson in return." Styx had almost 4,000 years of knowledge and experience. He had seen every tactic imaginable, even been part or directed several. In his eyes, they were but children pretending to be adults. "The monsters which keep us safe are stillcking, however! Everyone must do their part, so even if you don''t normally breed often, everyone needs to support the dungeon and create monsters. Perhaps one of you will be the next dungeon wife, a position above all others!" Everyone was excited, especially the women. There were currently nearly 25,000 monsters under Styx''s control at the moment, but nearly all of them were of the First Step. Whilst each monster would never be able to stand up to a Third Step ranker, 25,000 First Step monsters could deal a significant blow to a battalion of Third Step soldiers. Most of these monsters were out in the Abyssal Forest, hunting for meat while also increasing their levels, but casualties were quite high as well. The dungeon residents would also take part in the battle as well, but Styx was determined to keep resident casualties as small as possible. Monsters were much easier to rece than residents. "I am also announcing a new breeder design. This allows for you to use an attributed mana gem to inject yourself with and adopt a mana affinity. It is still in the prototype stage, so safety is not guaranteed, but I will do my best to ensure any mishaps are treated immediately." "The affinity must be pre-approved based on your status, previous mana affinities adopted, and finally your affinity with that element. This not only opens the options for more powerful advanced sses for you all, but also the possibility of undergoing evolution, just like many of the dungeon wives already have!" "There will be notices posted up all over town on the conditions to be met for you to be able to evolve into stronger species." Chapter 110: Fly in A Web Chapter 110: Fly in A Web Styx was in the subterranean tunnels extending more pirs up into the open world and expanding his dungeon even further. The town outside the dungeon was growing outwards and upwards as although the merchants were thinning out, more adventurers wereing, sone beginning to move into the town permanently. The area his dungeon expanded above ground now reached all the way to the edge of the Abyssal Forest. It was a humongous area and was intended not just for expansion, but to serve as a warning sign for when the human army arrived. Styx needed to know as much as he could about the enemy, from where they were, when they would arrive, and theposition of forces making it up. He sent several harpies and other flying monsters to leave the Abyssal Forest and fly through the clouds. His dungeon was on the southern side of the Abyssal Forest, so any force from the central regions of the kingdom would have to detour around it to attack him with their full force. The harpies were joined to Styx''s sight, and he closely examined the rolling hills, treacherous mountains, and thick forests as the harpies flew at the front of the scout group. In this world, air supremacy was overwhelmingly held by exotic race species and monsters that could fly rather than technology or magic. There were some specialized forces which tamed wyverns to battle in the sky, but it was nearly impossible to build anyrge scale air force until the kingdom had the technology to create spaceships or air fortresses. Due to stray monster flock, or strong predators, Styx had forced his scouts to descend out of the sky ahead of time. The harpies had excellent eyesight and senses and would detect Second Step monsters ahead of time, whilst Third Step monsters were disinterested in killing First Step monsters unless provoked or the heart of their territory was invaded. Styx''s monsters were even more powerful due to all the bonuses from his titles and breeding partners. Each harpy for instance could battle a weaker Second Step monster one on one. Searching through valleys and mountain passes for days, several of his remaining monsters reached a crystal clearke that was sorge it extended beyond the horizon and almost seemed like an ind sea more than ake. It was currentlyte at night, the full moon reflecting off the surface of theke like a mirror. A dungeon city built on giant artificial inds floating on theke, wide, arched stone bridges connecting it to thend outside. Lights lit up the streets while rivers of fluorescent jellyfish created a milky way across theke. These jellyfish weren''t to be underestimated. There were millions of them, each at the Second Step. Even Fourth Step monsters in theke would avoid them, and by cing the dungeon city where it was, they formed a natural barrier for anyke-based monster waves. Whilst there was the danger ofke monsters, this city was incredibly safe from any terrestrial creature or exotic race attack, which could onlye from several narrow paths. The city defenses would wipe out most of them before they could even reach the city. The harpies hid amongst the crowd and spied on the ground, where a giant battalion of Third Step royal guard army and hired warriors camped outside of theke. They all had basic tents, while poles with light arrays inscribed in them were inserted into the ground and lit up the camp like countless tiny fireflies. The monsters could see other lights moving along the bridge in and out of the dungeon city. Some of these were adventurers or mercenaries, but other were obviously this armies logistics squads. They were resupplying the soldiers rations and any equipment needing recing or supplementing. As Styx was controlling the monsters hiding in the clouds observing the intimidating force, the area in the underground tunnel where he was rapidly turned eerie. It was already quiet beforehand, but for some reason the air seemed to feel sticky while his avatar could hear its own hearbeat. A powerful and instinctual sense of dread welled up from the bottom of his heart. His core could look into the air from its omnipresence viewpoint, but what his avatar saw seemed different and gave him a powerful sense of disorientation. This was due to a Time Stagnation skill being exerted in the area. It was powerful enough that ten minutes inside was ten seconds outside of it, and experiencing both at the same time is what caused his temporal nausea. Thin threads glistened in the air all around Styx''s avatar, threatening to cut him into several pieces should he move, whilst a giant 4-meter-tall Arachne stepped out from a slit in space behind him. Her body was pitch ck with white rings and deadly barbs on it. The human torso section waspletely bare, long silky white threads of hair extending down her pale body and swinging breasts. "You are here again," Styx''s expression hardened as the Monster Lord''s power washed over him and an instinctual terror arose. "Dragon is a protector of this dungeon, are you picking a fight with him?" "No. Attack. Make. Stronger." A spider leg that was more of a scythe extended over his should and threatened to carve him up into pieces. Styx wanted to send an SOS to Aura, but if he did that, the two Monster Lords would undoubtably fight until Dragon arrived, or one of them died. Either way, his dungeon would suffer extensive damage once again which he couldn''t afford in leu of theing battle. He forcefully controlled his mind to calm down and think rationally, tepidly touching the de edged spider leg with his finger. "Only if you surrender." "No." The Arachne pulled her w closer to Styx cutting into him with the de edge so sharp he barely even felt it before his blood stained his clothes. "Killing me will get you nothing." "ident." "Then apologize." Styx was pressed down to the ground by the Monster Lord''s pressure. He could feel his bones cracking and couldn''t breathe. The slip of her power also alerted Aura, deeper in the dungeon, and the situation Styx didn''t want to see began to unfold. The wolf-eared woman vanished from her original position and the world around Styx shifted into a desert, where she reappeared. The Arachne looked around at the surroundings and hissed in rage, poisonous spittle flying and creating a toxic mist which melted the sand into a toxic bile. She grabbed the helpless Styx in her human arms and pointing the tip of a leg at his throat while ring at the wolf girl. "Stop. Or death." Styx tried to wriggle, but her grip was like an iron vice, refusing to budge in the slightest. Her giant breasts were squished against his back, and he wasn''t shy to admit he enjoyed the sensation. He used his currently free hands to reach over his head and squeeze the goliath breasts. He hurriedly sent a mental messagemanding Aura to hold back, knowing that she wouldpletely disregard everything and continue attacking otherwise. Despite being in human form, Aura stood on all fours while revealing sharp fangs and growling inhumanly. The desert began to twist and distort, but soon restored itself to therge tunnel it had previously been. "What now?" Styx tilted his head up and looked at the Arachne Monster Lord, her bloody red pupils rotating as she looked down upon him. "Make. Stronger." "You are at Max Level, aren''t you." "Yes." "Put me down." "No." "" "Make. Stronger." The Arachne Monster Lord seemed to have endless patience, but neither Styx nor Aura had the same. "I can''t." The Arachne red at Aura in both hatred and jealousy. After Aura''s most recent demonstration of strength, even the spider Monster Lord was reluctant to fight her directly. "Why?" "Because you won''t surrender." "I. Surrender." "Then put me down." "No." "Do you even understand what surrender means?!" "Yes." Styx struggled in her hands, but the Arachne was immovable. She held him pinned to her human section of her body and retreated into a darker corner, deadly spiderwebs made from space itself branching around the corner and creating a secluded nest. Seeing the situation wasn''t going to change anytime soon, Styx sent a mental message to the wolf girl on the verge of attacking again. "Aura, go and stop anyone from entering this tunnel. The spider isn''t attacking, so just keep the area safe." The wolf-eared woman bared her fangs but listened to Styx''smands and vanished from the tunnel, reappearing at the entry point and constructing a very thick barrier from her Phantasmagoria skill. ~~~~~ Styx''s avatar was trapped by the Arachne for several days, whom patiently waited for him to make her stronger without tire. Sheyed down on her abdomen with Styx pinned in the arms of her human torso. Thankfully, Styx could still control the monsters to spy on the iing force, although they could only spy rarely during the night without attracting the human''s attention and being attack by powerful, long range magic. At the rate the human army were moving, Styx estimated he had two months before they would arrive. It was a lot of time to prepare everything, but at the same time it was too brief a period. s, the humans weren''t going to wait just because he asked them to. "How can I make you stronger when you don''t do as I say?" "Is. Necessary?" "Yes, it is! Now let go of me!" The Arachne finally listened and released her arms, leaving Styx to weakly fall on the ground and breathe out a sigh of relief. "Finally" "Now. Make. Stronger." "Once again, do you not understand how I can make you stronger?" "I. Surrender." Her actions didn''t reflect her words, which were spoken merely to achieve an end goal. Styx held up his hand and extended his mana tendrils towards the giant Arachne. Her blood red eyes focused on the mana tendrils in what the dungeon lord could only describe as an ice cold gaze. "You let me inside of you, after which I help expand your mana channels. The key part is not resisting in the slightest. Completely surrendering yourself to me." "Is. That. How. Wolf. Stronger?" "Yes." "What. Else. With. Wolf." "We mate." "Oh." "Can''t you speak more clearly. You are constantly stopping and starting. Just say it all at one in a coherent way." "Yes." Styx''s mana tendril extended towards the Arachne when spider webs shot through the space and somehow cut them up into small pieces. "Arghh!!!" Styx cried out in pain as he felt like dozens of limbs were suddenly chopped off. He wasn''t about to simply follow along with Spider''s whims though and had already sent a message to Aura to quickly rescue him. The wolf-eared woman appeared in a fresh change of clothes that exposed her shoulders and a significant amount of cleavage. She opened up her mouth and the entire area where the spider threads cocooning the area were, simply vanished. She then rushed to Styx, who dove away from the spider Monster Lord, and grabbed him. He didn''t give her any specific instructions and felt somewhat out of ce as she held him in a princess carry. "Liar!!" The Arachne waspletely and utterly enraged, baring her poisonous fangs and spitting venom all over the cave before rapidly fleeing into a crack in space. Without Styx as a hostage, she was too afraid to face Aura head on. Chapter 111: Monster Breeding Chapter 111: Monster Breeding Styx was facing a dilemma. He wanted to call over Dragon and his fallen angel assistant, Loreley, to notify them of when they were needed, but he had no means to contact them from his end. The only one capable of going over to his territory in time was Aura, but she had stayed beside Styx at all times to prevent him being captured by Spider again. "I will just have to trust in his ability toe in time" Styx mumbled to himself while brooding before looking at the wolf-eared woman who had curled herself up on the floor of the throne room. "Aura, at least use a chair." The Monster Lord''s ears twitched before she rose her head. She looked at Styx with eyes that were still half asleep and climbed on top of him, wrapping her arms and tail around him. ~~~~~ "Styx, we are ready over here," Beatrice stated as she oversaw the giant construction and furnishing of monster barns. Despite around 600 female elves, human, beastman and beastkin breeding monster almost daily, it still wasn''t enough. There were 40,000 humans of the Third Step, while he currently had 25,000 First Step monsters and 5,000 Second Step monsters. Of those First Step monsters, 5,000 of them had the strength of a weak Second Step monster, while his Second Step monsters were as powerful as a powerful high levelled Second Step ranker. At the same time, a further 10,000 First Step monsters were miners and various gnomes for production and each had very weakbat power. There were over a thousand residents, 400 of which were currently at the Second Step and 30 at the Third Step. Unfortunately, the base level of monsters tapered off, so a dungeon resident needed to be to breed a Second Step monster, which had a basic growth period of 92 hours, and even the Third Step residents couldn''t breed Third Step monsters just yet. What they could breed though, were still incredibly powerful Second Step monsters just as powerful as a Third Step ranker. Much to Styx''s surprise, Vivy had managed to trigger evolution when ssing up into the Third Step and was currently engulfed in a cocoon of dark energies in an enclosed shelter behind her and her harem''s residence. With the recent propaganda to breedbat monsters, his forces were being supplemented by a daily average of 400 First Step monsters and 20 Second Step monsters. There was 60 days left until the human army reached here, meaning his total forces would reach 49,000 First Step monsters and 6,200 Second Step monsters. Finally, there were also approximately 20,000 blood crystal bees in the now mega hive. Styx was worried as the hive seemed to hit a ceiling cap on number of bees it could house and produce with just one queen. Old bees were dying as fast as new bees could be born, causing poption stagnation. There was the possibility of birthing a new queen, but each hive could only have one queen so he would first have to build a new area for a second hive and then create cordiality between the existing hive and the new one. Even adding the dungeon residents onto the total number of forces, who were each more powerful than a simr levelled monster, it wasn''t enough to bridge the gap against the army. Styx''s best n was to fight quality with quantity. If he could trade 100 First Step monsters for the life of one Third Step soldier, he wouldn''t hesitate to do so. In order to increase the speed of which monsters are produced, he decided to use the female monsters to breed more. He had always been reluctant as they were never to his tastes, but with the process automated, he didn''t need to actively participate in it. Breeding with 10,000 monsters would increase his forces by 600,000 new monsters, an enormous force which could easily contend with the human kingdom''s army. Styx inspected this series of monster barns among the rice fields, each capable of housing a couple dozen monsters across the base floor and several underground floors. "It looks good." Styxmended the workers, one of which was Irie. She used her magic to terraform and do many other things to make the construction process go faster. Most of these techniques were widespread through human culture and the use of mages in construction, which the beastkin, elves and dark elves were interested to learn while the beastman were only interested in using brute force. "Your highness, I want my reward~" Irie wrapped her lither arms around Styx''s neck and started passionately kissing him. With his Avatar Creation skill at , it was as strong as a general Second Step ranker and no longer as weak as before. Whilst it was still helpless before Monster Lords, a mage ss like Irie was incapable of resisting him as he captured her in his hands and invaded her mouth with his tongue. He carried her into an unupied monster barn before pinning her against the wall, one of his hands reaching up her shirt and tightly grabbed onto herrge breasts. He squished the supple flesh between his fingers, while her erect nipples poked into his palms. Irie wouldn''t have resisted even if she could, taking deep pleasure in being toyed with by him. Shepletely cooperated as he pulled down her leggings and lifted her legs up. She was wedged between the wall and Styx''s body, suspended above the ground while her legs pressed over his shoulders. Styx took his already erect rod and pressed it into the wet folds of her vagina. "MMMmmaahhhhh~" Irie moaned in ecstasy as he pushed his penis up into her inner cloister. She was wet enough he slid in all the way to the entrance of her womb and tightly pressed up against the front door. Her entire body quivered and her slick inner vaginal walls clenched tightly around his rod. Irie bit into his shoulder as he lowered his waist before ramming it all the way back up into her cervix. Her fingers pulled at his clothes and scratched his back as she lost herself in pleasure. Aura walked into the barn at this moment and looked at the two with interest. Her tail swayed in the air yfully as Irie was so enraptured with Styx she failed to notice the additional person. All of a sudden, Styx stopped moving and raised his brow. "Don''t stop~ What is it?" Iriepained before rubbing the side of her face against his. "The monsters can''t be used for breeding." "Eh, what?" The automated breeding system for dealing with monsters had started sending back errors to the main section of his dungeon core. Of the hundred monsters currently being inseminated for breeding, every single one failed to produce the notification for breeding. They were still getting pregnant, but only a natural pregnancy rather than a rapid monster breeding pregnancy. "Aura,e here," Styx looked at the Monster Lord out of the corner of his eye whilst still being submerged up to the hilt inside of Irie. "W-when did you get here?" Irie panicked upon finally noticing Aura, her vaginal walls mping around Styx in panic and leading to him ejacting inside of her and causing her to moan. "OOoooahhhhh~" [ Insemination begun. Please select seed to imnt: 3x Miners Burden (1) 1h incubation 2x Dwarve Burden (1) 1h incubation 1x Fire Gremlin Burden (2) 2h incubation 1x Earth Ripper Burden (3) 2h incubation 2x Fire Gremlin Burden (3) 3h incubation 1x Thunder Ravager Burden (4) 4h incubation 2x Earth Ripper Burden (5) 6h incubation 1x Goblin Archmage Burden (6) 5h incubation 1x Thunder Beast Burden (8) 11h incubation 1x Frost Armor Knight Burden (11) 14h incubation 1x Ice Golem Burden (13) 17h incubation 2x Frost Armor Knight Burden (15) 24h incubation 1x Disaster Valkyrie Burden (17) 24h incubation 1x Earth Bender Burden (20) 42h incubation 1x Ruin Mage Burden (23) 70h incubation 1x Light Swallower Burden (26) 82h incubation 1x Inferno Behemoth Burden (28) 87h incubation ] Rather than choosing a monster to impregnate the magus with, he simply closed the notification and ignored it. He merely let his dungeon seed swirl in her womb and overflow from her vagina as he extracted his penis. Aura stood beside Styx and let him pull her face over before kissing her. Irie was let down and leaned against the wall in pleasure while rubbing her abdomen. Aura quickly bent over and took Styx''s still erect meat stick into her mouth, causing him to hiss in surprise as her tongue singed it whilst cleaning off the remaining dungeon seed. As she stood back up while licking her lips in a way that could only be seen as seductive, Styx lifted up her skirt and dropped her specially crafted panties down her legs. He stuck his penis in between her thighs whilst standing and rubbed it up and down her pink slit. She licked her lips whilst her lower ones were drooling all on their own, eager to receive Styx''s thick rod. He teased the entrance of her vagina with the head of his penis countless times, threatening to prate inside, before slipping away from that tight entrance. The wolf-eared woman could no longer take it as her tail tightly wrapped around him and arms held him in a crushing embrace. She toppled Styx over onto his back and sat atop him, carefully and gently holding his penis upright before plunging her vagina down on top of it. With Styx''s stronger body, she had clearly shown less restraint as he groaned in pain as the ground below cracked from the force of her hips against his. Styx moaned as his rod pushed through her constricting entrance and was buried in her scorching hot inner depths. He pulled up her shirt and sucked on her nipples as she slid herself up and down his rod, hungry for its seed. "Aura, I want you to not swallow it," Styx said while holding her thighs. "" She was clearly reluctant, but he told her to only hold off for a while. Aura''s vaginal lips were pushed wide open as she forced her hips to press against Styx''s. She bit her lip and showed an incredible determination in restraining herself as he filled her womb up with his seed. Her vaginal walls begun twitching slightly but there was still no notification for breeding. "You can swallow now." Aura exhaled while her vaginal walls mped around his penis and wrung out any remaining fluid. He panicked briefly as she almost seemed determined to eat his rod too with her ever-hungry womb. Styx then inspected Irie''s body and could locate his dungeon seed impregnating her not with a monster, but a baby magus. This confirmed two of Styx''s thoughts. Firstly, there was an inherent difference between monsters and exotic races. He couldn''t impregnate a monster the same as he could an elf, human, or beastman. This had nothing to do with bodily function as humanoid monsters and Aura in a beastkin form also couldn''t be used. Second, his dungeon seed was a universal type of semen, much like stem cells. This enabled him to not only breed innumerable kinds of monsters, but also impregnate monsters or exotic races in a natural way. ~~~~~ "Your highness! Please!" Irie desperately clung to him the following day, her face twisted in pure grievance. "No. You are pregnant, so your womb is already upied. Wait until you give birth then you can do breeding again." Beatrice looked at Irie in pure envy, her expression dark ever since she heard the human, now a magus, got pregnant but she herself was denied the chance. Styx had told her to wait until after the battle with the human kingdom, as one womb out ofmission was already detrimental enough. At the same time, not being able to use the monsters as breeding partners was a significant blow to his ns. "What are we going to do about the monsters?" Therina asked out of curiosity whilst eating a bunch of fruits that looked like grapes but were blue in color. "The weaker ones have faster breeding cycles. There will be some issues with controlling them, but we can use them to inte the army numbers. As for the rest, we will have to use the wild monsters. There are billions of monsters in this seemingly endless forest, we just need to trigger small groups to attack the human army." "How?" "I am still working on it. The easiest way is to have Aura control them out of fear. We could also bait them. It is best to trigger hive type monsters for thetter." Irie sat at the end of the table aggrieved, only nibbling away at portions of food. Chapter 112: Drums of War Chapter 112: Drums of War Two months passed by in the blink of an eye and the drums of war seemed to approach closer and closer from the horizon. There was a thick tension within the dungeon that could almost be smelt. Styx had gotten in contact with Dragon, who reappeared for trading piles of gems and ores for various materials, including ess to the first section of Styx''s library where he spent a whole day. He stated he would participate in repelling the army should they breach too deeply into the dungeon, but there was a heavy scent of danger from Goddess Eve herself, so he may not be able to participate. Even Spider had vanished without a trace amidst this oppressing danger. Styx reached towards Heaven via Loreley in order of restraining the goddess, but she merely shook her head and stated unless there was a clear breach in the Treaty of Gods, they wouldn''t interfere as Styx was not ssified as one of their people. Whilst there was at least one god in Heaven which viewed him favorably, these were two separate matters as they hadn''t invested anything into him, so his failure to stand on his own feet would be his own fault for being too weak. Although she didn''t pass up the opportunity to try and recruit him into Heaven again, which would ensure he was safe and protected. Styx hadn''t shied away from levelling up, but the experience he was bringing in was dwindling due to priority being in breeding monsters and building living areas for them all. He was currently and many of his skills had respectively increased. [ Species: Dungeon Core (Dungeon Master: None) Name: Styx Mana: 1,834/2,772 Exp: 22,560 Level: 21 Abilities: Dungeon Creation Mana Control Mana Infusion Mana Vein Creation Remote Control Mana Logic Construct Dungeon Control Dungeon Facility Construction Biomass Converter 100 mana Breeder 50 mana, 20 biomass Storage Crate 10+ mana, 10 physical material st Furnace 100 mana, 20 stone Storage Tank 20+ mana, 20 physical material Rotary Mana Engine 40 mana, 10 stone, 1 iron Material Refiner 150 mana, 10 stone, 2 iron, 1 emerald, 1 ruby, 1 amethyst Alchemy Table 200 mana, 5 stone, 10 iron, 1 ruby, 10 quartz Mana Constructor 400 mana, 30 steel, 1 manasteel, 120x gears, 450x screws Stable Storage Crate 100+ mana, 20 physical material Stable Storage Tank 100+ mana, 35 physical material Magmaforge (BP) 250 mana, 40 magmasteel, 5va, 0.2 brimstone powder, 5x brimstone flowers Soulforge (BP) 1,125 mana, 80 stone + 5 tortured soul powder (*Soulium upgradable), assorted items High Pressure Water Cutter (BP) 730 mana, 50 stone, 5 steel, 0.2 manasteel T1 Conveyor Belt: 1m (BP) 40 mana, 2 stone, 1 steel, 8x gears, 12x screws T1 Item Picker (BP) 70 mana, 2 steel, 0.1 manasteel, 30x gears, 50x screws Obsidum Mana-Saw (BP) 550 mana, 3 steel, 1x obsidum de, 1x engine, 20x gears, 30x screws High Speed Turbine Engine (BP) 680 mana, 0.5x manasteel, 1x steel, 5x gears, 10x screws Basic Dungeon Construction Scan 10 mana/m3 Blueprint Creation 275 blueprints Blueprint Manufacturing 275 blueprints Mental Projection 1 mana/min Visible Projection 5 mana/min Autobuild 4 mana/s Trap Construction Bait 5 mana, 5 biomass Spike Trap 20 mana, 10 stone Pitfall Trap 10 mana, none Arrow Trap 20 mana, 10 stone (5 on reload) Weak Poison Gas 50 mana, 1 stone, 1 biomass (expendable) Chaotic Space Trap 200+ mana Crushing Wall Trap 30 mana, 20 stone, 2 iron Internal Resource Storage (293,926/614,400) Physical Material Stone (170,000), Dirt (50,000), Biomass (24,125), Ardonite (5,200), Manasteel (485), Wood (200), Steel (5,145), Obsidum (127), Gold (25), Celendine y (575), Copper (7,459), Tin (1500), Firesteel (115), Magmasteel (145), Soulium (12) Liquid Material Water (28,458), Lava (358), Mining Basic Material Identification Mineral Detection Auto-mine Overdrive Earth Fracture Avatar Creation ] Styx had been working for the past two months almost entirely without rest. The dungeon expanded even beyond the Abyssal Forest and even deeper levels underneath. There were also several escape routes for the worst-case scenario. The monsters filled countless barns and nests throughout the dungeon whilst even more resided within the forest outside or were hunting for more biomatter to feed the giant army. The humans had a force of 40,000 Third Step rankers, 30,000 of them systematically trained soldiers, whilst the monsters had expanded to 120,000 altogether. This was due to several nationless viges being annexed and women from Lagoon Porter city who were under Styx''s control travelling to the dungeon to assist. Weaker, faster proliferating monsters had given birth to several offspring during this time, which meant a significant portion of the dungeon residents had to adopt monster trainer upations to ensure they were trained to not attack anyone on sight. It did raise the danger within the dungeon, even to the residents, but everyone was a highly trainedbatant under Styx''s regime and culture that had developed within. A second blood crystal bee queen had been born in the original hive too. Normally, this queen would fight for dominance in the hive and be promptly killed by the more experienced, stronger original. This time, the queen was handed over to Styx, and moved away to form its own hive. The two hives had their own areas in the dungeon, but there were hostile tensions between the two who patrolled the edges of their territory, ready to attack at any moment. The bees were adapted to living in the dungeon and had a form of cordiality with the residents, but they truly couldn''t stand rivals of their own kind. The town inside the dungeon had expanded to the point everyone had their own living quarters and the tiger beastmen were no longer camping in tents. Beautifully constructed buildings of timber, copper and iron in a tudor style carpeted the area whilst roads and paths of concrete and cobblestone wereid. In here, monsters lived alongside humans, and there had been a recent trend of monster pets alongside the newly born monsters. The offspring of monsters Styx was in control of, were no longer under his absolute control, which is the sole reason why they needed taming. Dungeon residents had taken to adopting monsters as pets and battle partners, training together and forming a bond. Styx, inspired by this, spent several days with his nose in magic books, shifting from one kind to another until he had enough knowledge to create a device for controlling these monsters. The trainer had a wristband or choker that had the parent array in it, whilst the monsters wore a cor with the child array. It was enchanted with arrays of the Ulgur Magic System, which held a strong focus on the intention of magic, rather than hard rules. These two devices were linked to specific frequencies and allowed the trainer and monster tomunicate on a feelings and intention basednguage between them. It allowed the trainer to control the tamed monster''s actions, while thetter also benefited from thismunication by having better synchronicity with the trainer and developing intelligence faster. ~~~~~ "They''re here" Styx stated in a grave voice as the human army marched into his territory with a sense of righteous duty. The more of them that entered his dungeon full of hostility, the more his heart was covered by a sense of dread. For all the preparation he did, it was a very intimidating confrontation to have so many Third Step soldiers enter his territory in droves. "I''ll go kill them." "Wait," Styx immediately stopped the wolf-eared woman. "They should already know that there are two Monster Lords protecting the dungeon and havee up with strategies to counter that. Wait until I tell you to go." Aura nodded her head before hugging Styx from behind, the scent of her hair filling his senses. "First, we need to keep them away from the dungeon, so we can use quantity to overwhelm their quality. Therina, Kale, ir, are the preparations ready?" "Yes but, there''s something wrong with the sky." At Therina''s warning, Styx hurriedly left the dungeon and looked at the sky himself with a foreboding feeling. Right before the naiad had said it, he felt his connection with people still in Lagoon Porter City and many monsters be suddenly cut off. The entire area from horizon to horizon was covered in a multicolored, oil like barrier. The entire forest was eerily silent and it felt like he had been isted from the entire world. "Begin the first wave!" Styxmanded the girls in their minds. Therina, Kale and ir immediately attacked and triggered arge amount of hostility from wild monster hordes. Vivy, now a Third Step shadowthread archer, and somehow evolving into an abyss demon,pletely breaking free of her spirit of nature elf heritage. Styx rubbed his brow as he still couldn''t figure out that woman. She was incredibly powerful in closebat, yet sucked at archery. She chose to go with a weak ss for her own abilities, yet had be so powerful it caused him to be apprehensive. Several other men and women from the dungeon worked together to elicit hordes of wild monsters to be enraged at the same time. They then led them towards the human army before fleeing. "Monster attack!!" The guardmanders immediately hollered in grand voices, drawing their weapons without hesitation. At first, it was just a couple hundred monsters attacking them, but this number rapidly escted to tens of thousands and more. "Defensive formations! Prepare the cannons! Formation Battalion, Support Mage Battalion!" The human moved in a trained manner, rapidly building blockades against the monsters while the support soldiers acted behind them. Formation soldiers chanted and used hand signs as giant taiji arrays spread out below the army. Regr soldiers and hired forces were buffed alike and their coordination immediately increased. The support mages used earth magic, raising the front-line soldiers up on a stone wall, both protecting them and giving the advantageous position in the battle. "Archers!!" Commands rang out one after another from the human side whilst the monsters attacked purely based on instincts. Arrows fell like rain but each one of them had enough force they would puncture straight through monsters and split apart the earth. It was a deadly storm that reaped the lives of monsters without mercy. Adventurers and mercenaries used their own skills causing waves of mana to ravage the battlefield and turn it into a scene of blood and carnage. Styx had his own ns though, and he knew a direct all or nothing attack was bound to fail. Wild monsters continued throwing themselves at the stone walls, several Second and Third Step monsters actually causing it to crack dangerous before being repaired by the support mages. Just as the spearmen lined up beside the archers, preventing monsters from reaching the top of the wall, Styx had flying monster fly overhead and drop self-created mana soulbombs. These were terrible weapons that would be prohibited if there were a judiciary council determining the rules of war. They were iron capsules iid with explosive formation and a mana gem powering them. There was zero chance in creating damage against Third Step rankers with these kinds of weapons, but the tiny, sharp shrapnel made out of pure soulium was a different matter. The bombsnded on top of the bridge, many of which being destroyed by swordsmen beforending, all exploded and send soulium shrapnel across the wall. Third Step rankers had incredibly tenacious bodies, but they still received small cuts on exposed skin from the weapons. The shard didn''t just cut their physical body, but their souls too. They immediately fell under excruciating pain from the soul damage, and whilst they were trained enough to withstand it, many of the archers and spearment faltered in their attack, leading to the monsters sessfully climing on top of the walls and attacking. Savage panthers and other monstrous beasts tore at the soldiers with their teeth and ws. The soldiers crushed the first attackers without issue, even the second ones, but they simply kept oning. "Fall back to the second line!" Themander shouted across the wall whilst kicking another monster off the side and into the pit of blood and monster viscera. The humans quickly retreated, but many archers and spearmen had lost their lives in this attack, almost 2,000 altogether. Styx thought it was a shame as there had been almost 70,000 monsters killed in response. Chapter 113: Trump Card Chapter 113: Trump Card The human soldiers were highly disciplined and immediately fell back before reforming their defensive line. There was a stark difference with the hired adventurers and mercenaries, who were a haphazard bunch that attacked in small andrge groups, eating away at the nks of the monster wave with all kinds of attacks and sub skills. Wild elements raged as fire and lightning tore through the battlefield, but all the monsters werepletely consumed by bloodlust. They charged at the humans regardless of casualties, barely giving the army any reprieve. "Reinforce the lines! Hold back the monsters and prepare the cannons!" Orders were shouted across the human army as it broke off into smaller battalions, each with their ownmand structure and purpose. Teams of mages controlled the battlefield, whilst medics reinforced the defender and recovered injuries, luxuries the mindless monster wave didn''t share. These mages and the human army as a whole were unaware that they were technically inside Styx''s dungeon during this battle. Styx had Dungeon Control, which allowed him control over his dungeon like it was his own sandcastle. At , he merely willed it and the humans'' walls and barriers came copsing down into rubble. The human army may have had their own battlefield control forces, but they were directly contending against Styx on his own grounds. "Mages!! What''s going on!?" "Sir! The wall copsed by an external influence; we are already repairing it!" The mages waved their staves and raised giant blocks of earth or water geysers to block off the monsters from flooding the buried, staggered soldiers who were caught off guard. Others joined forces and used group formation magic spells. Styx immediately interfered with their blockades to allow the monsters to pass. Blocks ofnd were raised and formed bridges whilst geysers were blocked off entirely. "You humans have be too used to trapless dungeons. Traps are where we excel the most!" Styx spoke to himself as he watched over the battlefield from his omnipresent perspective. He had long predicted the direction the humans would attack from and ced countless traps along the forest. He manually triggered poisoned arrow traps with arrowheads made from a soulium alloy whilst also dropping pitfall traps beneath the mages and otherbatants. Spears shot out and attacked the soldiers, but being Third Step, hardly any were injured by this, let alone killed. It served Styx''s purpose however, disrupting the enemy and causing their casualties to start piling up. He also released a portion of his own monsters at this moment, which attacked their weak points with deadly precision. Strange yet incredibly powerful monsters tore apart adventurers and mercenaries mostly, ganging up and overwhelming small groups with huge quantities. They bit, tore, spat fire, and struck from shadows. The battlefield became even more chaotic and was a grinder of meat and bone on both sides. A giant swarm of 10,000 blood crystal bees merged amongst the monster and proved to be one of the deadliest forces against the humans. The swarmed unsuspected soldiers and adventurers alike covering them with poisonous, bloody holes all over their body. They would squeeze into armor joints and even open wounds to sting and bit deeper, whilst they were small enough it was difficult to attack them with weapons. "Where are the cannons!?" The battlefieldmander of the human army shouted at the back line. "One minute, Sir!" Giant cannons were hoisted up and being filled with mana. They hummed to life and the barrels began to glow ominously. Styx hurriedly had his monsters retreat as fast as possible, but the wild monsters attacked recklessly at whatever they could. "Aura! I need you to build a barrier and block at least half of the cannons!" Styxmanded the wolf-eared woman who had been emitting a sinister atmosphere ever since the beginning of the battle. Styx stood just outside the dungeon entrance, ready to retreat at any moment, whilst looking up at the errie dome blocking the sky. "I have a bad feeling about that" ~~~~~ "Fire!" The humanmanders bellowed in voices that echoed through the destroyed forest, all the trees and undergrowth scorched and torn asunder. Ash drifted across the blood-soaked battlefield before being blown away as over a thousand hyper mana condensing burst cannons shot at the monsters. Styx altered opened pitfall traps in the ground below the cannons that were meant for dungeon city defense, but they had been firmly secured and refused to budge. He could raise the terrain instead, but the mana cost to do so for hundreds would drain his mana storage almost instantly. Instead, he chose to rely on Aura and her ability to protect most of the monsters. The Monster Lord in question appeared at the forefront of the wild monsters as the air around her twisted and shifted under strain of the raw power she was emitting. "AWUUUUU!!!" All of Aura''s hairs stood on end as she violently howled, parting the clouds and causing a tsunami of dirt, dust and ash to wash over the human army. As her powers spread out, an enormous multicoloured barrier appeared in between the monsters and the human army, catching all the cannon shots in it. The hyper condensed mana shots were absorbed into the barrier, leaving behind only ripples on its surface before vanishing as if stones falling into a pond. Aura growled in pain and the barrier begun fluctuating, threatening to fall apart any second. Due to this fluctuation, several mana bursts slipped through andnded amongst the monsters. Enormous explosions and maelstroms of chaotic mana ravaged the monster forces, although only a small portion of them were Styx''s monsters which he had retreat. "You have locked down your cannons, fools," Styx derisively sneered from his viewing location and controlled his own cannon. "They are now fixed in position and can''t be moved easily." Under the coboration of countless mana gems, Aura and Dragon participating, Styx''s Obelyon Mana Gauss Cannon was fully charged with 400,000 mana points. He only had one shot with it at full power, so he had been saving it for the best opportunity. The wild monster forced had been half eradicated with thest attack, despite only several attacks got through Aura''s defense. "The Monster Lord has appeared! n Eternity Lock begin!" "Sir! An extremely high mana reading has appeared and is rapidly approaching!" "Hurry up and restrain the Monster Lord! All defensive formations activate!" Styx sensed something bad with "n Eternity Lock", so he hurried in transporting the mana gauss cannon. It was moved along one of countless pre prepared underground tracks and would raise itself out of the top of a hill where it would fire upon the enemy. Aura was panting and severely weakened from blocking over a thousand shots, each of which each could kill a Fourth Step monster. "Evade!" Styx immediately sent a mentalmand to Aura. Between Aura and the random monsters, Styx would rather sacrifice the random monsters, even his own. If Aura fell, it would be a crippling blow to the dungeon and potentially be the deciding factor in the battle. The wolf-eared woman swung her w like nails, creating giant rifts in the ground and killing hundreds of Third Step soldiers. The cannons begun training on her and focusing their fire on her. Unwilling to let them hit she immediately shed away from the spot and appeared far away to the side. The mana burst cannons speedily rotated and fired at her again, but she vanished once again before the attacksnded. This game of cat and mouse that caused explosions to appear at random across the battlefield and even distant hills as the humans continued targeting Aura with their mana burst cannons. Styx''s cannon arrived at this moment and rose above a small hill. The entire barrel was alive with blue lightning sparks of pure mana arching off its floating three-piece barrel. They snaked down the hill and split open the already ruined hill even more while evaporating the rivers of blood and causing a crimson mist to roll out from its location. "Activate the defensive formations!" Defensive mages throughout the human army joined together to cast enormous barrier formations, especially around the cannons where they were stationed. The priests and healers in the army prayed to Goddess Eve before spreading her blessings across the army, causing them to all be filled with endless vigor and strength. "You lose." The barrel of the Obelyon Mana Gauss Cannon rotated faster and faster before firing its entire 400,000 stored mana points. A blinding white pir of light shot across the battlefield and into the human army, burning out the retina of many weaker monsters and also Styx''s avatar which was personally watching. Styx didn''t so much as flinch as his avatar bled from the eyes. He was watching and controlling everything from him omnipresent viewpoint regardless. This beam didn''t just aim at one spot, the mana gauss cannon swept across the human army in the blink of an eye, carving though it as it did. Their enormous floating defensive formations did little to stop the attack, even with the goddess'' blessing. They sank backwards when being struck by the beam and shattered into countless shards secondster. The beam incinerated anything it touched and not even dust remained, whilst the ground and air exploded in a violent storm of mana which tore the earth apart and fragmented the bodies of soldiers. The beam vanished as fast as it appeared, leaving behind a trail of destruction unlike anything Styx had ever seen. Dirt and soot covered the sky, blotting out the sun, whilst droplets of magma fell from the air. The trail where the beam passed through was a magma river within a deep ravine. There was a brief lull as everyone''s ears were still ringing across the battlefield. This strategic attack alone destroyed all the enemy''s mana burst cannons which they couldn''t move nor protect in time, and countless humans. It was a devastating attack, but Styx could unfortunately only use it once. Styx hadn''t actually lost too many forces. The overwhelming majority of monsters were the wild monsters baited into attacking the human army. Of his 120k force, he had only lost about 5k monsters. Of the 10,000 adventurers and mercenaries, 7,000 of them had been killed whilst another thousand abandoned the battle and their pay. The remaining 2,000 where the embodiment of high level rankers and either crazy orpletely unafraid of death. The soldiers were the main ones defending the cannons so they suffered even heavier losses, with the final attack wiping them down to only having 15,000 left. Styx was still disadvantaged as they were stronger than his monster army due to the level and rank difference, but he had more than just monsters left to contend with. The main one being a Fifth Step Monster Lord who no longer had to avoid the main cannons. "Gather! Together, we will wipe out this evil before it can grow any more!" "For his majesty!" "For the kingdom!" Contrary to what Styx expected, their moral did not deteriorate but instead became more frenzied. The army were less organized, but the murderous atmosphere they gave off increased. "Aura." Styx called the wolf girl to his side, but the human army did something Styx didn''t expect. Just as the wolf-eared woman began tearing apart the army, a group of 100 mages in long robes knelt in a circle and pulled out sharp daggers. They called out in a frenzy and slit their opposing wrist with the de, allowing their own lifeblood to flow out and onto the ground. These mages were a specialized mage ss called a Ritualist, and were some of the kingdoms most exclusive forces. It was close to a suicide corp, exchanging their own blood for grand and powerful magics. Ritual ss magic was the most powerful magic that could be used as there was no theoretical upper limit to how powerful the spells could be. They all had greatly enhanced effects, but were equally expensive and difficult to cast. These mages used their own life to fuel this kind of magic, this particr ritual magic needing such a huge number of people to work together. A blood red magic formation appeared in the soot covered sky, shining through the ck sky as if it were made from the fires of hell. "Fuck! Dodge it!" Styx called out in panic to Aura, but she seemed held in ce by the spell as giant chains used to seal gods fell from the sky like bolts of lightning. "AWUUUU!!!!" Aura howled and struggled against the chains, but they instantly bound her and tied her down to the ground. Just as Styx had essentially won the battle, this ritual spell instantly flipped the situation over and put him in a severe disadvantage. Chapter 114: Turn About Chapter 114: Turn About The Ritualists restraining Aura were heavily sweating whilst their blood was rapidly depleting. It was an enormous stress holding down a Fifth Step Monster Lord, but they were prepared to expend their lives toplete their roles in the war. This kind of ritual magic needed continuous feeding to maintain. A weaker Fourth Step monster would be rtively easily restrained with little risk, a Monster Lord constantly wore down on the shackles. "Full attack! Push them back!" The crescendo of shouts from the soldiers shook the air as they charged across the ruined battlefield. The army mages that were still alive sent giant orbs ofva catapulting overhead and summoning dragons made out of earth. Styx controlled his monsters as best he could, but the humans constantly shifted their tactics to fight back. They knew they couldn''t keep Aura tied down forever though, so they desperately pushed forward the line. "It''s time. All defenders engage these crazy humans," Styx emotionlesslymanded into the minds of all the women. With the human forces whittled down to a much smaller number, his monsters and dungeon residents used abination of guerri and wave tactics to kill as many humans as possible. Styx''s monsters were stronger overall, so they were exchanging their lives with the Third Step soldiers at a rate of ten to one. They were still being pushed back towards the dungeon and at a disadvantage. 600 of the dungeon residents joined the battle and would snipe at or ambush enemies. Large groups would work with the monsters, but humans and monsters weren''t the only ones to fall. Dark elves and tiger beastmen also became corpses in this conflict of blood and steel. The dungeon wives were one of the stronger forces on the battlefield, especially as they were all Second Step. Therina ambushed several people with her soulium weapons, thrusting with deadly precision into eyes, necks and armor joints. She didn''t worry if they were not killed, they soon would be due to monsters swarming them. Her wispy smoke-like tails fluttered through the battlefield, choking victims or making them drowsy during battle. She would then flee into the dream realm when her situation became too unsafe, reappearing elsewhere. She could easily heal any wounds with mana in the dream realm too, allowing her to maintain her top fighting condition unlike most of the humans. Kale and ir nked the enemies, the former floating through the air as if swimming whilst flinging dimensional des, thetter supporting with arrows and shadow attacks. Niah performed dances, vanishing into one shadow and reappearing again from another. ck smoke billowed out from her steps, creating a carpet like mist around her which clung to and climbed up the legs of any enemy in it. She would then use a pair of daggers with a sense of elegance as she mercilessly shed the human''s throat in the blink of an eye. ~~~~~ Elena was a yin oni and much morebat oriented than the others. Her body itself was a weapon, the pale skinned former dark elf used her lithe body to slip past the enemy attacks and use her fingers like ws to rip and tear. Wherever she stepped, the ground was covered in a bone chilling frost, and the same with whatever she touched. Her mana wildly circted as even the air began to frost over in her surroundings. "Die, monster!" The human Third Step soldier shouted whilst running his sword through Elena''s chest, the de rapidly bing covered in ice in his hand whilst the yin oni''s blood barely stained her body. Elena didn''t so much as flinch as she was run through. She had no way of avoiding an attack by a Third Step other than ensuring it didn''t hit anywhere vital. She was ready to save her neck should he go for her head, but the chest was non-lethal to her. With his de through her chest, she struck like lightning and gripped his throat in a w grip, her nails biting into his skin and spreading her yin aura within his veins. The soldier''s lips grew blue first as his entire body began to freeze from inside out. A trickly of blue blood ran from Elena''s mouth as she tore out the throat of the soldier before he could do anything, his life leaving him as well as what remained of his body''s defensive skills. The corpse was instantly covered in frost before it was discarded on the ground, a frozen corpse in the blood and brimstone battlefield. "No, you humans will be the ones to die," Elena coldly red at the corpse as she removed the sword and healed herself, repairing her lungs and enabling her to talk again. ~~~~~ Vivy, a Third Step Shadowthread Archer, didn''t use a bow as expected, but a pair of curved daggers and her bare fists. She had the dexterity and agility of an archer, but the bnced strength that was greater than mages or assassins. The ground split open and dented beneath her feet as she vanished from one spot and appeared against with her entire arm pierced through a soldier''s chest, holding him up in the air. "Is this all you have?" She asked arrogantly, her eyes filled with disdain. The soldier tried to give one final attack with his spear, red mist pouring off his body and begun corroding everything around him as he activated his subskills. Blood poured out of his mouth but before he could attack, Vivy vanished and in a shed of light, his head was detached from the rest of his body. Vivyughed in arrogance with a trace of insanity as she charged through the human army. "Pull back, you are going too deep," Styx''s icy voice spoke in her mind and gave her hismands, breaking her out of her battle lust. "Will you be mind now~?" "Stop messing around." Vivy grinned and escaped the human army before she could be fully entrapped. Despite the soldiers being Third Step just like her, theirbat powers were worlds apart. ~~~~~ Beatrice was decent inbat power, but she was too weak to go against the Third Step soldiers. She was practically immortal and could regenerate even from losing her head, but she wouldn''t be able to kill any of the soldiers. Because of this, she was forced to stay behind while clenching her fists in nervousness. Despite everyone''s best efforts, the dungeon was losing the fight as its forces was rapidly diminishing. Styx stood beside her while wearing a dark expression. "Where is Dragon? Is he waiting until the final moment? By then everyone will be dead." "I don''t know." "What will even be the point if everyone is dead." "Could it be that barrier in the sky?" "It is possible, but I can''t reach anyone outside of it to know what it even is. I suspect it is an istion formation of some kind, preventing messages from crossing over. The human side had fallen to 5,000 people, but he only had 20,000 monsters left and 400 dungeon residents. If the situation got any worse, Styx was estimating he would have to retreat with the dungeon core and as many dungeon residents as possible. The dungeon could be rebuilt even if trust in him was harmed. Styx checked his mana, which only had 470 points currently and regenerating at 1 point every 20 seconds. He had enough to continue terraforming, but most of his traps had been used and the mana gauss cannon would only kill at most ten or so soldiers with that kind of input. "Make. Stronger." Beatrice immediately went on alert but was forced into the ground by a Monster Lord''s unrestrained aura pressing down on her. Spider, or the Arachne, crawled out of a slit in space behind Styx and looked down on him from above. Styx had been spared her monstrous aura and couldn''t detect it at all, as if she were a ghost that only Beatrice could feel, but he knew that was the Monster Lord''s doing. "Restrain yourself. I have no time for this right now." "You will. Lose. Must escape." "Stop!" Styx barked at the spider, causing her hands to halt from grabbing him. "Can you free Aura?" "Wolf. Death." "No! Can you free her is what I asked." "Yes." Styx turned around and faced Spider with his arm outstretched, mana tendrils extending and waving in the air and causing the Monster Lord to look at him curiously. "Surrender and break Aura free, and I will make you stronger." Spider seemed to be intoxicated, she looked down at Styx hungrily and leaned her enormous body over. Styx was taken aback by her actions, but before he could do anything she had knocked him to the ground and holding him down with her human torso. "Make. Stronger." "God damn it! Do you not listen to anything?!" Styx shoved his mana tendrils at the Monster Lord, who calmly watched him as he did so. She didn''t resist, allowing the mana tendrils to wrap around her human torso before entering inside of her. The dungeon lord was surprised that she had allowed his mana tendrils to enter her, but he then felt the invisible spiderthreads pressing over his neck and knew that a single sign of hostility would see him instantly be a headless horseman. Her manawork channels were enormous, even bigger than Aura''s. He was much more powerful and his skills were higher levelled than then though, and he had a lot more experience too. Styx expertly maneuverer his mana tendrils amongst the torrential flood that was her manawork. He pushed towards her mind, but there was a barrier around it that prevented him from entering. He was unsure whether Spider herself was aware of it, but it stopped him from being able to leave a piece of himself in her. "Tch." "Make. Stronger." "Do you understand what that requires?" "Yes. Have practiced." "Practiced? Practiced what?" Spider''s entire body began cracking as flesh and bone wriggled and became morepact. Her giant spider body contracted whilst morphing into two pale, long and powerful pair of human legs. "Bing. Human. Can make babies." "" Spider leaned over him on all fours, her giant breasts swinging above his head. Styx was dumbfounded, not just by her assumption that mating was necessary, but by the sheer size of her body. She was easy fourteen feet tall, a beauty with long, wispy white hair nheless, but a giant of a person. "Strengthening is done like this." Spider was salivating all over Styx''s chest, but she had controlled herself not to drip poison else he would have already be a puddle on the ground. Styx controlled his mana tendrils to start massaging her manawork, expanding the channels as he did. Spider ran a long finger with crimson nails down his chest whilst opening and closing her mouth. Styx could only assume this meant she was happy as she disyed such strange behavior. "Done," Styx stated before continuing, "but it needs to be done multiple times to work properly." Spider stopped her movement and looked towards the battlefield. Without notice and seemingly out of nowhere, a human soldier was cut into small pieces and died on the spot. Seeing her experience go up for the first time in countless centuries, she let out an inhumanly screech in delight. "Now go free Aura!" Spider wasn''t listening again but instead leaned down and bit his shoulder deeply with sharp fangs, causing Styx to cry out in pain before hitting the Monster Lord. Thetter didn''t even register the attack andpletely ignored it, her fangs drawing deeper into Styx''s shoulder. "If you don''t go free her, I will not make you any stronger!!" These words seemed to work and elicited the spider Monster Lord to finally rushed to where Aura was being restrained by god locking chains extending from the giant formation in the ashden sky. Styx looked at his bloodied shoulder and almost fell over from wooziness before the recovered Beatrice caught him. "Don''t tell me there''s poison" Chapter 115: Impossible to Lose Chapter 115: Impossible to Lose Spider finally listened to his words and left his avatar lying on the ground with a blood soaked shoulder. His eyes were shut and covered in crusted blood, but this didn''t stop him from being able to see her strange movements. She was used to walking like a spider and didn''t walk like a person would. She walked on her hands and feet like some kind of woman from a horror movie. Beingpletely naked and such arge body, Styx was bereft of words as he witnessed a truly unttering sight. Spider grabbed onto invisible webs made out of space with her hands and toes, using them to ''crawl'' into the sky and slip inside a fold in space. The humans who were pushing closer and closer to the edge of the town outside of the dungeon, which had already turned to rubble in coteral damage, were suddenly sliced into pieces one after another. An endless web of threads suddenly glistened as it appeared in the sky above the battlefield. Spider, still in her 14ft human form, hung from the center of the web by her fingers and toes. Unlike certain spandex wearing heroes though, she was the incarnation of death and terror. Her eyes were blood red whilst she emitted mists of poisonous fog from the corners of her mouth the drifted across the battlefield. "Above!" "In the sky!" "Monster Lord!!" Shouts of shock and fear begun erupting from the human army as they fell victim to Spiders attacks. There were those who suddenly fell into small pieces, being cut up by invisible des, whilst others clutched their throats as their entire respiratory system and even chest melted into noxious g. The Ritualists who were restraining Aura were no exception to this. They tried to flee, but just as they stepped away, their feet became stuck to the ground. "Is there anything more sexy than a woman who knows how toy traps," Styx mentally sighed to himself whilst admiring her trapying skills andparing them alongside his own. Spider didn''t attack the Ritualists directly, but instead tore at the chains extending down to the earth from the sky and supressing Aura. The specialized human forces had enough difficulty holding down one Monster Lord, once Spider also attack them, thebined force created a bacsh too powerful for them to withstand. Their bodies were immediately drained of blood and turned into wrinkled husks, undeniably now corpses. "AAWWUUUUU!!" A heaven piercing wolf''s howl echoed across the battlefield, sending everyone flying regardless of side whilst the ash and brimstone covered sky blew away from the center, creating a giant clear circle of view above the battlefield where the strange oil like barrier was viewable again. Aura tore of the remaining shackles herself before charging at Spider hanging in the sky blind with rage. Spider spat toxic venom at the wolf-eared woman as she flew towards her, but Aura opened her mouth wide and swallowed it whole alongside the entire space around it. Frightened, Spider fled into a space crack as Aura began destroying her webwork in the sky with giant swipes of her phantasmal ws. "Aura, enough," Styx sent a mental message to the woman, but she had truly be a berserker by this point. "Come here." His words had redirected her attention, as her eyes filled with madness and rage turned to face him. She appeared to be about to attack, but finally withheld herself at thest moment. Instead opting to his side with her ears drooping. "Don''t worry. It was unexpected as I didn''t think they would be able to tie you down without their cannons. Sorry, Aura." Styx reached out and rubbed the base of herrge wolf ears, prompting her to rest her head in his hands. Spider appeared at this moment from a fold in space behind Styx, standing over him and looking down at the two. Aura was about to react, but Styx grabbed a clump of her hair and did his best to hold her down. He wouldn''t have been able to stop her if she tried, but his intention was passed over and she just silently red at the other Monster Lord. "Wolf. Death." When Aura didn''t appear to be about to attack, Spider instead started the conflict and was about to vomit soul corroding poison all over Styx''s avatar and the wolf-eared woman. "Go away, bug, before I kill you," Aura retaliated and bore her teeth whilst growling in a voice deep enough it resonated through Styx''s chest. "Can you two not fight right now!? Why do you keep fighting?" "The bug is crazy and always attacks." "Wolf. Ate children. Death." "Eh?" "They were on my territory, bug." "Death!" Spider''s expression was filled with rage, contrary to her endless patience with Styx. She wanted to attack and kill Aura with every fibre of her being, but Styx was currently in between the two of them and formed somewhat of a buffer. "Just settle your differencester. We have a battlefield to clean up." Styx pinched his brow whilst being dumbfounded at the two of them. Even if he tried, they refused to get along. He was happy so long as they were at least cordial for the time being and not trying to kill one another. Spider had annihted half of the remaining soldiers, and with Aura free again, the remaining half had lost all hope. They tried to retreat, theirmanders already dead and captains taking charge of the surviving forces. "Aura, Spider, go kill the remaining soldiers." "Make. Stronger." "" "Make. Stronger." "Go kill the humans first." "Make. Stronger." "Fuck! Do I need some gym badge or something?!" ~~~~~ A group amongst the soldiers had a martyr mindset and charged towards Styx''s dungeon forces in an attempt to give the others more time, but Styx promptly denied their ns by sending out Aura to crush the final soldiers, Spider on the other hand loomed over his head constantly and refused to listen to hismands. By now, all the dungeon residents had gathered together and focusing on tending to wounds and cleaning themselves of dirt and dried blood. Styx''s dungeon wives stood beside him and stared warily at Spider, who had mostly ignored their presence until they tried to approach Styx, at which point she hissed aggressively and forced them away from him. The only one who could resist Spider, and could even intimidate her, was Aura. The two of them were currently having a cold war where anything could be the spark for conflict. Still trying to find some cordiality between Spider and the others, Styx turned his attention to the giant foreboding barrier covering the sky and over the horizon. "Now, we just need to investigate what this barrier is, and who created it" "Time." "What?" Styx raised his brow at what Spider said, but before he could pursue it further, a giant beam of white light shot down. Within this light, the figure of a human woman with crimson armor and a giant spear appeared, her presence pressing down upon everyone in the area. "Goddess Eve" Styx instantly recognized her based in the statues Reba Euklid prayed to. There were some slight differences, but the overall resemnce was too close. She was of average height for a human woman, with long silver hair flowing down her back and golden irises. She was almostpletely t chested, yet had broad hips and meaty thighs that tempted the eyes. Aura and Spider were bothpletely silent, staring up at the imposing figure with fear and reluctance. Spider was the first to react, she grabbed Styx and tried to flee into a fold in space with him, but Goddess Eve had appeared before them without any warning and swung her divine spear. The attack seemed ordinary, but thendscape was changed and Spider was sent flying, creating a giant trench alone the ground where her body passed through. Aura had saved Styx''s avatar at the final moment, but Spider''s mangled and broken bodyy in the distance, rapidly healing itself. "Do not think to escape, vermin." Goddess Eve''s voice was ethereal, containing a tone that was both exceedingly pleasant to hear as well as carrying an irrefutable dignity. Styx, trying to buy time for Spider to heal while also rapidly thinking of a solution, spoke to the goddess who appeared before them. "Goddess, why have you descended?" "Do you honestly not know?" Styx bit his lip. Of course, she was here to kill him and destroy the dungeon. "There are treaties in ce! You cannot simply descend and intervene in mortal affairs, especially when Fifth Step existences are involved!" "You have broken that treaty. I had thought my kingdom''s army would have been enough to enforce your punishment, but I will instead bear the cost of erasing the parasite that you are from my kingdom." "Bullshit! They attack us first! We are fully within our rights to kill them without breaching the treaty. You had already intervened with this barrier." "I am free to bestow my blessing upon my believer as I wish. Who are you to dare judge a god?" Styx gritted teeth in anger, feeling his time was running out and he was cornered. "Don''t think I haven''t figured it out! This is a temporal barrier, blocking off the flow of time within it! This means our entire battle in here took a single instant outside, preventing the arrival of any hope of reinforcements! A blessing!? Judging a god!? That is bullshit! You nned to kill me from the very beginning regardless of the cost! Where is your fairness!?" Goddess Eve''s gaze turned ice cold and her grip on her spear tightened. "You are a parasite in thisnd my own father founded. You spread through my people like an infectious disease, twisting their minds to betray their kingdom. Not only that, but you also dare to be a gateway to allow foreign forces to invade my territory. You know not the matters of gods, yet you have the arrogance to seek fairness?" Aura appeared in front of Styx at this moment right as the goddess attacked. Her spear was like a light in Styx''s vision thatpletely blinded him, even in his omnipresent dungeon sight. The wolf-eared woman had offset the attack, but all her ws were broken and blood ran down her hands. Just like Spider, she also had difficulty healing from the attackden with divinity. Therina, Kale, ir, Vivy, Elena, and all the other residents stood on weak legs, determined to use their lives to save Styx. "Goddess Eve, so you know that Heaven and The Void are behind me, yet you dare to attack personally!?" The goddess flew up into the sky like a redet, her spear turning into fire and inting until it seemed to cover the sky, dying everything within the barrier in red and causing smoke to rise from everything. The weaker First Step dungeon residents directly copse as the water in their body evaporated and their blood boiled. The Second Step and above residents could hold out longer, but even they were falling into dire circumstances. "You are a parasite, a coward that only knows how to hide behind others. It is because of Heaven and The Void that you will be erased. They haven''t invested anything in you, and should you prove incapable of living, you are merely as worthless as your broken shards of a corpse." "Monster Lord, you were granted forgivenessst time given the conditions, there will be no second time. Dungeon soul, you have caused grievous harm to my Maple Dragon Kingdom by killing tens of thousands of soldiers crucial for its defense, and have be a direct threat alongside these two Monster Lords. Today, in the name of Goddess Eve, I will permanently erase you from existence." It suddenly dawned on Styx. "You! It didn''t matter whether the battle was won or lost, did it!?" Chapter 116: Anthea Chapter 116: Anthea Goddess Eve stood in the sky, looking down at Styx, Aura and Spider with an ice cold tone. One hand was outstretched to the side where an enormous spear made out of fire aimed at them. This spear was so hot that the water from everybody''s bodies were evaporating and their blood boiling. The First Step residents and monsters had already died by being cooked alive, whilst the Second Step and even Third Step residents were weakening constantly as their body condition continued to deteriorate. Eve didn''t care about the small fry, so she never even spared them a single nce. "Don''t think I don''t know that this is just an avatar of yours, dungeon soul. This will erase everything within the barrier, including your core." She didn''t even give him time for a response, simply casting her hand downwards and causing the world splitting spear of fire to fall upon the group. Styx grit his teeth whilst Aura and Spider had looks of defiance. One howled whilst the other hissed, but both knew they couldn''t stop this attack. Goddess Eve wasn''t weak in the standards of gods by any means, and this attack contained the full power of her divinity to end what she saw as a parasitical existence in her kingdom once and for all. ''Mortals oppose while god deposes. This is the problem with the power imbnce in the Treaty of Gods. Whether you are protected by it, or have breached it, both are decided by god'' Styx was unresigned from his very core. Despite all hisints of unfairness, how the goddess had determined his fate regardless of his actions by either killing him with the army, or herself should he somehow prevail, he had but one thought. ''This is bullshit.'' As death was looming down upon him and Styx''s omnipresent dungeon sight was burning away alongside his territory, a tickle in the back of his mind stirred. Behind his avatar, a small tuft of grass sprung up from the ground, followed by several more as if marking footsteps. A woman at the epitome of beauty appeared as if she was always there, grass and life growing from the ground wherever her bare feet stepped. She had beautiful long golden hair, braided with beads, and several pieces of jewellery made out of pure gold with Mayan designs on it. Her clothes were hemp and somewhat rustic, but that did nothing to detract from her beauty. "Anthea" Styx said with the eyes of his avatar still forced shut with crusted blood. "You are here." "I am always here." Her voice travelled into everyone''s ears at the same time and gave their souls a sense of relief, as if a great weight had been shifted from their shoulders. The infinite heat burning their bodies also vanished and a refreshing coolness of being in moist dirt washed over them. "" Styx clenched his fists as a slew ofplex emotions raged through his body. He felt sorrow, guilt and remorse, whilst also anger and a sense of justness. Anthea raised her hand casually and the giant spear of fire fizzled out. At the same time, the enormous temporal barrier which covered the sky broke at the apex before the rest rapidly crumbled and vanished. Eve looked down at the woman whilst being dumbfounded. "Who What are you? I have never seen such a broken god before." Anthea merely shook her head, her smile brightening up the world as she calmly stated, "Return." "Pardon?" "Return to the divine realm. This is not the ce for you." "Stand aside and let me finish my business. I have already paid the price to descend and I will return after my duty isplete." "You cannot kill him." "Are you going to stop me?" "Only if you persist." "You dare" Eve''s expression rapidly fell as she red at Anthea in rage. "Why are you interfering and protecting that parasite!? I don''t care what you are, you shall not prevent me from protecting my kingdom!" Eve teleported directly behind Anthea, her spear tip splitting light in half as it thrust at the back of her heart. Anthea didn''t move and allowed the spear to strike her. Despite how powerful the blow was however, it stopped on her skin and didn''t leave so much as a scratch. There wasn''t even any aftershock, and it seemed like the attack merely sunk into a bottomless ocean. A gentle divine hymn rang out as the rivers of blood on the ground were absorbed into the earth. In its ce, long stalks of wheat and olive trees grew from the ground as if time was in fast forward. Fields of gold and the fresh scent of olives washed away the battlefield and left everyone stunned at the sight around them. "Wha-" Eve, equally stunned, was sent flying by casual sweep of Anthea''s arm, even while thetter was facing the other direction. She crashed through mountains, causing the top half of two mountains to be blown away through sheer kic force. Her armor was cracked and falling to pieces, her body covered incerations where weeds and flowers grew from, further sucking away her divinity and vitality. Eve ripped the weeds and flowers out of her would without hesitation, causing her blood to spill and stain the ground. She reappeared with a pale face twisted in rage while ring at Anthea. "What are you? How is a broken soul such as yourself so powerful?" "I am but a god, breathing life onto this and the embodiment of the earth." "You are not a god. I have never seen a god like you before." "Your concept on god is incorrect. You call me strong, but I am no stronger than a mortal." "Do you honestly expect me to believe that?" Anthea shook her head gently, her heavenly benevolent smile never once fading her flickering. "You call yourself a god, but you are merely an empty shell. God is defined by authority, not power. Authority is merely a higher force, which is why mortals view us as powerful. No matter how heavy you strike, you cannot harm something you cannot touch." "That is just semantics." "God is weak, yet god''s authority is almighty. We are bound by the meaning behind our existence, but also empowered by it. Return to the divine realm and contemte your own existence. Perhaps then you will be able to fill the void of power which has been granted to you." "Very well." Despite her words, Eve suddenly and violently threw her spear at the ground right as the bridge to the divine realm opened and the pir of light descended. This angle wasn''t idental, but was aimed directly at Styx''s core. She was sacrificing her own weapon whilst fleeing back to the divine realm, aiming to at least destroy the dungeon and avoid any counterattack. A faint sigh escaped Anthea''s lips as her gaze shifted over to the escaping goddess. The spear was caught by several stalks of wheat whilst others grew and pierced into the pir of divine light. Eve''s eyes widened in shock. She had believed the bridge to the divine realm would have kept her safe from the strange god and was even prepared to abandon her weapon and a significant amount of her strength to eradicate the dungeon, such was how direly she viewed Styx. "That''s impossible!" The stalks of wheat crushed her legs and stabbed through her body but didn''t take her life. She then ascended into the divine realm. The wheat stalks stained in the blood of gods rapidly withered and returned to the earth, giving nourishment to the next cycle of life. Chapter 117: Fated Events Chapter 117: Fated Events Anthea''s power had cleansed Styx''s, the dungeon wives'', and all the surviving residents'' wounds. Styx stood amongst the field of gold and stared at the goddess he once fell in love with, his thoughts deeply conflicted. "You are willing to speak finally." "I have always spoken. You just couldn''t hear me." "I won''t apologize." Despite his statement, Anthea was neither mad nor upset. She simply smiled at him, the same as she always had. "There was never any need to." "I also won''t return to the way things were." "That would be impossible, regardless." "Why did you save me?" "Because I love you." "I betrayed you. Are you not angry, or upset?" "I have never been either of those." "Then why did you kill me?" "I didn''t." "What?" "You betrayed your Authority and broke your concept. You killed yourself." "?" At this moment, the world around Styx and Antheapletely vanished. Aura, Spider, the dungeon wives and all the dungeon residents were gone. Instead, an endless field of white tiles spread out infinitely. Giant marble pirs reached to the heavens and atop of them, fuzzy, indistinct figures stood. Everything was filled with static and colorless, whilst Anthea and Styx retained their original images. It was as if the two of them had stepped into an old ck and white film recorded on a VHS tape. The figures looked down upon the two and spoke. Styx couldn''t physically hear what they said, but heard it with his heart instead. Anthea, you have revived. "That is only natural. The more of mees together, I would naturally awaken." It is your fault. It is all your fault. Do you not feel guilt? You destroyed everything. "I have never regretted my decision." You gave a god''s power to a mortal. Did you not know what would happen? We warned you, but you did not listen. Styx looked at them and frowned. "What is her fault? For making me immortal?" Silence. Styx tried to speak again, but no matter how hard he tried, his mouth wouldn''t open. He didn''t panic as he knew this was the kind of power gods wielded. He silently red up at them defiantly. Anthea, it is time to return. Do not do anything foolish again. "Do I have a choice? I cannot defy my Authority." Styx felt an overwhelming sense of dignity as another giant pir appeared, Anthea vanishing from his side and reappearing atop of it, her figure as fuzzy and indistinct as the rest of them. The gods atop the other colossal marble pirs then turned their attention to Styx. Mortal, with Anthea''s recovery, you too have resurfaced. It was expected. A pitiful soul tied to the earth. A soul willing to be pitiful. God''s authority was never meant for mortals. It was inevitable. Your actions brought ruin to everything. It was inevitable. You can no longer destroy everything. It was inevitable. Return. Styx gasped as he returned to the field of wheat which reced the earlier battlefield covered in blood, fire, and brimstone. The chirping of birds returned and everything seemed to be full of life. "Darling, are you okay!?" Therina rushed to his side as his avatar copsed on the ground whilst covered in sweat. He had so many questions, but his mind was shutting down from an information overload. The only thing he saw before his core darkened and his perception cked out was a system message. [ I will always love you. ] ~~~~~ In the heart of the Neth''rite Demon Kingdom, the current demon king, Ickre Pnthes, knelt in his own throne room. The ceiling, made from countless bones, skulls and pieces of flesh wriggled and came alive. It twisted and moved and formed an enormous face with eyes that contained hellfire in them. A thick stench of blood pervaded the entire capital whilst an evil aura blew down its streets. "Demon god, your eminence! Your presence is too honored to bestow on myself!" "Enough. Pass the message to all fighting divisions. The enemy goddess has been deeply injured and can no longer stop us. Attack with full force and secure newnd for the demon race. The goddess will be taken care of by myself." "Yourmand shall be honored, your eminence." The face retreated back into the ceiling and the atmosphere within the capital returned to its usual gloominess. Demon King Ickre Pnthes stood upright, his previous humbleness reced by endless cruelty and bloodthirstiness. "All demonmanders to the war room immediately! Bete and be fed to the Hydra!" The king''s voice echoed throughout the pce which rapidly be abuzz with activity. ~~~~~ Along the borders of the human and demon kingdoms, the previous asional skirmishes which constantly kept each other in check, rapidly changed. The demons began sending out countless Third Step rankers and begun to overwhelm the human defence forces. There were even several dozen Fourth Step demons mixed amongst them. Along the southern section border where there was previously very little conflict, an enormous demon army marched in the night, their eyes like endless embers across the mountains and ins. The demons were weaker than humans individually, but they were a horde type of exotic race in which the weaker subspecies of demons ate little food and proliferated very quickly. The south-eastern dungeon cities of the Maple Dragon Kingdom had no time to prepare before they were instantly overwhelmed by an endless scourge of demons. The cries of humans sounded out throughout the night as they were ughtered and offered in gruesome sacrificial rituals. Nobody was safe, and nobody was prepared, as the face of the war shifted so suddenly. ~~~~~ News of the sudden invasion reached the royal capital via emergency contact, a form of instantmunication which burned through a lot of mana rich gems just for a single message. The royal pce was overwhelmed as one after another emergency message of distress came in. "What is going on!?" King Wanther XII mmed his fist on the corner of his study table, breaking corner of the table that was carved out of a single piece of a thousand year old heaven branching tree. The military general who entered with the pile of emergency messages quickly answered. "It''s war. Those demons have set their mind on all out war with us. They haveunched a devastating attack without us having any time to prepare and the number of Fourth Step demons is very different from what our intelligence on them reported." "How did we not see thising in advance!?" King Wanther XII''s voice contained an undeniable dignity and demanded answers. "My apologies, sire, but it all happened so suddenly and without any forewarning. They have clearly been holding back for hundreds of years, leading us to not know their full capabilities." "Muster the troops immediately and make counter measures. Where is the army that was sent to eradicate the illegal dungeon lord in the south that attracted the goddess'' ire?" "They won''t be returning for another several months, sire." "The southern region of the east border is the most dire circumstance. Send them a message andmand them to immediately depart for the border and push back the demons. That is 30,000 Third Step royal guards. It is not a force we can do without These damned demons" "I will handle it immediately, sire!" The military general rushed out of the room as three adolescents rushed into the room. "Dad, what''s going on!?" The crown prince, a mere teenager, asked his dad with worry filling his eyes. Another worried person was the young Princess Zoerina, thirteen years old and had just reached adulthood. "Father are we going to be okay?" "Of course, Zoe. Those demons will not know what''sing for them." Despite his strict personality and regal countenance, he was still a father and especially doting on his daughter, the young princess who was not only already growing into a stunning beauty, but had been born with the strongest royal bloodline in several generations. Zoerina held a picture book in her hands whilst looking up at her father with teary eyes. "Father, can you read the book to me again?" Despite that his daughter was fully capable of reading by herself, she had always asked her father, the king, to read her this book whenever she was worried or had a nightmare since she was five years old. "Of course,e here." King Wanther XII sat the young Princess Zoerina on hisp whilst the crown prince also took a seat to the side to listen. "Once upon a time, there was a princess of the sun. She sat atop a tower which pierced the clouds, allowing her to cast her brilliance on all thends. Jealous of her beauty and sunshine, the evil demon king in the kingdom of darkness invaded the tower and captured the princess of the sun." "The kingdom of the sun was cast into darkness as even the sky wept. The people of the sun were helpless, but one day a young man determined to save his kingdom stepped forth. Wielding a de of light itself, he set out to save the princess." . . . "With a body of scars, he beheaded the demon king and finally rescued the princess of the sun. He returned home a true hero and finally wed the princess of the sun, bing the prince of the moon beside her. They then lived happily ever after." Princess Zoerina had a giant smile on her face as she celebrated the marriage between the princess and the hero. Chapter 118: Epilogue Chapter 118: Epilogue Styx had miraculously survived but suffered great losses from this war. The entirendscape had changed, which brought more than a mild amount of curiosity from the remaining dungeon residents, who were used to seeing a forest but were now weed by endless fields of wheat. "ROARRRR!!!" The sky itself quivered as a might roar sounded out and an enormous serpent like eastern dragon appeared from the horizon and swam in circles in the air above Styx, Spider and Aura. The dragon had a grand white mane of hair around its neck the swayed in the wind. Beside the dragon was a woman with long and straight pitch-ck hair, her fringe cut at her brow. On her back were two pairs of wings covered in equally ck feathers. The fallen angel was but a tiny ck speck next to the colossal dragon''s body, but her presence was equally distinct. Dragon descended from the sky, tiny wisps of white me sprouting on his body and causing it to slowly fall apart like ash in the wind. His human form, somehow already clothed, descended in front of Styx alongside Loreley. "I am soo sorry," Dragon said in a sarcastic tone, leaving Styx unsure how to react to his words. "Once that temporal barrier was erected, it was all over in an instant. Nothing I could do even if I wanted to." He then looked at Spider, who was standing behind the dungeon lord both protectively and obsessively whilst ring at him with a threat gaze. "The womanizing dungeon pockets another Monster Lord of the Abyssal Forest. I''m shocked and frightened, perhaps I will be next?" Styx knew that he had an inability to speak in the correct tone, so he didn''t take offense to what only appeared to be mocking words. "I have no interest in men." As the Monster Lord ran his fingers through the air, they morphed into ws that silently severed several invisible and razor sharp spiderweb threads blocking the path between him and Styx. Loreley on the other hand, had a face much more stern and strict than usual. "Who, no, what was it that appeared as the barrier burst. It felt odd." Styx wore a broad grin as he curled his finger, indicating the overly strict fallen angel to approach him. "Closer no, closer" Lorely unhesitatingly walked closer and closer, eventually bing within arms reach of him while Spider oddly didn''t try prevent her. Styx shot out his hand his grasp her modest breasts through her clothes, but her hand leisurely rose and caught his wrist. He tried with his other hand, but it was caught just as casually. Her wide crown-like halo began rotating faster while she gave him a reproachful look. "What do you think you are doing?" "Surely you didn''t expect me to tell you for free, right?" "My body is off limits?" "Oh? Then I won''t tell." "Very well." Styx was taken aback. He had thought this information was important to her and was looking to extract some casual benefits. She wasn''t ying along and stoically denied him though, even no longer asking for information. "Tch, it is just a quick feel. Weren''t the other angelsingter going to be mine? We can be considered partners already." "Not all angels are the same," Loreley casually responded whilst releasing his wrists and backing away. "You can feel my chest instead," Dragon stated and stepped forward, causing Styx''s expression to fall. "I''m not interested in men''s chests." "Are you sure? They are quite firm, if I say so myself." "DEATH!" Unable to restrain herself any longer, Spider lost control and attacked Dragon like a berserker, still naked and creating a sorry sight for sore eyes as she was immediately beaten back and restricted by Loreley who caused several ck rings of light to bind her huge body. "Calm down, he can feel yours too." Dragon''s words caused Spider to calm down and grab onto Styx from behind as soon as her bindings were released, his head firmly wedged in between her giant breasts whilst he felt the situation was spiralling out of control. ~~~~~ Styx''s new throne room, if he were to call it that, had recently beenpleted, but he was still cleaning up after the war with the human kingdom he was inside. The throne room was an enormous, open cavern that was filled with several meters of still water covered in pink and white water lilies. A low bridge just above the water with no railings extended all the way to the centre of this ocean likeke. White marble tiles covered the walkway and central artificial ind construction that was rectangr in shape. Polished ck pirs stood around the outside of the tform, whilst a magnificent throne of sharp angles and carvings stood on a raised tform at the far end. Along the sides in a bowed formation, where thirteen smaller, but equally grandiose thrones for the direct dungeon wives. Spider wasn''t an official dungeon wife, so nine of those thrones were currently upied, the remaining four highly contentious positions. Styx sat alone at the moment, his onlypany a pair of highly possessive red eyes on the ceiling looking down at him. "Spider,e here." The giant woman dropped down from the ceiling, cracking the newlyid marble tiles from the force of the blow but also demonstrating their strength by not breaking immediately. She was no longer constantly naked, now wearing custom made giant clothes that hugged her figure. Spider was incredibly picky as to what fabric she would wear, so it was a painful process to make her clothes. "I have told you my story, what do you think of Anthea and what a god is?" "She just wants to use you. I will keep her away." Spider''s speech capabilities improved at a rapid pace and she could now speak full sentences cohesively. There were still some issues andplex statements were often broken, but even those were being improved on in an almost inconceivable speed. "I have already told you that''s not the case. Why do I even ask, when you have such terrible opinions of everyone. Aura just wants to eat me, Dragon wants to mate me, Loreley wants to own me, any reason to keep them away." "They should all stay away." "Have you decided on a name for yourself?" "Spider." "No, something different." "Styx." "Also no! Come up with something proper, or I will!" "Spider." "Fine, I will think of something then." Giving up on asking the possessive spider her opinions, he focused on his own thoughts. He was upied on what a god was, both the type of god that wasmon in the divine realm and reached by bing , and the Anthea type of god. He didn''t understand how Anthea was in this world, but the most likely answer was either his old world had merged with this one at some point of time, or a god like Anthea was not bound by world. She was also able tomunicate with him via the global system, but she, or one of the other gods, only answered one question of his. "Where is my home world?" [ You are currently in it. ] Perhaps that meant the Maple Dragon Kingdom is his original world in the distant future after merging with the infinite myriad world, which he will need to look into the annals of its history to find out. He had countless other questions that remained unanswered, but he was missing key pieces of information in order to figure them out. What he needed to know more than anything, was what happened in his world between when he died and was reborn as a dungeon. ~~~~~ The dungeon lost nearly all itsbat forces, both monsters and dungeon residents, in the war. This slowed down mining and production considerably whilst also emptying a lot of internal regions of the dungeon. The residents who had remained in the dungeon as nonbatants and or the final line of defence had been safe due to that protection, but none more so than those who had moved to the newest living district. The vertical city built on and carved into the wall of the mana shaft was protected by the enormous mana generator and regtor, meaning the residents living there had only felt several small shakes and that was it. The interest of people to live in this area rapidly skyrocketed and there was no home left empty. The town outside the dungeon had been mostly ruined, as had the one inside of the dungeon. He went to the inner town, where repairs and cleaning work were being rapidly undertaken. One of the foremen of the area was Piri, the young dark elf girl with light grey skin. "Hey, hurry up with that wooden beam! I want it put up immediately, these houses need more reinforcement if they are to keep standing! ve, stop cking!" She was both strict and severe, swinging her small fists at anyone who didn''t listen to her fast enough. She was weak, but her position in the dungeon was higher than most so they were forced to listen to her orders. "Future husband, you''re here!" Piri did an about face and bounced on her feet before diving into hugging Styx when she saw him approaching, the hug recipient merely rolling his eyes and cing a hand on her head. "How is the rebuilding?" "Really well, but they can work harder." "Don''t push people too hard, Piri." "Okay~" ~~~~~ "This is impossible!" Reba Euklid staggered and copsed onto the ground weakly, her legs no longer having the strength to support her. "I assure you, that is very much the reality," Styx''s cold voice echoed in the young duchess'' daughter''s head. "Your goddess can no longer protect you." "Do you not understand what that means?" "I understand that you had best surrender to me immediately is what that means." "Goddess Eve was our greatest protection from enemy kingdoms! We only have one god, and she was powerful too! If she is gone" "I have already sent someone to pick you up." As Styx''s words finally sank him, Reba detected a presence behind her and rapidly turned around. There stood a woman so beautiful everything else in this extravagant room seemed nd inparison. She had a pair ofrge wolf ears on top of her head and irises that were like pitch ck whirlpools, sucking in all light. "A-Aura" She stuttered, instantly recognizing the Monster Lord from her involuntary stay in the dungeon. "Come." "P-please, let me contact my mother first." Upon hearing from Styx, Aura nodded her head and silently walked behind Reba as she stood on shaky legs and approached towards where her mother and father''s studies were. Styx''s voice sounded in her mind one final time, indicating how serious he was about retaliating against the kingdom. "With no more goddess to hold me back, I am free to move about as I wish, including my Monster Lords. Your kingdom wille to learn the price of their actions. You will also do as you are told, or you shall be punished. Do you understand?" "...yes." Reba''s words were but a squeak, but her mind was currently in great turmoil. Worst of all was that she felt she couldn''t defy Styx even if she had the ability to. ~~~~~ ~~~~~ Attached in paragraphments is pictures of work station (this is how bright it is when I get home. It looks better in person and during the middle of the day.) Chapter 119: Rebeccas Return Chapter 119: Reba''s Return Within the dungeon, Reba Euklid stood beside her mother with a strained expression. Duchess Euklid wore a nightgown and her brows were heavily creased. She had tied her hair up above her head whilst waiting in the dungeon, watching her daughter out of the corner of her eye as her brows creased. Reba was modestly dressed, her long blonde hair in perfect order whilst her vivid green eyes were wide awake. Even though the dungeon had its own internal ducted heating from the magmaforges, she crossed her arms under her voluptuous breasts whilst avoiding eye contact. "Ba, exin to me exactly what is going on. Why are you being kidnapped by a Monster Lord back into this particr dungeon, and why have you dragged me into this?" "Mother I think it''s best if the, um, dungeon lord, exins" As the two were watching the underground reconstruction taking ce and stunning subterranean flora and fauna everywhere, Aura appeared in front of them again and stated, "Follow." Reba was familiar with the dungeonyout, so she was confident in where they were, but her mother was doing all she could to hide her anxiety. They walked through fields of grass with blue tips and underground teaus of vibrant coloredrge flowers and exotic animals that the duchess had never seen before. They were all mutations ofmon species, so there was still resemnce in their appearance. Deep underground, the three women entered into the throne room and walked along the endless bridge just above theke and between all the pink and white spider lilies. On the square tform was one main throne and thirteen smaller ones made out of the same ck stone the pirs around the tform were. Eight of those thrones were taken up by and elves and a human, but some of those elves had traits that certainly weren''t elven. Despite the fact they were all of the Second Step, Duchess Euklid didn''t dare belittle them in the slightest. This was especially so as behind Styx''s throne stood a giant 14 foot woman with pure white hair and glowing red eyes. She didn''t know who this woman was, but the pressure she gave off was undoubtably that of a Monster Lord. "Aura, take your seat," Styxmanded and the wolf-eared woman left the two Euklids without a word before sitting in one of the empty thrones. "Will you please exin to me what is going on, now?" The duchess adopted her regal demeaner and directly asked Styx. "It''s very simple, actually. Your kingdom attacked me, which you are well aware of." "I am" "Your kingdom failed, and even the goddess got involved." "" "As you are trying to puzzle out, it did not turn out the way she intended, and she was even injured in return. As for how seriously, I''m not sure." "Impossible!" "It is reality, so it isn''t impossible at all." "That still doesn''t exin why I am here. Stop skirting around the bush and tell me." "There is no rush. Are you aware of what urred when your daughter stayed here?" Duchess Euklid was visibly enraged by this point and clenched her hands so tightly her nails pierced her Third Step skin and drew blood. "You kept her imprisoned against her will and as a shield to protect yourself from attack." "Reba, would you consider your conditions as imprisoned?" Reba Euklid was visibly torn in how to answer but soon responded timidly. "Yes and no" "Ba!" "Allow me to borate. She wasn''t kept in any cell, but had a home of her own and was free to move around the dungeon as she wished. She became a bit reclusive due to everyone keeping an eye on her, but she wasn''t imprisoned beyond having to stay in the dungeon." "That''s still being imprisoned!" "Indeed, but it is different from what you were meaning. On to the next item, she wasn''t captured to be a shield, that was just a bonus. She was captured because she saw what she should not have due to her gift." "What gift?" Duchess Euklid tried to y dumb, but Styx could tell she was worried. "Reba, if you would say it?" "My inborn mana sight." "Reba! I have told you never to say that to anyone!" The duchess cried out in shock that her daughter would state on of their most closely guarded secrets just like that. "It doesn''t matter," Styx''s slovenly said whilst rolling his eyes. "Every adult woman in this dungeon can see mana." "That''s impossible." "You once again refuse to ept reality. This will truly be difficult to stomach then, but whilst your daughter was within the dungeon, she submitted to her own desires and gave herself to me." "What?" "She submitted to me and became my woman. Ever since then, she has been mine. My eyes, my ears, everything." "Ba, what is he saying!?" "Mom, it''s not like that It was an ident." Reba immediately tried to refute Styx''s statement, but he immediately rebutted her. "Such a thing is impossible to happen on ident. You must ept me with your whole being for the bond me to be able to create the bond. You gave into your inner desires, and it was a decision that you cannot revoke." "Mom I''m sorry." "It''s okay, Ba. As your mother, I will do everything I can to protect you." Duchess Euklid stood in between her daughter and Styx defensively, but thetter merely looked at her as if he was watching a theatre performance. "Is that what you should be worried about? This is the moment where you need to act politically, Duchess Euklid. Your city is in dire straights right now. The goddess is no longer present and I''m certain that there are many Monster Lords who will set their eyes upon your citizens once they learn of that." "What do you want?" "You, your city, your people, your knowledge, everything." "Your greed knows no bounds. I refuse!" Duchess Euklid''s tone was icy and her resolution firm. She was prepared to lose her life before she submitted to Styx and the dungeon that affected her daughter. He was demanding her full surrender, which she simply could not ept. Amongst the thirteen thrones, Irie cleared her throat and spoke in a business manner. "Are you truly in a position to refuse his highness? Think of your people, your daughter, your other children. You are in a position to continue ruling over your city, all that changes is you are under us instead of the Maple Dragon Kingdom." "Mother please" "!! Reba, why are you taking his side?" "Because that''s why I wanted to bring you here. Our people''s lives are depending on this." "And are you making this im based on your duty or your feelings? Can you still tell them apart?" "For once both" The duchess turned away from her daughter and stared at Styx. The two looked into one another''s eyes as silence pervaded the enormous cavern, the only sound being the faint hum of mana being released by the water lilies on the ocean-likeke. "Take us back home. I will talk with my husband, who is in direct control of the dungeon core" "Tomorrow. I still need to arrange for you to do other tasks." "Such as?" "My dungeon lost a lot of residents in the recent war and they need to be replenished." "I will not give you my people to serve as breeding pigs." "That is entirely up to them, not you. Once they understand the benefits, there are many who will fulfil this important role But no, this is not what I intended. There is a dungeon city just nearby with over several hundred thousand people. Humans, beastmen, beastkin, elves, and all kinds of exotic races too." "And you expect me to do what?" "Convince Duke Ashburn to surrender. It will make this process go a lot smoother and save many of his forces in the process. I can guess that he will not reason with me." "You killed his eldest son." "There is no evidence of that." "Evidence is not required. Just because someone can''t prove something, doesn''t mean they can''t know the culprit." "Either way, he needs to surrender, and convincing him is your job. If he does not, his walls will be razed to the ground and soldiers ughtered. Civilians will undoubtable also be caught up in the battle too." "I will discuss it with the duke. I cannot promise any favorable oue though, his wound is a deep one" "If he refuses after that, there is only one recourse, and that is the forceful one. It will all depend on how well you perform. Do this task well, and I will ensure your own city remains safe and secure." Styx then shifted his gaze onto the daughter. "Reba, it has been long enough. I have told you that you will return here, now step forth." Reba Euklid stepped out from behind her mother and nervously approached Styx on his throne. He had her continue getting closer until she was forced to sit on hisp, her face bright red in shame from both the intimate position and the fact that it was in directly in front of her mother. "You!" Duchess Euklid raised her voice in protest, her anger boiling to the surface again. She watched as her daughter waspletely weing to Styx''s advances. One of his hands slipped under her shirt and held her waist, the other supporting her back as he leaned over and stole her lips. The duchess'' daughter''s mind instantly nked as her thoughts were swept away by euphoria. She tightly clung onto his shirt and reciprocated the kiss, weing his tongue into her mouth and meeting it with hers. Duchess Euklid watched this exchange with a tight chest, only fullying to realize how deep her daughter had fallen to the dungeon after seeing the look of pure bliss on her face as sheyed in his arms. Chapter 120: Give Me Your Seed Chapter 120: Give Me Your Seed Since the battle with the Maple Dragon Kingdom, Styx''s experience points had skyrocketed. There were over 100,000 monsters killed in the battle, approximately 37,000 deaths on the human''s side and 700 on Styx''s. The experience log was the epitome of chaotic as a result and varied greatly. A huge amount of experience flowed in from the monster deaths, almost 400,000 to be precise. Of the human deaths, they were all Third Step, so the average earnings of Styx should have been around 220exp per kill. Whilst there wererge influxes from those killed by his cannon, offsetting that were those killed by Aura and Spider. Being at the Fifth Step, the amount of experience they earned from killing a Third Step soldier was only 1 percent, meaning Styx only got one or two experience points from each one. The monster deaths experience would have been higher if it weren''t for them being only Second Step on average. Altogether, this was a further 1.8 million. Altogether, Styx earned around 2.3 million experience from the war. At , he now had enough experience to increase his level all the way to if he so chose to, but he intended to remain steadfast and only raise it once per week to not waste potential. [ Species: Dungeon Core (Dungeon Master: None) Name: Styx Mana: 2,570/3,036 Exp: 2,342,025(+) Level: 23 Abilities: Dungeon Creation Mana Control Mana Infusion Mana Vein Creation Remote Control Mana Logic Construct Dungeon Control Dungeon Facility Construction Biomass Converter 100 mana Breeder 50 mana, 20 biomass Storage Crate 10+ mana, 10 physical material st Furnace 100 mana, 20 stone Storage Tank 20+ mana, 20 physical material Rotary Mana Engine 40 mana, 10 stone, 1 iron Material Refiner 150 mana, 10 stone, 2 iron, 1 emerald, 1 ruby, 1 amethyst Alchemy Table 200 mana, 5 stone, 10 iron, 1 ruby, 10 quartz Mana Constructor 400 mana, 30 steel, 1 manasteel, 120x gears, 450x screws Stable Storage Crate 100+ mana, 20 physical material Stable Storage Tank 100+ mana, 35 physical material Magmaforge (BP) 250 mana, 40 magmasteel, 5va, 0.2 brimstone powder, 5x brimstone flowers Soulforge (BP) 1,125 mana, 80 stone + 5 tortured soul powder (*Soulium upgradable), assorted items High Pressure Water Cutter (BP) 730 mana, 50 stone, 5 steel, 0.2 manasteel T1 Conveyor Belt: 1m (BP) 40 mana, 2 stone, 1 steel, 8x gears, 12x screws T2 Conveyor Belt: 1m (BP) 90 mana, 3 stone, 1 manasteel, 24x gears, 48x screws T1 Item Picker (BP) 70 mana, 2 steel, 0.1 manasteel, 30x gears, 50x screws Obsidum Mana-Saw (BP) 550 mana, 3 steel, 1x obsidum de, 1x engine, 20x gears, 30x screws High Speed Turbine Engine (BP) 680 mana, 0.5x manasteel, 1x steel, 5x gears, 10x screws Basic Dungeon Construction Scan 10 mana/m3 Blueprint Creation 342 blueprints Blueprint Manufacturing 342 blueprints Mental Projection 1 mana/min Visible Projection 5 mana/min Autobuild 4 mana/s Trap Construction Bait 5 mana, 5 biomass Spike Trap 20 mana, 10 stone Pitfall Trap 10 mana, none Arrow Trap 20 mana, 10 stone (5 on reload) Weak Poison Gas 50 mana, 1 stone, 1 biomass (expendable) Chaotic Space Trap 200+ mana Crushing Wall Trap 30 mana, 20 stone, 2 iron Internal Resource Storage (293,926/614,400) Physical Material Stone (170,000), Dirt (50,000), Biomass (24,125), Ardonite (5,200), Manasteel (485), Wood (200), Steel (5,145), Obsidum (127), Gold (25), Celendine y (575), Copper (7,459), Tin (1500), Firesteel (115), Magmasteel (145), Soulium (12) Liquid Material Water (28,458), Lava (358), Mining Basic Material Identification Mineral Detection Auto-mine Overdrive Earth Fracture Avatar Creation ] Styx was determined to retaliate against the kingdom, and without the goddess threatening him, he first set his sights on Lagoon Porter City. He was rapidly digging tunnels to connect his dungeon to the city, which would bepleted in a weeks'' time. Passages were dug parallel to one another, but this was just to quickly reach the city whilst they were still being joined and turned into a giant single tunnel 100 feet wide that can allow express passage of monsters or people. I would be useful for both war and general logistics. There was a huge poption within the city that would enable him to grow at a rapidly enhanced pace. Duchess Euklid had already departed along with her daughter, Reba, and also Aura to serve as their guard. Styx did not expect the Duke to be weing or cooperative at all, so the wolf-eared woman was to ensure they were protected and also remove any obstacles blocking their path and ensure nobody got in their way. Meanwhile, Dragon was on a mission of repentance with Styx. Despite his words and inability to express the correct emotions at the correct times, he was visiting many nationless viges in the Abyssal Forest alongside Loreley and forcing the residents to relocate to Styx''s dungeon. He had crushed a few as well when they were especially uncooperative, holding them as a deterrent to any other nationless viges who didn''t want to move. ~~~~~ "Have you figured it out?" Beatrice asked as she watched Styx finishing the alterations on the T2 Item Picker. "I have, or at least, I should have." Styx had a line of gnomes carry in a bunch of different items and feed them onto a trial T2 Conveyer Belt. The items quickly travelled down the advanced track and entered the item picker''s range. It immediately sprung to life, picking up the item in its w grip before spinning on its axis and moving the item to the destination. Several T2 Item Pickers operated, moving items between themselves and their destinations, being other conveyors, smelters and storage chests. Each had specifically programmed magic arrays to enable this, but this array was much more advanced than it used to be. "By reinventing the core function, it has enabled me to add in some Hamiltonia Magic System logic which is simr to the demons'' magic system but slightly less intention based. The item picker is now capable of identifying the object and how to move it with much more intelligence. If an error urs, it can correct itself rather than being permanently out of sync." "It is truly an ingenious design." "It is better, but not ingenious. I am already working on a T3 design, which involves me converting a predesigned array into an artificial manawork within the machine. I have a mana logic construct which contains a lot of the basic information on this kind of magitech innovation, but it is still some time away." "Hu-husband" Beatrice maintained her expression but was clearly flustered as Styx wrapped one arm around her waist and slipped it up her shirt, directly grasping onto herrge breasts. Normally she wouldn''t be fazed, but a pair of crimson eyes red down upon the two from the ceiling of the factory cavern. These eyes belonged to Spider, thetest addition to the dungeon''s Monster Lords. Wherever Styx was, she wasn''t far away, usually simply watching from the shadows without moving. When someone got close to Styx, however, jealousy and possessiveness would flow out from her, even when it was the dungeon wives themselves. "This isn''t the time" Despite her words, Beatrice leaned her back against his body and her deep affection flowed endlessly across the connection the two of them shared. "It is always the time," Styx said, ignoring the jealous stalker-like presence above them. "Especially afterpleting such a significant milestone." Styx sat down on arge chair with Beatrice on hisp, the stunningly beautiful phenelf tilting her head and kissing Styx on the cheek before seeking out his mouth with her lips. Styx tightly grasped onto her breast, the soft melt squishing under his fingers while its firmness pressed back against them. Her pink nipples were already hard and enticed Styx to pinch them. His other hand snaked around her waist and snuck into her waistband, sliding under her skirt and in her underwear. He vagina was already slick in anticipation as his fingers rubbed out and down her pink slit. "Haah Nghh~" Beatrice moaned lightly as Styx rubbed her clitoris in circles, eventually reaching down and hooking his finger so it pressed into her tight cave entrance. The phenelf closed her eyes and tightened her grip on Styx''s arms, also parting her legs more to allow his finger to reach as deep as it would slide inside of her. She reached between her legs and grabbed Styx''s rock hard shaft through his pants, panting and squeezing it while losing herself in euphoria. No words were shared as Styx casually slid her skirt and underwear down the back of her buttocks whilst taking out his fully erect penis at the same time. Beatrice hadpletely forgotten about Spider at this moment andpletely focused on the unsheathed sword which could give her not just monsters, but children of her own. Styx watched in amusement and a high degree of horniness as she held his rod upright whilst lowering her waist on top of it. There was barely any resistance as her vagina was spread wide open, her natural juices coating the shaft as she slid down it inch by inch. "Mmnnphaaahhh~~" As her buttocks pressed against Styx''s thighs, she arched her back and moaned in ecstasy. Styx felt her inner cave tightly wrapping around his shaft, her inner folds pulsating while the tight entrance to her cervix squeezed the base of his penis hungrily. His penis also caused her thick thighs apart as they couldn''t fully close whilst he was inside of her. Beatrice leaned forward and supported herself as she rose her hips up before dropping them down again. She only became more vigorous as she was determined to get Styx''s seed from him. "Husband, please fill me up with a child of our own," Beatrice said in a tone full of love whilst small golden mes burst out on her body but did no harm to her clothing or Styx. Styx tightly held onto her breasts and pulled her down on hisp as his penis prated deep into her vagina and poured out his seed into her inner cloister. Beatrice''s entire body quivered as she climaxed from the sensation whilst Styx released a deeply satisfied moan himself. "So, you want a child of our own too. Irie is already pregnant, if you fall pregnant as well, that is one less person to breed monsters for the next nine months at least." "Eleven months Husband, I promise I will give birth the twice as many monsters after, just give me this one thing" "Don''t worry, I had originally promised you kids of your own when you joined, I will at least give you this one now that we have no danger in the foreseeable future." Just as promised, Styx deliberately didn''t select any monsters from the insemination notification and allowed his seed to freely flow in her womb. All the while, his mana threads spread out from his avatar and filled up her manawork, expanding it whilst also inspecting her body. All the women who lived the previous battle with the human kingdom had increased in at least two levels on average, so they had all been very active in breeding and expanding their own manaworks since. The males didn''t have the same chance, but the highly mana rich foods were like minor spiritual treasures and could mimic the benefit, even if only to a one percent degree inparison. Beatrice''s vagina tightly clung onto the fully submerged penis as she rubbed her hips back and forth in hisp, trying to squeeze out any leftover seed and keep it in her womb. "Husband, I love you" Beatrice lovingly spoke to Styx while resting her body back on his, her head resting on his shoulder with her eyes closed. Just as she opened her eyes and before Styx could answer, she opened her eyes and immediately jumped in fright. "Eek!!" At some point, Spider had descended from the ceiling and stood behind the chair, her enormous body leaning over the top of the two and silently staring at the two withplete fixations. "Babies" The Monster Lord''s cold voice escaped her lips whilst watching the two without blinking. Chapter 121: Mating Instincts Chapter 121: Mating Instincts Beatrice was petrified on Styx''sp, his member still fully submerged within her. Styx felt another wave of ecstasy as her vaginal walls tightened around his penis in a stranglehold as her entire body tensed. He looked up at Spider who was staring in a way that could only be with an irresistible desire and smirked internally. "I have decided upon your name," Styx said as his mana tendrils extended towards the spider giantess leaning over the back of the seat. "Name?" "Yes. You''re name from now on is Everest, not Spider." "Why?" Styx''s mana threads caressed over her smooth skin, gradually pushing their way into her body which she didn''t offer up any resistance towards. "Because it suits you. You are bigger than everyone else, and you are as white as snow. It''s a name that perfectly suits you." "Everest Everest, Everest Everest" Spider mumbled her new name multiple times whilst tilting her head and falling into thought. She eventually seemed to simply ept the name and throw any thought of it out of mind before leaning down towards Styx and Beatrice, who was doing her best to keep a neutral expression on her face. Styx lifted Beatrice off hisp, who quickly pulled her underwear and skirt up before standing to the side like a professional personal assistant. It could be seen that she was standing with her thighs pressed together to prevent any leakage of Styx''s seed from leaving her though. He manipted the floor of the dungeon and raised it until he was standing face to face with Everest. The Monster Lord leaned her face closer and stared at Styx, who reached out with his hands and cupped her face with them before nting his lips over hers. The spider Monster Lord had little reaction, but she followed along with Styx''s actions and even parted her lips, allowing his tongue to roam inside of her mouth. Styx was surprised that it wasn''t incredibly hot inside of her mouth like Aura''s. There was a certain trait of heat, but it carried more of a refreshing coolness. She had a certain skill with her tongue though. As her possessiveness became stronger and stronger, her tongue was like a prey in wait, suddenly striking out and capturing Styx''s. Everest''s crimson eyes faintly glowed as she stared deeply into Styx''s eyes without blinking. Her arms slowly crept around his body before capturing him in her embrace with a crushing grip. With his mana threads still filling up her seemingly endless manawork and giving her a sense of intimacy that the Monster Lord never wanted to go away, he forcefully separated his mouth from hers. Everest''s tongue extended out of her mouth and slowly licked his face, an action he would never have expected of a spider. "Do you want babies, just like Beatrice?" Styx quietly whispered to the Monster Lord as his mana threads tried to push through the final barricade she had set up in her mind. Babies seemed to be a trigger word for the spider monster in human form. Everest begun hyperventting and stared at Styx in an insatiable hunger. "Babies babies children" "Yes, children." "Give them to me." Everest''s voice was icy cold and threads extended through space and preventing Styx from moving. "M-miss Everest!" Beatrice called out in panic and protest, ignoring the mess that formed on her inner thighs as she tried to get closer without being cut into pieces by razor sharp invisible space threads. "Please control yourself! You are going to harm husband!" Styx could feel his bones creaking as they threatened to break. His avatar had the body of a Second Step ranker so it was by no means weak, but it was currently like a twig in the arms of the overzealous and crazed Monster Lord. Everest didn''t deliberately ignore Beatrice, but her attention was so solely focused on Styx she didn''t even register the dark phenelf''s words. Beatrice used her incredibly vitality and golden mes to heal herself as threads cut deeply into her body before she even realized they were there. She was desperately trying to get closer and although she knew this was only an avatar, she didn''t want to see her husband harmed. "Beatrice, stand back," Styx''s words quietened and halted the bloody dark phenelf in her tracks, who could now only watch in distress as Everest revealed rows of jagged teeth that could tear limbs of a fellow Monster Lord, let alone Styx. "Everest, let me in." "Children!" Styx pressed up against the iron wall that was in her mind whilst repeating, "Then let me into your mind! Open up your core and fully surrender to me!" The Monster Lord didn''t show any changes externally, but the barrier within her mind suddenly turned soft and began to open up. Styx had originally thought it was a solid wall in her mind, but it was instead countless tiny threads interwoven into the irond barrier. As it loosened up, her mind reached out all on its own andtched onto Styx''s mana tendrils before forcefully pulling them into her mind. What came next was Styx imnting a piece of himself within her deepest recesses of the mind, a permanent bond forming between the two of them. What was interesting was how her mind immediately wrapped around it and safeguarded it within herself, something Styx never thought possible before. "Children" Everest''s tone was thicklyced with desire and she was drooling out the corner of her mouth. Droplets of her saliva fell to the ground in front of Styx and caused smoke to rise as the earth was corroded, prompting him to quickly stop her from kissing him again. "Come with me." ~~~~~ Styx led Everest to the home of him and his dungeon wives, where he intended for her to stay from now on too, but would need to recreate the house to be much more spacious to do so. Outside, among the fields of flowers, Styx created a giant bed form breeders, their tentacles writhing and crawling between the oversized flowers. Everesty on her back in agitation as Styx undressed her. She wasn''t worried about exposing her naked body, but was having an extremely difficult time restraining herself to wait for children. Aura wasn''t here, so the present Monster Lord thought this was a perfect chance to create new children. Everest''s grudge against Aura for eating her children a long time ago was rooted deep within her bones, whilst thetter hated the former for her constant aggression and attacks, so the two would never get along. Styx didn''t mind that so long as they listened to him. On her back, Everest''s giant breads defied gravity as she fixatedly stared at Styx with the asional mention of children under her bated breath. Her legs were shamelessly spread wide open, the lips of her pink slit also faintly separating and alluding to the hidden fruit within. A faint sheen could already be seen covering her bulbous vaginal lips and even her inner thighs, her human body reacting instinctively to going in heat. Off to the side, Beatrice sat alongside Irie, the former casually talking about children, but her overwhelmingly powerful ecstatic emotions spread over to Styx via their connection and secretly informed him of how deeply she cared for this matter. Styx shamelessly threw off his clothes whilst controlling the tentacles of the makeshift bed to wrap around the Monster Lord''s limbs and body. With his own engorged rod, he aimed the tip at the base of her vagina where her cave entrance was. Being sorge, Everest''s genitals where also muchrger than normal, but Styx still had to force his way in the entrance before sliding straight inside of her. "Hssssssssss~" Everest released a hiss from deep within her that rattled Styx''s and the other girls'' ears. Despite his tentacles wrapping around her limbs, he couldn''t control her movements as her long, meaty legs curled around his rear and locking him deep within her. Her vaginal walls wrapped around and sucked on his penis, threatening to tear it off should he not ejacte within her. Styx bit his lip in agony, but despite how painful it was, there was a deep seated sense of pleasure of being inside of her that made him refuse to pull it out. He ced his hands on her slender stomach and supported himself, withdrawing his hips before powerfully thrusting his hips into hers, scrubbing at the walls of her cervix with his penis and causing the Monster Lord to writhe in ecstasy. Everest looked down at him, her eyes glowing like hot coals in the night. Her mouth was wide open and revealed all her fangs, breaking up her otherwise heavenly beauty that could entrap any man. Styx felt the danger she was exuding even more than Beatrice and Irie whom had hurried over and telling Everest to calm down. The Monster Lord was barely holding on and Styx could tell she wouldn''tst long. He controlled his tentacles to wrap around her neck and body even tighter, another one even pushing its way into her anus, but more so out of Styx''s perversion. He rapidly thrust into the giantess with wet pping sounds, her tight vagina mping tighter and tighter around him as her fingers turning into ws and scratching his back, drawing blood. "Children Children!" "Then ept my seed!" Styx grabbed onto the giant woman and thrust his hips as far as he could, his penis shooting out copious amounts of his dungeon seed into the Monster Lord''s cervix before pouring into her womb. The phallic tentacle inside of her anus also pushed deeper and release more seed in her back door, filling two holes at once. "Yiyiyiy~" Everest cried and hissed at the same time, her w like hands grabbing piles of tentacles and tearing them apart effortlessly. Styx winced and lied face down on her stomach, his penis still throbbing inside the warmth of her vaginal tunnel. He still recognized as the Monster Lord bore her teeth at him, her hands poised to capture him in their grip. "Damned spider! I will bring you food!" Styx had half expected it but couldn''t control himself. His desire to mate with her was already greater than hismon sense and basic survival instincts, but it wasn''t like he didn''t have countermeasures. Tentacles blocked the route between him and her mouth just before she begun devouring. "Control yourself!" Styx spoke directly into her mind this time, upon which she released her grip on him with her legs, but still devoured the tentacles and breeders. "Husband!" "Your Highness!" Beatrice and Irie quickly grabbed Styx and retreated away from the devouring spider, who was now on all fours with dungeon seed leaking from between her legs. "I knew it was a bad idea, you shouldn''t have bred with her" "I agree" Styx shook his head and spoke magnanimously. "Some things I must do despite the danger." Beatrice and Irie had helpless expressions and were wrought with worry. Chapter 122: Ultimatum Chapter 122: Ultimatum "Halt! The duke has forbidden all visitors!" The guards outside of Duke Ashburn''s mansion crossed their spears andid hands on hilts as Duchess Euklid and her daughter, Reba, approached the front gates. Behind them, Aura sauntered in broad daylight without even attempting to hide her presence. Most of the guards who served the duke had arge amount of experience battling monsters, and some had even brushed nearby Monster Lords before. They all had beads of sweat on their forehead and desperately held onto their weapons out of fear they would simply drop them to the ground despite being Third Step rankers. Such was the domineering pressure emitted from Aura Nearby residents either screamed in fear and ran, copsed on the road, or silently hid themselves wherever they could. The three visitors carried a faint stench of blood, the blood of the gate guards and any nearby volunteer who had tried to stop them entering the city. The most fearless people were the reporters from The Relevant, who had been constantly loitering out in front of the duke''s mansion the past week in hopes to get a word from him regarding his current seclusion and its rtion to histe son. Duchess Euklid red at the guards andmanded them in an authoritative tone. "Step aside." The guards clenched their jaws and maintained their defensive positions despite their shaking limbs due to Aura. "Duchess You didn''t announce your arrival ahead of time Please wait while we inform the duke of your arrival." "So he can flee out the back door?" Reba harrumphed and stuck forth her very buxom chest. "I won''t allow it! Aura!" The wolf-eared woman behind them barely moved, but the guards in the center of the formation were instantly crushed along with the entire gate. Twisted and torn pieces of metal along with bricks and earth exploded out from where she struck. The guards to the side were blown away in the process and neglected, their fates unknown. The reporters were truly fearless though, doing everything they could to record the incident in special magitech devices. They also took countless pictures from afar believing it to be a safe distance. It wasn''t that the Monster Lord didn''t know they were there or couldn''t eliminate them, but she held no interest in doing so. The three strolled directly into the duke''s mansion that had already be as silent as a grave. "Is he still here?" Duchess Euklid asked herself as her footsteps echoed on the marble staircase leading up to the second floor. "Mmm," Aura dipped her head slightly, indicating that the duke was still present and in which direction. The duchess held her stride and headed directly to one of the duke''s studies, where she found Duke and Duchess Ashburn sitting at the back of the room with a ss of expensive wine in their hands, "I had thought you would run," Duchess Euklid said whilst brushing her straight, long ck hair behind her ear. "Would there be any use in doing so?" "If you left the dungeon core, I may find myself disinterested in chasing after you." "That bastard illegal dungeon lord would never let us off! Rip the grass up from the roots without a doubt!" "Styx is not that kind of person," Reba instinctively refuted the duke''s callous words, earning a snort of derision from thetter. "And what of you, almost-daughter-inw? You changed greatly since you came out of the dungeon, almost lifeless inparison to how you used to be." "I cannot deny that." Duchess Ashburn red at her old rival Duchess Euklid with resentment as directed razor sharp words at her. "Edna, despite our differences ever since we met at Duke O''Riley''s end of year banquet and ball, I had never thought you to be the kind who would betray the kingdom. I take it you came in here prepared to kill us?" "Hayleigh, please don''t do this-" "If it is necessary," Reba cut off her own mother and asserted with dominance, causing both duchesses and the duke to look back at her in surprise. "Duke and Duchess Ashburn, I am sorry for the loss of your son, I had never wished for such a thing to ur. Regardless, it is time to surrender to Styx ande under his banner." "Hmph! Unlike you, I would never betray the kingdom I spilt my blood protecting!" Reba looked at the nobles and saw the unwavering emotions in their eyes. "You still have two sons, in the royal academy no less, don''t you? It would be a shame for you to die." She knew that no matter what she said, they would not change their decision, but this didn''t stop her from trying. "We have already made all the necessary arrangements. It wasn''t that long ago that you were marrying one of our children in order to protect yourself. How quick you were to sell your body to another, do you have any dignity left?" "Me and your son were not in love. That, and this, were both for the safety of our city. I will give you one final chance, surrender and live. You will still be in charge of running the city." Duke Ashburn raised his half full wine cup with a gaze of steel. He turned it upside down and poured its contents onto the thick hand woven carpet that was worth more than the average citizen''s annual wage. The Duchess just calmly sipped on her cup and closed her eyes, waiting for her fate toe. "How can you just abandon your remaining kids!" Reba burst out whilst swinging her arms out wide. She had the most powerful mana sight, not just being inborn with the talent, but it further being boosted by the piece of Styx in her mind. She could see that the two Third Step rankers knew they couldn''t fight back and didn''t utilize a single skill to protect themselves. Their mana was dull and ran through their bodies at a sluggish pace. "You do not understand, young duchess to be," Duchess Ashburn opened one eye and looked at Reba askance. "To abandon the kingdom is the ultimate sin, no matter the circumstance. We fight for the kingdom, and die with the kingdom. This is what loyalty is, and the duty of all nobles." The final say in the confrontation was actually Reba, rather than her mother, so Duchess Euklid remained silent as her daughter swung her arm and shouted in a bout of rage. "Enough with your stupid ideals! A noble''s raison d''etre is to protect and serve the people! No more excuses, you have one week to surrender or you really will die!" Chapter 123: In the Red Corner, Styx Chapter 123: In the Red Corner, Styx "Can''t we just forcibly take them prisoner?" Duchess Euklid requested to Styx with her head bowed down subserviently. Styx sat upon his throne in the ocean pagoda, all the dungeon wives sitting on thrones along with thetest wife, Everest, whose throne had to be erged greatly to match her giant size. "Do you intend to disrespect the Duke and Duchess even until the end?" Duchess Euklid had lived inside of the dungeon for the past week out of concern for her former friends who were adamant about never abandoning the kingdom. "That''s not" "It is. They hold the resolution to perish alongside their rule over the dungeon city. They are truly stubborn and have even been sending out evacuation orders to all the citizens, hoping to serve the kingdom one final time." "" "Respect their loyalty. They will die, but their heads will be held high until the moment it leaves their shoulders." Duchess Euklid bit her lip hard enough it drew blood. She had constantly been petitioning to talk with the nobles ruling Lagoon Porter City, to get them to change their mind, but Styx had been just as determined to do things his way. "Return to your home and pack your belongings. I understand you want no part in this event, so I will be sending you back to your dungeon city to make arrangements for it toe under my banner. Convince your husband or take over the ruling position. You understand what is to be done if he doesn''t surrender, right?" "Y-yes." Duchess Euklid bowed her head one final time before heading back to the residential town, where her daughter, Reba, was drinking with a group of tiger beastmen. ~~~~~ "Lassie, you look like you could support an entire streak of cubs," One particr giant tiger beastman with bulging muscles ced his arm around Reba''s shoulder, his hand hovering just above herrge breasts. "Why don''t you pair up with me, I promise to look after you well." "Sorry, but I am reserved for Styx himself." "M-my apologies, mistress!" The tiger beastman quickly stepped away from her and bowed in apology, creating a stark contrast in appearance as Reba''s head was only at the height of his chest. "Don''t worry about it, I am friends with everyone," Reba giggled and lightly pped her hand on the beastman''s chest jokingly, therge man not daring to defy her. "You beastman are oddly respectful of Styx though, you should be more casual." "That is impossible, mistress. Lord Styx is the Great Dungeon Lord Who Rules Monster Lords, and his might is undeniable." "He isn''t all that powerful himself, though?" "Power is not always in the strength of an arm. The people one rules are also the power of the ruler. To defy the hierarchy is to be banished." "Have many been banished?" "There have been a few, Mistress. An old brother of mine also didn''t recognize Lord Styx''s power and turned his back on us. We erased in ce of Lord Styx to protect the group." "I see" Reba nodded her head nonchntly whilst admiring the beastmen''s loyalty. The beastmen had a domineering self-policing culture in that those ostracised from the group could either never return or were killed depending on an independent evaluation. This was gradually expanded to anyone who was a part of the dungeon, but none took this more seriously than they did. Styx had never had a problem with this and allowed it to take ce. He held no desire to protect those who refused to be his and held an even more cold-hearted attitude towards anyone who betrayed him. "Daughter, here you are." Several tiger beastmen and a couple dark elves made way as Duchess Euklid entered the group along with a strange woman. "Mom?" "I am heading back to my city to arrange its surrender." "That is for the best. I don''t want to see father die, after all" "Daughter, you have changed." "I''m just being true to myself. For once, my heart and my duty are aligned, so it is much easier for me." "Are youing back with me?" "I am yet to give myself to Lord Styx, so I need to remain. He can send me back if you need me there, Mistress Aura can get me there very fast. Who is this?" Reba looked towards the woman whom she had seen a couple of times within the dungeon on the training field, but she was a part of the forest exploratory group. She was a Third Step female tiger beastman, but had utilized Styx''s new public breeder method and managed to evolve. Reba wasn''t sure how she had done it, but the female beastman had be much more human like, with reddish brown hair cropped at her shoulders and tanned skin covered in tattoo-like tiger stripes. "This is the leading fighter of my guard. Whilst I am by no means weak, she is much stronger than me. The others are about as strong as me too." "Is that needed?" "Styx believes so." "Before you leave, you should have Styx help expand your manawork. I''ve told you all about it, mom, it will help make you stronger." "Ba, I also know what I need to do for that." "Don''t worry, you will be well looked after. You are at your Max Level aren''t you?" "" "Come on, we will go to my home and do it together. You don''t need to worry, mom, it''s not Styx himself but a device, so there is no infidelity. Plenty of the couples in the dungeon use them." "" Reba''s expression rapidly lit up and she bid farewell to the residents she was spending time with and dragged her mother by her wrist. Edna Euklid was stronger than her daughter, but she hesitated and gave her a chance to overpower her. Contrary to first appearances, Reba Euklid was currently a Second Step Brawler, a ss which fought with their fists directly and had a high dexterity too. Her strength and mana pool had been rapidly increasing ever since she begun staying in the dungeon, so it was natural she would want her mother to also experience the same growth. The evolved female tiger beastman grinned and followed along in high expectations of using a breeder. She used her own whilst Reba had some more forceful mother daughter time which gave Edna a memory she would never forget. ~~~~~ The underground tunnel connecting the dungeon to Lagoon Porter City was on the verge ofpletion. Styx could feel the boundary of the dungeon that the city was just ahead of him via a dungeon extrasensory perception. It was like a thin film that loomed just ahead, and the only way through was by piercing into it. "It''s time," Styx casuallymented whilst standing in the dungeon with hordes of monsters and Aura behind him as well as lots of participating dungeon residents. He clenched his fist and used his dungeon mana to directly excavate the remaining wall of dirt, officially entering into the dungeon city''s territory. [ Warning! Dungeon conflict detected! Now opening Invasion Mode, all summoned monsters will be hostile to invading/invaded dungeon. During this time the Limited Shop will open, allowing both parties to purchase supplements to invade and defend. Limited Shop opening Dungeon Territories merging Monster hostility allocating Dungeon Experience doubling Dungeon Warmenced. ] A notification opened up in Styx''s head, while he assumed a simr one had appeared before Duke Ashburn. The tunnel had opened up into a giant cavern which was the same dungeon Therina entered whilst she was in the dungeon city. The actual dungeon was the entire city above, but just as Styx could extend up into the aboveground area, the open dungeon that was the city could also dig down. Styx''s dungeon type was actually the rarer kind in the infinite world as it was easier to expand in the open world rather than having to excavate everything. Roars of various monster echoed out throughout the dungeon below the city, the simplistic and widely open structure of it causing its source to be unknown. Not long after, hordes of monsters charged at the invaders who were spilling out into the dungeon. Styx had the Obelyon Mana Gauss Cannon installed at the entrance and loaded with 50,000 mana points. As Styx was invading from the second floor of the city''s dungeon, the immediate monsters were all weak and of the First Step. Half of Styx''s monsters were at the First Step too, but they all had strength close or equal to a low Second Step ranker. The other half were Second Step monsters and were even more powerful. The more powerful the dungeon residents became, the more powerful monsters they bred for Styx. Even his immediate dungeon wives were giving birth to monsters that were of the Second Step the moment they reached adulthood. Styx''s monsters utilized tactics under his control, many equipped with steel weapons or armor too. They tore apart the defending monsters effortlessly with thorns, des, and teeth. Blood spread out from the defeated monsters before they evaporated back into the mana the were born from, leaving behind small mana gem shards. The tiger beastman and elves strolled through the dungeon like they were sightseeing. Any monster that got too close to them was instantly killed. "Hmph, the duke can''t even control you basic summoned bastards, what hope could you have of winning. Aura, how is the barrier?" Aura nodded her head and responded, "It is covering the city. They won''t be able to escape now." Above ground, a violet barrier powered by Aura''s Phantasmagoria covered the entire city. The regr citizens looked up at the purple oil like barrier covereing the sky and panicked whilst the adventurers and mercenaries all clenched their weapons. They had all seen the evacuation warning from Duke Ashburn in the guilds and public squares, but only half of them had left the city. Some were still contemting whilst other had their entire lives based in the city and felt the inability to leave. Styx didn''t care about the people that left. He could have Aura or Everest seal off the city, but he was intending to take over the entire kingdom. Even if they ran, they wouldn''t be able to escape him. ~~~~~ Duke and Duchess Ashburn sat in a tall, guarded barracks before an enormous glowing blue prismic gem several meters from tip to tail. Contrary to what the city residents believed, the dungeon core of the city wasn''t kept in the duke''s mansion, but in the heart of the city guard. This was irrelevant to Styx though, as he could feel the location of the core the moment he began the dungeon invasion. The duke wasn''t a dungeon core so he couldn''t feel the location of his core, but the summoned monsters could. "How is it?" Duchess Ashburn asked whilst looking out the window at the violet sky with worry. "It is as expected, we will not be able to hold on for long." "The city defenses!" "I will turn the cannons on the heart of the city, but they could dig out through anywhere. Dungeon cities aren''t designed to defend from dungeon invasions after all" "Is there nothing we can do?" "Dear wife, they have not one, but two Monster Lords. We can only do as much damage as we can and give the kingdom more time to prepare. Hopefully, means of defending from dungeon invasions will also quickly be solved. I have already sent a final emergency notice to the capital." "It''s not all bad though, is it?" "What do you mean?" "The heart of the demon invasion is heading straight for this area. If it grows fast enough, that dungeon will be a buffer zone between the kingdom and the demons." "Oh! I hadn''t even thought of that! Hahahaha, guards!" Several heavily armored guards mored into the room, their weapons held poised to defend the duke with their life. "Duke?" "Pass on the message, have the city cannons retracted." "Duke!" "You heard my orders. Hurry up." The duke''s wife looked at him with a concerned gaze and clenched her fist, "Are you sure about this?" "Of course. I hadn''t though about it, but this will give the king some much needed breathing room with the invasion. I can''t have the dungeon too heavily injured now, it would slow down its expansion too much to stop the demons. It looks like I have one final emergencymunication to make." "But what if the dungeon sides with the demons and lets them through." "That is impossible, those bloodthirsty demons don''tpromise with anyone, even themselves. If the dungeon lord wants to live, he will have to fight off the demons with everything he has." The duke broke out into another grand bout of heartyughter, his deep set voice echoing in the room. Chapter 124: Ambush From Within Chapter 124: Ambush From Within With the two dungeons joined, Styx was capable of leaving his original dungeon and entering the city. Excited about being able to explore outside personally, he led his monsters in battle with a sword in hand. "Hahahahaha!" Styxughed maniacally as he struck down monster after monster. He had studied swordsmanship so much that he couldpletely replicate the Swordsmanship subskills with little effort. The general exotic race could learn the Swordsmanship with some hard work and a little bit talent. They wouldn''t learn the subskills however unless either the skill was learned from their ss, meaning the subskills were ingrained in their manawork waiting to be unlocked, or they studied the subskills under someone who knew them. Thetter actually received the assistance of the global system, else there was no way they would be able to replicate the subskills. Styx was not an exotic race, but a dungeon core. He didn''t receive the same effort, so it had taken him a lot of effort and study to replicate the subskills in his avatar''s manawork. "Take this!" Mana flowed through Styx''s manawork and the ground cracked below his feet. He instantly appeared in front of a monster and brought arge glowing sword down upon it that sent out a sword ki wave that split it in two. Aura followed beside him as his perpetual guard whilst Everest was nowhere to be seen. They were both possessive andpetitive, but none more so than Everest, which is what made her absence distinct. The giantess spider Monster Lord in human form was currently lying in a cavern she dug out of the ceiling of Styx''s new throne room. She had stripped off her clothes and breathing heavily with her legs spread. Her swollen stomach wriggled and begun contracting as she began to give birth. She hissed and moaned as she dug her fingers into the opening of her vagina, stirring and loosening it up before she squeezed out fourrge eggs covered in vaginal fluid from the tight opening. She was currently staying away from Styx under hismand due to her powerful instincts to consume him for more nutrients for her children. She looked down at therge white eggs made from what appeared to be spider threads with adoration. She gathered them up in her arms, under her giant exposed breasts whilst turning her attention back towards the dungeon invasion where Styx was. Seeing all this through their connection and also feeling her emotions of motherhood, love and an overwhelming desire to consume him, Styx felt chills run down his spine and doubted his choice to take in the unpredictable Monster Lord. Aura also sense this and howled in the direction of Everest, sparking a conflict of auras from the two behemoths. ~~~~~ Irie wasn''t going to miss out on this battle despite being pregnant, not when it was an easy battle. With her race currently a Magus, she wielded magic with mere twists of her fingers. She also summoned her soul weapon, which was abination between a spear and a staff. The faint crimson weapon simply emerged in her hand and became a conduit for her magic, making it stronger than ever before. Snakes of lightning burst through the channels of the dungeon like a tsunami, killing waves of monsters still on their way to attack the intruders as well as any unfortunate kingdom citizens or adventurers caught in the crossfire. "Weak! Far too weak!" Irieughed before crushing a First Step summoned monster beneath her staff-spear. ~~~~~ In the aboveground section of the dungeon city, adventurers, guards and volunteers formed defensive lines whilstining amongst themselves. "What do you mean the reward bounty for this job has been revoked? Did the duke suddenly turn into an idiot?!" "All the mercenaries left immediately, truly a money hungry bunch. They will do anything for money, but won''t so much as lift a finger for free!" "Screw this, I''m leaving. I have heard the rumors that there are Monster Lords invading. If I''m going to die, it won''t be for free!" Third Step rankers left the defensive lines one after another whilst First and Second Step rankers left en masse. What was left was about 3,000 rankers, a number much higher than most anticipated. With the dungeon cleared out and the summoned monsters only attacking sporadically, Styx led his troops out of the entrance to the underground dungeon with Aura in front. "Aura, ready your shield" Styx''s gaze focused on not the defensive lines, but towards the edge of the city. He had been expecting the defensive cannons to fire on them as soon as they emerged and had Aura ready to defend against the ambush before taking out the cannons. There would be some loss to his forces, but the city would most likely suffer more damage from the battle. He was focused on minimalizing that damage as far as possible before he could take over the city, even if that meant destroying the mana burst cannons. Aura''s ears twitched and she looked around before ncing back at Styx in confusion. "What is it?" "There are no cannons." "?" Just as Styx was left confused, most of the remaining adventurers that manned the defensive lines raised their weapons and let out a battle cry. "For the lord!" It was a signal of kinds, and those that cried out immediately turned their weapons on the remainder. This was not surprising, as Styx had long been growing his forces within the city in secret, nning to one day take over it. He hadn''t been able to corrupt any of the guards to disable the cannons, but the number of adventurers on his side was enough toy out a fatal ambush to the defending forces. These people were indoctrinated by his current people residing in the city as sleeper agents, waiting for the moment to strike. They enjoyed all the benefits Styx gave but didn''t have a chance to visit the dungeon very often. The mana rich food from the dungeon did circle through their own channels amongst them, giving them constant benefits over other adventurers though and serving as incentive for those seeking strength to switch sides. Blood sshed and heads flew as des were turned upon the unsuspecting defenders before battle immediately broke out. From amongst the crowd, a bar waitress with wavy ck lochs of hair tied up behind her head with two turtledove hair sticks walked to the front and knelt on one knee. "Lord Styx, wee to Lagoon Porter City." "Hilda, it has not been that long since Ist saw you. You truly ced your life on the line to defend me from the kingdom." "For you who has given me strength and redemption, I would dly give up this lowly life." "Stand, you have no need to kneel before me." "Lord" Styx stepped forth and took Hilda''s hand, lifting her up to stand before him. He looked at her with approval and nodded his head. He couldn''t help but stare into the deep ravine of her cleavage that was out in the open for all to see. He knew everything about all his dungeon residents, so he knew all about her daily life. She worked as a barmaid in a rundown tavern, but was actually in control of the entire business after having the previous boss secretly disposed of. It had now be a central gathering spot for Styx''s people and share information. Hilda was flirty to customers, even offering herself at times, but she had never given her body to anyone other than Styx''s breeders. Despite her flirtatious appearance and slovenly walk, she was actually a Second Step Assassin and had a very high dexterity too. "You have been in control of most of my forces within the city, I know all that you have done. Twice you have fought in the front lines to protect me, and you have even been affecting popr opinion in the city to prevent people from fleeing. Do you not want a reward?" Hilda leaned her body against Styx as he wrapped an arm around the back of her waist, her voluptuous breasts pressing against his chest whilst also pressing her hips tightly against his. Her face was deep crimson as she softly said, "Maybe,ter, let me stay like this for a while." "Too little. I will have you be one of the immediate dungeon wives." Hilda''s heartbeat rapidly increased as she knew the significance of being a direct dungeon wife. She would stand on the same stage as Styx and Aura, the Monster Lord who once drove her into surrender via fear. She had done much to serve Styx since, and her opinion of him had rapidly be more and more favorable as he gave her everything she could have ever wanted in the world. She had long since fallen in love with him, and those feelings blossomed more powerfully than ever as he reciprocated. "My life is yours, my lord!" Hilda clenched her fists in excitement as Styx rose her chin up with a finger and pressed his lips against hers, his tongue smoothly sliding in between her lips and mingling with her own. Aura looked on in jealousy, but it was Everest''s uncontroble possessiveness which caused a frightening presence to descend from beyond the horizon. "Enough!" Styx shouted into the spider Monster Lord''s mind directly and causing the pressure to immediately recoil. Hilda, still giddy and happy enough to die at this moment turned back to the traitorous residents and called out to them whilst struggling to stop herself from smiling. "Gather your weapons and ready your magic, we will be taking this city for ourselves right now! We have Monster Lords on our side, and nobody can stop our march! Lord Styx is our sun, and we shall form the kingdom beneath it!" "Wuuuu!!!" The crowd cried out in high morale in response, their shout travelling across several blocks as nervous citizens locked doors and windows. Most people in the city felt the evacuation and invasion notices had been someone else''s problem. They had felt the entire thing was surreal and not rted to them. They just went about their daily lives as per normal, even if there was a thick tension in the air. Only a few people and self-righteous guards were crazy enough to challenge a Monster Lord and an army of monsters and exotic races at the same time. It wasn''t a big force, but seeing a guard crushed and grinded into a boiling bloody paste by the tail of a magma fox, or being eaten from the waist up by a shadow behemoth, was a horridly terrifying sight. Styx saw the citizens as amodity, but he didn''t value them to the point he would go out of his way so they weren''t caught in the crossfire or as coteral damage. The streets were mostly deserted as the city had all but surrendered, but Styx had no idea as to why. He was currently unaware of the giant demon invasion happening as that information was restricted to nobles controlling the dungeon cities. Duchess Euklid was also unaware of this, but it was only a matter of time until she returned to her own dungeon city and finds out from her husband. Chapter 125: Complete Victory Chapter 125: Complete Victory "We meet again," Duke Ashburn casually stated as Styx entered the inner sanctum of the barracks holding the dungeon core of the city. The Duke and Duchess gazed at him in a final defiance, a trace of smugness in the duchess'' eyes. They stood before an enormous dungeon core that dwarfed Styx''s own size by a huge margin. The core was around 4.5 meters tall and stood like a goliath in the room, sending out a bright blue hue on everything. "I am surprised by your resolve. I had expected you to surrender for your children." "Children and meant to be able to stand on their own feet. We will not betray the kingdom which raised us." "An admirable quality. A shame most others don''t share such values." "You would be surprised." "Do you have any final words?" "I know I am to die, but I wish to know before I go, why did my son have to die?" "You are aware he is a regressor, right?" "Yes. He had exined his experiences to me. It was unbelievable, but there have been more unbelievable things before." "That was one of the reasons." "Please exin." Styx sighed and mentallymanded Therina to bring him a chair over. The duke and duchess looked at the elf who had dominated their son''s mind in distaste. They had long viewed her as a poison and wished her nothing but harm. "First, he knew knowledge that he shouldn''t have. It made me insecure and rush to eliminate or disarm the threat. He also had an uncontroble desire for my woman, which was already a death sentence alone. Third, due to the nature of being a regressor, myself and countless other versions of me hadid the groundwork to eliminate him, which meant I must continue it on." "I see" "Finally Reba,e here." The beautiful and heavy chested blond duchess'' daughter entered the giant room and stood beside Styx before he pulled her onto sitting on hisp. "You were a poison too" Duchess Ashburn squinted her eyes at her rival''s daughter. "Reba Euklid was already my woman at the time of the marriage, as much as she tried to run from it." "Is this true?" Reba nodded her head, not hiding her attachment to Styx at all as she allowed his hands to wantonly roam her body, even sliding into her pants and rubbing her erect clitoris. "It is." "Do you not feel guilty." "Yes, and no. I had done what my duty towards my city and family was, but I wish things had turned out differently." Styx withdrew his hand and licked his finger, causing Reba to blush lightly whilst the sharp nosed Aura was aroused by the erotic scent and let her tail start to sway. "Are you satisfied, duke?" "I just have one more question." "Go ahead, I also have one of my own." "Well, let me go first. You have powerful monsters and even Monster Lords behind you, but don''t you think it is unwise to stand at the very front of the army, considering how weak you yourself are?" The duke instantly threw a spear that turned into a bolt of crimson lightning aimed directly at Styx''s head. Duchess Euklid attacked at the same time, instacasting a barrage of boulder sized ming meteors in the room and shooting them at Styx like a machine gun. The floor was torn to pieces and walls blew out from the power behind the st. The ceiling also copsed atop everyone in the room at the same time. The spear exploded upon collision, but Styx still sat there unharmed. The deadly weapon stopped just before his face with Aura''s tail wrapped around it. Smoke was emitting from the corner of her lip as she growled in an ominous tone, indicating where the meteors had vanished to. "Tch, even that wasn''t enough. You truly are a Monster Lord. But Hayleigh" The meteors weren''t the only things that vanished into Aura''s mouth. The duchess'' wife only had two legs from below the knees left, her life snuffed out like a candle in the wind. Duke Ashburn was a hardened warrior with broad shoulders and sharply chiselled features. Seeing his wife''s fate, despite both of their resolution in the beginning, caused tears to trickle from his eyes. "Aura, don''t prolong his suffering, kill the duke quickly too." "Thank you." Amongst the rubble of the room, standing before the enormous dungeon core, Duke Gabralter raised his head high before he too was cut into several pieces by phantasmal ws that split space and time itself. He knew he couldn''t resist the attack, so he didn''t even bother using his defensive skills. They would have been carved through like a leaf in a tempest all the same. Silence pervaded the room that was quickly filled with the stench of blood. His boots cked against the rubble as he stepped on broken sections of ceiling. The dungeon core had dimmed greatly, currently shifting to automatic mode now that the dungeon lord controlling it had been killed. Styx stood before it and ced his hand on the core, a window opening up in front of him. [ Unbound core detected. Do you wish to bind this core to yourself? Yes/No ] Styx already understood everything about dungeon cores, not because he was one, but he had fully studied the public knowledge of the city thanks to Hilda and all the other citizens who became his. The only way to win a dungeon war was to either shatter the opposing dungeon core or take control of it. Controlling it was harder as one first had to kill the dungeon lord, who could be hiding anywhere in the city. The barrier in between the two dungeons could also be restored, but that would cause harm to both dungeons. Styx straightforwardly selected ''Yes'' and the core shone with a blinding white light and multiple information windows opened and ovepped in front of him. [ Dungeon core has been bound to dungeon core ''Styx''. Dungeon conflict has been won by the invading party with capture of the enemy core. ] [ Multiple cores detected. Multiple independent dungeons cannot exist within the same dungeon. Please choose from the following options ] [ 1. Destruction: Dungeon core is destroyed and 10% of its experience will be acquired 2. Sublimination: Dungeon core is sublimated as a sub core to the main core. All skills of sub core will be lost, but core traits will remain. 3. Bridge: Core is imploded and forms a permanent channel to a random area of the world. Random location must support natural generation of a dungeon core. PERMANENT. ] Styx looked at the three options, which were something he had contemted for a long time. In the first option, he would get 10 percent of the total experience used to have the dungeon core reach , which was 9.95 million experience points, an astronomical amount that could instantly level him up to without including his enormous experience storage from the previous war and the current dungeon conflict. The second option, sublimination, would be like turning himself into an extremely powerful dual core processor. Just as he could partition parts of his own core into various automatic function, this would be an entire core he can program and automate countless procedures. As it kept its traits, he would also throw away his weakness of not being able to summon monsters. He couldn''t summon them with his core, but this one could. The third option was a gamble and forbidden in most kingdoms. Bridge caused the dungeon core be used to implode on itself and form a permanent channel to a new region where a new branch of the dungeon reached into. It was a gamble because it couldn''t be controlled. Whilst there was a chance it could open into an underground treasure trove of spiritual nts or an undiscovered pocket dimension full of treasure, there was a far higher chance it would simply open in another kingdom or empire. This channel was permanent and couldn''t simply be closed if it opened into a kingdom with a far superior army. It had been the downfall of kingdoms before and was only usedmonly by intergctic empires to create space channels to pioneer new regions. Styx contemted his choices, which was ultimately between the second and third option. "What will you do, darling?" Therina asked tenderly as her dream tails stroked his back. "Bring the core back to the main dungeon, I will form a bridge deep underground." "You don''t want to be able to summon monsters?" Therina was also aware of the options from her own learning and had assumed Styx would address his main weaknesses first. "There is no need. We hunt in the Abyssal Forest now that the Monster Lords are on our side. The amount of prey in there is poptes fast enough to support a poption ten times the size of the dungeon and this dungeon citybined. The current automatic summoning arrays will continue operating too, and I can study them to replicate them manually." "Are you not worried about the risks of opening in a new, random area?" Reba was nervous over Styx''s choice. She viewed him as the ticket to a safe and prosperous life for her dungeon city''s residents and didn''t want to see him or her city ced in danger. "We may be unable to use the Monster Lords to attack due to the Treaty of Gods, depending on where it opens, but they won''t be able to invade us due to them. You must take a risk in order to get the greatest rewards." Chapter 126: Opening the Bridge Chapter 126: Opening the Bridge The citizens of Lagoon Porter City didn''t understand what was going on, but the enormous barrier still covered the city and a thick tension lingered in the air, causing everyone to grow more fearful. The streets were empty spare some nervous individuals. Styx hadmanded Aura to clean up the city guard alongside Vivy and Irie, as well as a small toon of Third Step tiger beastmen. Aura was the main muscle of the operation, but she wasn''t the kind to negotiate with others. The remaining guard of the dungeon city had two optionsid out before them, surrender or die. Given the previous lord''s death and capture of the city''s dungeon core, most of the guards surrendered, but there were still groups that were determined to fight to the death, as futile as it was. One such small resistance force even reactivated one of the city defense cannons before being met with the brutal wrath of a Monster Lord. "Hilda, you will be responsible for informing all the citizens and other travellers of the change in management." Styx was giving the barmaid her reward as she tightly hugged him whilst taking in his scent in deep breaths. He wasn''t shy either as his hands were extended down the back of her pants and in her underwear, her prominent butt cheek tightly clenched in one hand whilst the other reached underneath and fingered her vagina from below. Hilda moaned lightly and hugged her body against him tighter as his middle finger slipped inside of her sticky, tight hole. She spread her legs a bit more and raised her body up, letting stick submerge more of his finger inside her secret garden. She wed at his back whilst her vaginal walls tightly clung to his finger, but her natural lubricant made it easy enough for him to push his finger in and out whilst stirring her honey pot. "My lord I don''t know how much longer I can hold out" Hilda erotically rubbed her crutch against Styx''s, desperate for his manhood. "Well, neither can I." Aura was apparently unable to restrain herself for any longer as well, causing Hilda to freeze in shock as the Monster Lord discarded her clothes and forcefully joined their intimate moment. ~~~~~ King Wanther XII appeared to have aged ten years. His brow was constantly creased and his hair greyer than it used to be. "Zoerina, Wace, Raph! You need to try much harder than that! Our enemies are bearing their fangs and they will not give you time to prepare yourself!" A bulky man covered in giant muscles swung a ymore one handed and sent the two young princes and princess flying through the air like ragdolls. The king watched on this training practice on the giant paved stone field within the castle''s walls, giant statues of the kings past looking down upon the arena from the four corners. The princes and princess shrunk away from the pain, but they were given no reprieve and forced to fight back with everything that had. Ever since news of how dire the invasion was, the loss of the army set to subjugate an incredibly dangerous dungeon, and a pervading silence from the Eve Temple, he had lost his doting father traits. No longer were his children living a life pf pure luxury, but they were forced to be stronger to protect the kingdom. The demon army had over two dozen Fourth Step rankers, whilst the dungeon in the southern regions of the kingdom had not one Fifth Step Monster Lord, but two ording to the news he received far toote. The royal family had the most powerful bloodline in the kingdom, which enabled them to be far stronger than anyone else of the same ranking. The princess had also been born with the strongest bloodline since the first generation king himself walked thesends. "It''s too hard!" The fifteen-year old crown prince, Wace, cried out with his body so bruised and battered he could no longer stand up. The trainer looked up at the king on a terrace on the edge of the field who responded with two merciless words, "Carry on." "Yes, your highness," The trainer ced a clenched fist over his heart in respect before turning around to the crown prince on all fours and kicked him in the ribs and sending him flying back ten meters. "The enemy will not stop just because you are sore, or tired. Fight as if your life depends upon it, never show weakness, and never give up!" Zoerina, despite only being thirteen and had only just be an adult, was the hardest working out of all of the king''s children. "I I know A hero will show up one day and I will be ready to stand by his side and protect this nation! Aaaahhhh!!" The young princess pushed herself beyond her physical limits and fought back against the trainer with all that she had. The crisis the kingdom was facing had hit her far harder than her brothers, while her dragon bloodline also further fuelled her iron willpower. Her fists were bloody and bones cracked by sunset, where several healers used the magic to heal their bodies, but they still needed rest to restore their fatigue. ~~~~~ King Wanther XII sat at the head of a very long table, his children sitting on the sides whilst maids silently waiting at the edge of the dining room should anyone require something to drink or more food. "You all did well today, especially you, Zoerina," The king sternly stated in praise between mouthfuls of premium marbled steak and exotic vegetables. "Dad can we really make such a big difference in the war by getting stronger?" Second Prince Raph asked nervously whilst weakly clenching his fist, mana stirring around his hand. "If you reach the Fourth Step or even thete Third Step, you will be able to. Every high powered general is a treasure of the kingdom. Earl Vermonte bon Housen is also pushing his medicine to help us rapidly replenish our army numbers." "We can win then, can''t we?" "This is not a battle we can win, we received news that the goddess has fallen to injury, which the demon kingdom have used as an excuse tounch this all out war. There are also Fifth Step Monster Lords who will consider this an opportunity if they learn of it, and an insidious dungeon to the south that" "What is it, dad?" "We received several emergency messages today, and we have lost Lagoon Porter City right next to the Abyssal Forest. Somehow, this dungeon is controlling Monster Lords and tantly using them to attack our Maple Dragon Kingdom." "What!? How could they do that!? Do they not fear the repercussions of doing so!?" "Calm yourself, son, the crown prince must always maintain a calm mentality so you can urately judge and act on the kingdom''s affairs. You are too young to worry about these matters and just take it as a learning experience. The kingdom tacticians are already working on managing the situation. You still have a lot to learn about the art of war." The second prince, Raph, nced at his brother from the corner of his eye at these words, a sharp and insidious glint hidden below the surface. He didn''t hate his brother by any means, but only the crown prince could be king, and it wasn''t umon for a prince or two in line of session to perish before they were crowned. The royalty enjoyed the best treasures that were naturally found within the kingdom. They had countless spiritual fruits to enable them to level up faster without hitting their Max Level, as well as being stronger than their equally levelledpetitors. "Zoe," The king addressed his only daughter whilst carefully cutting off another thick slice of steak, the gravy sauce dripping off the edges, "This will be your first year at the royal academy. We had beenx on your brothers the past two years, but you cannot be ck on your training because of your studies." "Y-yes, dad!" ~~~~~ Styx sat in a secluded room deep below his dungeon. It was designed as a corridor, but the end of the room was a gigantic glowing blue crystal. This room had been especially created to create the bridge to a new area where Styx hoped to be able to secure new resources and knowledge. Both Dragon and Loreley had arrived as special guests and further insurance against any unexpected scenarios. The former was deeply excited at finding out what the new territory will be, whilst the beautiful fallen angel had a stony expression set on her face. "Styx, are you sure about this?" Loreley asked in a serious voice. "Of course. Heaven does this frequently, doesn''t it?" "Heaven and you are vastly different in strength. Every kingdom had their own technological tree, and whilst many mirrored each other, others couldn''t be any further apart. If it were a weak kingdom, he could even use it as an area of refuge should the worst case scenario happened. If it were a kingdom far too powerful, he would copse this room and seal the entrance. The connecting bridge would still exist, but they would have to recognize the bridge and then excavate it again to cross back over. He had Monster Lords and, in the future, the possible deterrents of Heaven and The Void. There was truly little he was afraid of in this gamble, but he felt it was a necessary one. The other two uses of the core he could solve himself with hard effort and some time, but a permanent special bridge to potentially new resources was something he was incapable of creating anytime in the near future with his current knowledge. "Everest, give me some space." The spider Monster Lord in her giantess human form was squatting directly behind Styx so closely he could feel her breath on the back of his neck. She ignored his words and instead leaned forward before licking the back of his neck whilst eyeing him up and down. She had changed clothes to arge flowing kimono like dress with flowery designs covering it. From within the sleeves and her exposed cleavage though, small spiders could be seen crawling around whilst eyeing the outside world. These were her recently hatched children, whom she kept on her own body in order to protect them from the gluttonous wolf, Aura, who was determined to eat them once again. One of the spiders leapt off her cor and aimed for Styx, but Everest casually caught it mid-air before stating "bad" and throwing it into her mouth. "" Styx was speechless seeing this, but he had more important matters to attend to. The unbound dungeon core was humming with activity, constantly fighting against his control over the dungeon. "Everest, Aura, bees, everyone else, get in defensive positions." He still had the three options for the dungeon core avable to him, and unhesitatingly selected Bridge. The dungeon core suddenly fell silent before turning more and more red, like blood was spreading through it. The glowed brighter and brighter red before a small ck singrity formed within the core of the crimson hue. That hue suddenly cascaded inwards as the core rapidly copsed in on itself. Within several breaths, all that remained was the ck singrity. Equally as suddenly, that singlrity seemed to bubble on the surface like boiling water before exploding and covering the channel in turbulent space and time. Aura erected a phantasmal barrier in front of everyone whilst Everest used webs made out of space itself to stabilize the room and prevent the spatial fracture from reaching Styx. Everest also caught Styx in her arms and protectively covered him in her embrace, protecting his body from any coteral damage. The dungeon residents participating in the expedition to the new area suffered a few small wounds, but they had their own defensive skills, or in the case of the women, could simply expend mana to regenerate the damage. Silence pervaded the room with the exception of a faint cracking sound as the broken space was repairing itself and a bridge to a new area being formed. Styx pushed Everest''s arms away and left her embrace as the previous location where the dungeon core had imploding had changed into giant opening to the world beyond. Both Monster Lords scrunched their brows and stayed close to Styx as their senses extended into the world beyond the spatial bridge. The dungeon core had been an open dungeon, so the new extension was aboveground as well. The opening was on the side of a rocky mountain covered in ash and dust without a single sign of life, which Styx''s dungeon naturally spread out into the local surrounding area. "It feels dead?" Styx mused to himself as his dungeon senses examined the surrounding area. "No not dead, but infinitely close to it. Everyone, let''s have a look around." The world outside truly did appear dead as the group emerged. Styx had assumed the exit was on the side of a mountain, but it instead turned out to be a desert. Dunes of crumbling stones, dust and ash climbed all the way to the clouds in a desert that seemed to extend forever. Even the clouds were ck, not by rain, but as if stained by the soot of the world below. Between the clouds, rays of crimson light fell on the world, a color distortion brought about by red ribbon-like spatial cracks that shifted and swam through the air. "I don''t like this ce" Aura quietly said whilst ncing around. "Oh, it''s just terrible." Dragonmented sarcastically whilst Everest huddled her spiderlings deeper into her clothes whilst narrowing her eyes dangerously. "What is this ce?" Loreley stared out into the dead, ck and grey desert in shock. "Haven''t you seen simr ces before?" Styx rose a brow at the stunned fallen angel and focused his gaze on herrge ck crown like halo above her head. The fallen angel apparently hadn''t noticed it herself yet, but it had stopped spinning altogether and turned dull the moment she stepped out into this world. "No, never." "Can you ask Heaven?" This was Styx''s test and managed to catch her by surprise as well. "Of cour-what!? I can''t contact heaven!" "I had thought as much. Wherever this ce is, it haspletely severed your contact with Heaven and that''s not all" "What do you mean?" "Kale, can you please cast some magic? Any spell will do." "Of course, anything for my husband Although this is a little difficult." Kale was the dark elf twin who had evolved into a cosmic prowler, a species capable of swimming through space like it was their own home. She was normally capable of freely flying, or floating, in the air, but she had beenpletely grounded by this world. Her mana stirred and she cast a dimensional de with a swing of her hand, which collided with the side of the dune and sent dust and soot flying in the area. She looked at Styx in puzzlement, but quickly realized what he had noticed. "My mana isn''t regenerating!" "Correct, the world itself is truly dead here. I don''t know how this happened or is possible, but the mana has long dried up in the earth itself and caused everything else to turn to dust and die. There is no mana in the air, so there is no means of regenerating it. This is why Aura, Everest and Dragon are so offput by the area." "W-wait, it just regained a point, it is still working." "That is just because you are close to the entrance of the dungeon. The mana is slowly flowing out and dispersing into this dead corner of the world. I don''t know whether this is a good or bad thing, we are essentially a candle light in a pitch ck room as long as this urs, I will have to create a barrier to prevent that from happening." "Styx," Loreley expended some of her mana into the air, feeling it slip away from her fingers and experiencing the mana void environment for herself, "I wish to investigate this ce, possibly call for some research reinforcements from heaven too." "You are already setting up a temple here, tell them to hurry up and then we can negotiate a joint expedition." "Thank you." Loreley bowed at the waist respectfully, unintentionally giving Styx a perfect view down her cleavage before casually defending her body from his wolfish ws. "Don''t forget, this is my bridge. I''m sure Heaven are true to their word and won''t try anything underhanded" "You dare! Heaven is not to be besmirched with nder!" True to her nature, any doubt or insult directed at Heaven instantly ruffled the beautiful fallen angel''s feathers. Chapter 127: Ancient City Chapter 127: Ancient City Styx could only move within the area that the dungeon epassed, which wasn''t a particrlyrge area at the moment. There were two methods to increase the size of an open dungeon. The first and easiest was to level up the dungeon core, as higher levelled cores spread their domains much further. The second way was to fill the current dungeon with objects and structures, which allowed the dungeons area to expand much like ake that had boulders pushed into it. Most dungeon cities utilized abination of both means. Their dungeon expanded along with their city, whilst the adventurers training in the monster spawn areas below ground would help level up the dungeon core and expand the domain even further. There was apparently a third method, as Styx was discovering. In an area void of mana, spreading his own mana would spread his domain, endlessly increasing its size, but also endlessly increasing his mana expenditure. "Space is disordered" Everest calmly stated whilst plucking her finger in the air and revealing a space spiderweb thread that instead of being in a fixed position, curled and swayed like a loose thread of hair. "Can''t you enter a separate space here?" Styx asked with a raised brow, causing the Monster Lord giantess to shake her head. "Too damaged. It will break and shatter." Almost as if to prove her point, Everest ran her finger down in the air and slipped into a crack in space. Momentster, a small pop was heard before she suddenly appeared in the world again, faint crimson crack could be seen around her before they slowly repaired themselves. "Save your mana, I need you all investigating the surroundings. I will send harpies to fly around and search for anything else, but I can''t go too far yet." Styx was still technically a traditional underground tunnel, so he could tunnel beneath the ground and expand his territory in the way he usually did, but this also took time. A small expedition team of dungeon residents heralded by Aura departed into the gigantic desert of dust and ash. The ground below their feet was extremely soft and would burst out small clouds of ash with each footstep. Styx controlled a small squadron of sixteen harpies and four terror wings, assassin like Second Step monsters that had giant wingspans and razor sharp hooked beak that could snip someone''s head off whilst they were unaware. The flying monsters flew up the endless sand dune and up towards the soot stained clouds the lurked not far overhead. The monsters were having difficulty breathing as even the air was stale, the further up they flew, the more difficult just breathing became. They managed to make it though and gave Styx a giant panoramic view of the desert. Ash dunes of a size that defiedmon sense extended endlessly as far as they eye could see. It was as if they were ants in the world of giants, such was the size and scale of this ash desert. There was one anomaly though in the opposite direction, which was a semi-buried city of equally enormous scale. The harpies and nightmare wings began flying towards it under Styx''s control. Lagoon Porter city extended to the horizon and was a t city, so to speak, that could support several million residents with ease. This megalithic construction however epassed the same area ofnd but was built chaotically. Enormous cathredrals and defensive towers were built in a haphazard mess of being stacked on top of one another. Houses were built into walls, whilst steep inclining streets that were closer to staircases were lined with even more. Styx could even see different districts amongst the pile of buildings, some with wider roads and parks This city, by Styx''s estimate, could support at least 10 million residents, such was its outrageous size. The harpies and nightmare wingsnded on a dusty, eerily quiet street. The street went down on a giant 50 degree slope and caused them to dig their ws into the cracks between bricks on the road. Houses that were equally lopsided, some as tall as four stories tall, lined this road and gave Styx the impression that this road hadn''t always been on this slope. "What happened here?" Styx asked himself in confusion before opening his status panel and speaking to it. "Anthea are you there?" [ I am always here. ] "So why don''t you answer me when I call for you?" "" "Can you tell me what this ce is?" [ I cannot. ] "So, you know, then?" [ I cannot say. ] "You can''t even give me so much as a hint or idea of what happened?" [ This is a location where- ] [ World ender, this is a ce of an ancient past. The empire which once rose to the sky has returned from whence it came and all are destined, dust and ashes. ] Styx didn''t understand what was going on, but it appeared Anthea had been about to say something she wasn''t supposed to and had been cut off by another. His mind wondered to the blurry figures in the alternate reality location where he and Anthea had been pulled into and thought it must be one of them. They held the same kind of feeling that Anthea did, and he knew they were gods of at least equal standing. Styx was pulled away from his contemtion as something stirred within the city. It wasn''t some obvious sign, but a tremble through the ground and buildings. "Gaarhhhhhhhh~~" An uncanny growling noise sounded as corpses stumbled out of old doors that simple fell down, or fell themselves from windows and ledges. "Zombies?" Styx raised a brow in surprise at first, but these creatures were different from zombies. They were more like husks of something that was once human. Brown and wrinkled dry skin wrapped their bodies, whilst they no longer had eyes or tongues. Their mouths and eye sockets were hollow, but this didn''t stop them from lumbering towards Styx''s monsters or growling. The harpies released a sonic boom from their screech, blowing away the nearby husks, but they didn''t receive any experience points even though the enemy had died. Feathers fluttered and a violent onught ensued as the bumbling army of husks attacked en masse. One harpy swooped down and fell into their clutched before the humanoid monsters sunk their teeth into it. Styx watched in astonishment as the harpy was rapidly drained of its mana, invigorating the husks greatly as if they had found an oasis in the desert. A more powerful husk covered in old violet armor of an unknown metal held a simr spear and charged at a nightmare wing whilst howling. Styx tried to control the monster to retreat, but the husk knight threw his spear, urately impaling it and causing it to fall to the ground before it too was drained of mana. The moment their mana had dried up, the husks directly sucked out his monster''s lifeforce, resulting in an agonizing yet helpless death. Once they had mana, the enemy husks became ten times more dangerous, so Styx had his monsters flee the location before they became overrun. The husks became helpless as the monsters flew up into the sky, but that didn''t mean there weren''t other husk monsters that could fly. The remaining harpies and nightmare wings flew over the city and perched themselves on the end of a series of giant buttresses of a grand cathedral in the heart of the city. ~~~~~ Aura and the raid team were much stronger than the monsters, which had been turned into an observatory force for Styx. They reached the city several dayster, Aura staying back and being low key amongst the group as much as possible unless she had to make a move. Styx had also send an entire battalion of monsters to support them and be cannon fodder. Styx had rapidly created an istion barrier at the entrance of the bridge to restrict mana from seeping across into this dead world. Some did still escape, but it was only one percent of what it was previously. Simr arrays were installed into special bracelets and handed out to everyone in the expedition force. Aura''s bracelet was made from a soulium-manasteel alloy to amodate for her incredible mana force, but it would still shatter if she went all out. "These monsters can smell your mana, and will do anything to get it," Styx''s voice rang out in everyone''s mind at the same time. "Do not use any skills or anything that required mana unless absolutely necessary." The main reason why Aura was taking such a passive approach was that she felt a strong sense of danger from within the city, although whatever was causing itpletely escaped her perception. The group entered what appeared to be a slum, everything broken and falling apart. Old crates and signboardsy rotted and scatter on the ground, just the fact that they still remained being astonishing enough. "Split up into ten groups," Therina, the dungeon wife who used the least mana when fighting and leader of this expedition force, directed everyone quickly and urately. "Make sure nobody gets left behind. Styx has already said that once these monsters absorb your mana, they be highly invigorated and ten times as dangerous." The expedition force began exploring the decrepit slums, killing any husks they came across with cold steel. There was nothing of value within this area, but it gave Styx an idea on the kind of lives of the people who once lived here. They then began heading in the direction of the heart of the city, scaling walls with towers and houses jutting out of it, shops which had beenpletely looted in the ancient past, and grand public chapels filled with rubble. Va~ Va~ Va~ Several dozen undead crow-like birds flew out of a chapel tower as the bell rung all by itself, the giant resonating sound causing countless husks to stop and face it before falling down prostrate on hands and knees. "@$&&#$%!@#$%^#$" The husks let out guttural sounds that made no sense, but soon several figures covered in golden army walked out the front door of a cathedral and stared down at the expedition force. Even Styx could feel their emotions, which was an endless, overflowing hunger, one which could never be satiated. Each golden armored figure was the same size as Everest and held giant ives and tower shields covered in countless engravings. They had no mana though, so all their equipment remained inactive. "Do not let them absorb your mana!" Therina dered whilst directing everyone to destroy these defenders. Therina charged first, her soulium sword poised and striking at the joints in the giant''s armor with needle-like precision. The giant was highly experienced though and instantly brought its giant shield forth to defend itself. As sharp as her weapon was, it only did a small nick of damage in the shield before being deflected away. Other expedition forces used spears, swords, or even their fists to pummel the giants. As powerful and skilled as they were, they only had one shield to defend with. The monsters struck from unexpected angles and targeted heads and ankles, mostly being used to distract the defenders and createpses in their defense. No matter how dire the situation though, the giant soldiers never hesitated nor showed any fear. "Everyone back off!" Vivy, one of the most powerful members of the expedition, called everyone back in a panic as she followed their movements. The giants raised their ives up high before they began to release a faint red mist and the arrays lit up on them. Styx waspletely unaware how they did it, but the monsters seemed to have burned their own lifeforce, or what little of it remained, in order to power their equipment. "How are they even alive, let alone standing" Styx mused to himself. The fact that the husks had lifeforce meant they were indeed alive and not dead, as lifeforce was something no undead had. How they managed to use it to supplement mana was another mystery he couldn''t understand as well. The husk giants swung their enormous weapons down and create a seismic shockwaves that sent stone and rubble flying everywhere alongside anyone close enough to be dragged into it. "Regroup and reform the lines!" Therina called out whilst managing to pierce into the arm of one giant. Chapter 128: Monstrosity Chapter 128: Monstrosity The giant knight husks were enraged by the resistance of the expedition force. Their attacks became more frantic whilst Styx had his weaker monsters retreat so they simply didn''t be food for the husks. The situation rapidly changed when the giant knight husks changed their targets to the prostrating husks on the ground. Neither Styx nor the expedition force reacted in time as they dropped their giant ives on the ground with a dull echo and picked up the weak husks with their hands. Their helmets split open around the mouth before the began feeding on the weak minions. Each only took one bite, consuming the smaller husks shoulder and heart in one mouthful before turning on the next one. Whilst the husks didn''t have any mana, they still had a slight amount of lifeforce. These knights immediately empowered themselves like a tank finally getting a drizzle of gas. "ORAAAAAAA!!!" Red lines lit up all over the knights armor and their fallen weapons flew to their hands. They stamped their feet on the ground and exploded it from the sheer force of strength. The weakened buildings in the surroundings also topple and released a cloud of dust and ash the enveloped the battlefield. They were entirely different from how they were before, using that several drops of lifeforce to erupt with heaven shaking strength. They had previously only had Second Step strength, but now they had instantly jumped to having the strength of Fourth Step rankers. "Defend yourselves!" Therina called out whilst fearlessly and crazily confronting the intimidating monsters which could only be seen by the glowing red lines of esoteric arrays and crimson eyes through the dust and ash smog. The first knight turned into a streak of crimson lightning and impaled a giant evolves Second Step stone-tailed fox with its ive, crimson blood flowing out onto the ground before being absorbed by the knight, who only became more and more active. The others charged into the expedition force and the blood of Styx''s people flowed, several elves and beastmen being directly cleaved in two. Vivy jumped and danced like an acrobat through the knights unhindered, two soulium curved daggers striking necks and elbows. As she struck though, small defensive formations automatically sprung out of the armor and blocked the strikes, although each one caused the lifeforce powering the knight to diminish. Those which managed to absorb mana and lifeforce had be an unstoppable force and were starting to cause Styx serious losses. At this moment, Loreley and Dragon came out from the main area of his dungeon, crossing the bridge and finding Styx sitting in a messy pile of soot and ash with a frown on his face. "I have contacted heaven and they will send a delegate shortly. They are interested in such an area and wish to seal negotiations as fast as possible. Before they arrive though, we would like to ask for preferential rights over The Void." Styx first turned his attention to the expedition force, which had his first dungeon wife Therina leading it whilst Kale and ir also partook. "Aura, I need you to act immediately! I don''t care what''s in the city, kill the knights and bring everyone out. I also want their armor and weapons for study," Styx spoke directly into the wolf-eared Monster Lord''s mind. Aura, who had previously been nonchntly following the monsters with her eyes heard Styx''smand and clenched her fingers into a w grip. The ground shattered and the entire street split in half as she ran into one of the knights and kicked it with her bare foot. Defensive arrays sprung up automatically, but they didn''t stop her blow at all before the kick connected, blowing a giant cavity through the knights chestte and torso as it was send catapulting through countless old and dpidated buildings. It was almost inevitable as being of the Fifth Step, Aura was as much mana as mana was her, meaning all her mana was stirred under the exertion of her strength. "I need those armors intact" Styx helplessly reminded in her mind. Caw~ Caw~ Caw~ Monstrous and hideous birds of prey flew up from dark corners all over the city and circled in the air both startled and starving. Aura didn''t hesitate and created more destruction, wing off their limbs and head or otherwise dismembering them into pieces. The wolf-eared woman was like a spotlight in a pitch dark room with how much mana and lifeforce she had, causing something even more sinister to stir inside the city. From the nearby grand cathedral, where the husk knights had emerged from, a pair of ancient yellow eyes covered in blood vessels opened, crimson blood flowing from the corner and staining the creatures face. A thick and deep heartbeat caused the ground itself to throb under the expedition force that quickly cleaned up all the weak husks that were currently too cowardly to even fight. With eat beat of this heartbeat, everyone felt the own hearts skip a beat as a soul rooted fear emerged from within them. Aura wasn''t any exception to this, herrge ears and tail lowering as she squatted and growled in defiance in an equally deep tone. "Yorak! Grov! Anuk delv tor tanus!!" An ancient voice echoed as the roof of the cathedral and several buttresses copsed in an enormous burst of noise. From within a coffin 200 feet in height rose in the air by its own power. Several sounds of trees snapping were heard as the lid of the coffin popped open and fell back down into the ruins of the cathedral with arge explosion. Within the coffin was something that was humanoid, but it was as far from human as it could be. The monstrosity within was as tall as the coffin. Blood freely ran down its face and dripped onto the ground before it quickly licked up the fallen blood. Its twisted and distorted limbs were made up of countless pieces of people''s flesh, now wrinkled and almost clinging to its bones. It even had several extra limbs, whilst its body had countless peoples organs inside of itself. What frightened Styx the most was the pressure the monstrosity gave off. It was a divine oppression belonging to gods. Aura stirred her mana and used Phantasmagoria, the entire reality warping and revealing an old mansion alone in the woods. Before she could have everyone flee and escape, the monster howled and vomited a river of blood that washed through the streets. "Kavak! Amana ulger gihtr!!" Aura''s Phantasmagoria immediately shattered as the monstrosity sucked up her mana, even creating a small bacsh in the Monster Lord''s body. Styx, who was watching this, quickly turned to Loreley and Dragon with a dead serious expression. "I don''t care for any bargaining, I will give it to you, but Dragon needs to immediately help take down this monster and protect my people." "Very well, but that thing" "It is a god, but it in an extremely weakened condition. I don''t want it following anyone back, so kill it immediately! Also" "Also?" "Give me your universal trantion device. It appears to have anguage of its own." "My trantion is a part of my halo but I do have some trantion bracelets." Loreley casually twisted the ring on her finger, which held a subspace storage, and caused several silver engraved bracelets to drop out. These were beautiful items that had countless microscopic heaven rules inscribed in the inside of it. "Everest, you will go as well. I don''t care about your issues with Aura, you will help, understood." "Babies" "Promise not to try eat me again." "Okay." "Then once this task is done." As soon as Styx equipped the bracelet, the monstrosities voice was filtered through the magic engraved on the bracelet, causing Styx to hear his words based on intent within the words. It was an ingenious design that even if thenguage waspletely unknown,munication was still possible. "Mana! Sweet, sweet mana! Foolish invaders, you will turn into my sustenance!" The monstrosity howled whilst swinging its giant, long hands at Aura, the remainder of the expedition force already focused on escaping. "Death!" Aura howled in response, a giant phantasmal wolf''s head appearing and trying to bite one of the arms off. Two more hands caught that face and tore it apart, causing the wolf-eared woman to flinch before evading across the rooftops. She tried to initiate Phantasmagoria a couple of times, but the monstrosity would break it and absorb the mana without fail. "Delicious! More! More! MORE!!!" It swung its giant arms, crushing buildings and shattering the earth. Therina escaped into the dream realm, but others didn''t have that luxury. Only three or four people died, but with each one, it would only empower this monster even more. Aura sprinted across rooftops and jumped from buildings so fast she was barely a blur, She struck back with phantasmal bullets and ws, but even if she damaged the monster, it would only reattached torn limbs and mend ripped flesh. "Mortal beast, you dare defy a god!" Dragon appeared in the sky with a roar whilst Everest flew down like a meteor and collided with it, sending the two of them tumbling and crushing everything in the area. "Go away, invader!" Aura growled and turned on Everest. "Who are you calling invader, child devourer!" "You eat them too!" "You ate them all! You ate all my children!!!" "Enough, you are bothmanded to work together!" Styx''s voice cut off their argument promptly before it escted any further. The monstrosity mmed its limbs into the ground and caused mes to begin spreading across the streets, turning the entire city district into a zing inferno. "Perish! And be my food!" The expedition force did their best to resist the mes, using as little mana as possible to keep the fire from burning them. Therina retreated into the dream realm, whilst Kale flew up into the air with ir in her arms. Others cast chilly domes of water or space barriers, but they were prime targets for the boss monster to absorb mana. Aura and Everest weathered the mes with her body, small embers of mes singing holes in their clothes whilst they attacked the monstrosity with ws and poison. Dragon swept down from the air, his tail creating a giant sonic boom as it smashed the god into the ground and created and enormous crater. He followed up by firing a beam pure white concentrated dragon mes into its defenseless back, buring it further into the ground. "Angry! So angry! You insects dare defy me You will feel my wrath!" A tremendous, god-like pressure descended on the entire area just before the enormous crater exploded. Rubble was sent cascading into the sky where it floated without falling. The monstrosity god slowly rose from the crater, power seeping off its body. The entire world seemed to dim as the tattoos covering his body lit up in an eerie green glow. Its body was covered in blood from his injuries. Styx watched this and directly spoke to both Aura and Everest, "Immediately attack. Don''t give the monster any chance to build up power." Aura''s leg broke mach speed as it approached the monster''s head, but its eyes followed her and blocked the attack with its spare limbs. The wolf-eared woman relied on her tremendous flexibility to spin mid-air and rip an arm off. The monstrosity howled in anger out of instinct, eventually erupting with divine power and forcing the Monster Lords away and crashing through the city. "Die! Die! Die!" The monstrosity howled and rained bright green balls like bullets and exploding bombs upon the three Monster Lords, creating even more destruction. The fallen god''s strength burst came very quickly, but it also passed just as quickly. Steam rose from every pore of its body as it red at Aura, Everest, and Dragon, who were tearing it apart piece by piece. All animosity eventually faded from the monstrosity''s face as a faint barrier burst forth from its body and forced everyone away from itself. It''s face show nostalgia and a tired expression as it looked down on Aura, and even the expedition team in the distance. "It was a lie. It was all a lie." As its final life force reserves began to dry up without being able to absorb enough mana and lifeforce, its body was rapidly started turning into ash before scattering in the wind. "They gave us their favor, but they never cared about us. It was all just an act, a means to an end. Once our purpose had been served, we were discarded. But I still wanted to live" The fallen god finally turnedpletely to ash, his body scattering along with the deathly wind. The fires covering the district also died down as the divine power powering them dissipated. Chapter 129: Changing City Chapter 129: Changing City A tension so thick it could be felt covered Lagoon Porter City. Fear and uncertainty could be smelt in the air, and production had hit an all time low. Aura''s phantasmal barrier still covered the city even whilst she wasn''t present, dying the sky in a faint purple sheen with the viscosity of oil. A group of Third Step rankers would be able to puncture a hole through it, or a coborative effort by the city''s residents could shatter the entire thing, but nobody currently dared to attack it. Those who had already surrendered to Styx patrolled the streets alongside monsters. Anybody who resisted was met with a death penalty, but just the rumor that Monster Lords were behind the new dungeon lord was enough to quell any organized resistances. The city guard were no longer found within the city. The former soldiers had either smartly disposed of their official armor and uniforms and gone back to civilian life, had surrendered, or had been directly executed. Hilda, the barwaitress with a deep cleavage and tobo pipe in her mouth was the most prominent person currently in the city, utilizing her position as a dungeon wife and controlling the human forces within the city. A new guard, the Core Guard, had been formed in response to the deconstruction and destruction of the city guard. "You are now under the rule of Lord Styx!" Hilda announced from a podium in a cleared out space of a market, thousands of people standing or watching from nearby. "We will be doing a major reconstruction of the city and all its facilities whilst giving everyone the opportunity to adapt to the changes." "You can''t do this!" "What about our lives!!" "I want to leave!" Several protests sprung up from within the audience, whilst others bided their time and waited to see what the response would be. If they were able to gain an advantageous position from their protests, they would immediately join in, whilst if they were apprehended or killed, they would hold their tongues. "Remain calm. The guilds leaders have alreadye forth and begun talks on cooperate on stabilizing the city. You will be able to find information posters put up in all the guilds and throughout the city as it bes avable. Have patience for now and be aware that anyone stirring up trouble will be appropriately dealt with." "And who the hell are you to tell us what to do!?" "I am Hilda, the newest dungeon wife to Lord Styx and in charge of management of this city." "So you are just a whore opening your legs to a dungeon''s breeding? Ptui!" Hilda smiled and spoke in a friendly tone, but she hinted with a nod and a pair of Third Step tiger beastman, including the evolved female tiger beastman who easily subdued the ranker causing a ruckus before dragging him off elsewhere for re-education on manners towards Styx. This kind of event happened multiple times all over the city throughout the day. Hilda eventually settled into the former duke''s mansion whilst having everything cleared out by the new Core Guard. The head of the adventurer''s guild and merchant''s guild soon showed up and bowed politely towards Hilda who was busy directing people on where to move decorations. "Duche Mistress Hilda, a pleasure to see you again. Have you given our previous conversation more thought?" With a bald head, the guild leader of the adventurer''s guild stood at seven feet tall; a behemoth of a man. The guild leader of the merchant''s guild was only half a foot shorter, but had a very well groomed appearance and walked with a ramrod straight posture. "Guild leaders, Guild Leader Horace visited not too long ago and the answer of Lord Styx remains the same. All the guilds are wee to remain within the city, and are even encouraged to do so, but you must fall under Lord Styx''s rules." "Dare I ask when this Styx will actually appear before us? He has been surprisingly absent given his recently acquired city." "Speaking to me is the same as speaking to Lord Styx." "Very well," Daniel, the merchant''s guild leader pinched his moustache between his fingers and kneaded it into a curl. "As our initial concerns were brought up, the guilds are multinational guilds that span all kingdoms and empires. We are not bound by any country''s rule." "Yet you were born in Maple Dragon Kingdom, were you not?" "I was, Guild Leader Jack wasn''t, but that is beside the point. We have discarded our nationality to join the guild''s giantwork. We understand that cities and even empires rise and fall, and as a neutral party we do not intervene directly. We can facilitate the organization of guild members and distribute rewards for requests, but we self-govern under our own rules." "Hun, you are misunderstanding Lord Styx''s position. He is not demanding the guilds themselves follow hisws, but your branches in particr. Whilst you upy ournd, you will follow ourws, regardless as to what they are." Hilda sucked on her pipe and blew out a thick cloud of smoke and directly stated. "If you wish to leave the city, nobody is stopping you." "There is a barrier stopping us." "When it goes down, nobody is stopping you." Much like the previous guild leader, neither guild leaders of the adventurer''s guild or merchant''s guild wanted to be banished from the city. Just as kingdoms rose and fall, so did local branches of their respective guild. "I agree, so long as it does not force us out of our neutrality." "Hmph!" Both guild leaders agreed to the terms in their own way before assigning staff members to iron out the fine details alongside several of Hilda''s helpers who were representing the dungeon. ~~~~~ Several days passed and the barrier covering the city finally faded away and revealed the clear blue sky with only sporadic tumbling clouds stretching across it. Daily life in the city had returned to normal, or at least something close to it. People were back at their jobs, bakeries, smithies, tailors and all kinds of crafts. Adventurers were hunting monsters once again, but half the mercenaries had left the city for others now that Styx and the dungeon residents had taken over most of their work. Breeders were slowly being introduced to the city, but uptake on them had been slow. Styx had begun the process of ingraining a piece of him into all the women, a task he could perform almost endlessly, but too many people in one day forced him into low power mode until his mind could recover. The humans and other exotic races were highly repulsed by the breeders and being used to create monsters, but the promises of expanding manaworks and raising a person''s mana capacity and Max Level quickly won many over. The first batch of people had sold their body under the hopes of breaking through their limits, but the effects far exceeded what they had imagined. Many quickly jumped on this opportunity, and a culture of breeding monsters was rapidly bing more widespread amongst the female popce. Another change within the city was that the local economy was rapidly copsing due to currency not being used within the dungeon in the same way. Styx had made small tokens, but they weren''t a recement for hard currency. He was a follower of a unitedmunity in which he ensured the people could receive whatever they needed and wanted, whilst they in turn had their own rules to follow, such as being demanded to work. The tunnel connecting the dungeon and city had be a main passageway, but only registered dungeon residents could use it, something the city''s original inhabitants had yet to acquire. Many dungeon residents freely entered the city and began exploring it whilst filled with curiosity. This included the dark elves, but they severely limited their time outside as direct sunlight was harmful to them. When they wanted to explore outside during the day, they all carriedrge umbres the at least stop direct contact with the sun. One particr dark elf was Piri, who was escorted by her ve childhood friends, Avora, Felix and Thomas. "Hurry up, ss at the new school starts soon!" Piri stamped her foot and almost dragged the three ves behind her. She had just reached adulthood and been granted the ss Apprentice Elemental Fighter, a rare and exotic ss. Despite this, Styx still refused her bing a dungeon wife under the premise of her being too young still. Piri and the others were officially joining one of the human schools within the city, which were much better equipped to teach than Styx''s still growing school was. They had a much more solid foundation and knowledge base. Styx was still busy revising the local education system, but the children in the dungeon and even some adults were sent to these schools in the meantime. "We don''t ept your kind in here!" A small group of kids with an older male human child at the helm confronted Piri and the three ves as they entered the school. "Hmph, move out of my way." "No, I don''t want to." Piri didn''t bother arguing with him and clenched her fist before punching him straight in the nose. "What are you waiting for, beat them up!" Having been officiallymanded, the Astora and the other two ves were helpless and forced to also attack. They had been with Piri long enough that following her orders had already be a second instinct to them. "You actually hit me!" The kid held his nose, a faint trickle of blood seeping through the seam of his fingers. "Do you know who I am!?" "I am a future dungeon wife, just for Lord Styx! I don''t care who you are, now apologize." Piri rose her nose towards the sky and looked down upon the other kid, who was both angry and afraid. "Students! What is going on here!?" A young teacher with brte hair cut in a bob rushed over to the scene of the incident and quickly helped the student with the bleeding nose, casting a quick healing magic on it. "He picked a fight, he lost," Piri stated as if it were the most natural thing in the world before strutting past the bbergasted teacher and students, herrge umbre resting against her shoulder and keeping the sunlight off her skin. "Are you the new students from the dungeon?" The teacher asked in an uncertain tone. "Yes." "Pleasee with me, I will quickly get you inducted into the school and assess your level of studies so I can ce you with others of a simr level." Piri wanted to roll her eyes, but Styx''s voice resonated in her head, reminding her to behave and be respectful towards the teachers. "Yes Thank you for your assistance." Chapter 130: The New Queens Chapter 130: The New Queens Princess Zoerina attended her first day at the Hendesberg Royal Academy full of motivation. She bore a heavy responsibility on her shoulders to protect her country from the invading demons, dedicating herself to training with far more dedication than her elder brothers. "Princess, wee to the royal academy," A well dressed teacher with arge white beard and wizened face bowed to the princess who sat among her peers in the ssroom. "It is an honor to have another member of royalty studying at our school." A range of hushed whispers broke out amongst the young boys and girls while fleeting nces were cast at the young princess. Princess Zoerina hadn''t appeared much in public before, so there were a lot of rumors about her, but none with any solid substance. Some rumors spoke of her as a fire breathing dragoness, whilst others as a young maiden deeply in love with a young knight apprentice. Contrary to all the rumors though, she held a more reserved attitude and the best word to describe her would be mature. "Thank you, Teacher Harold. I have been home schooled up until my adulthood by the royal tutors, so I hope to learn a lot of new things from everyone." She smiled back at her fellow students and offered a warm greeting. This instantly led everyone to have a more favorable impression of her. Of the two girls that were sitting next to her, one leaned over and asked in a whisper, "Princess, what is it like in the castle, I hear that the halls are lined with gold and you get spiritual fruits with every meal Is that true?" "Hehe, not at all," Zoerina giggled lightly with a hand over her mouth, "Father does look after us quite a lot, but it was always lots of studies and training, even more so as ofte." "Really? Why is that?" The other girl asked. "As the future leader of the country, it is our responsibility to be strong and wise enough to lead everyone." "Quiet down, students, even you too, princess. ss is starting. As your first day back, we will be doing a refresher on the basic knowledge you learned in middle school." The teacher pped his hands to get everyone''s attention before he begun drawing up basic and intermediate magic arrays and theories on magic on the giant ssroom ckboard. He spoke of topics that all of the students covered in their middle school lessons, interacting with the students and making sure nobody had forgotten anything over the annual school holidays. The practical skills ss was next, in which Princess Zoerina revealed her strength as a Infant Dragon Brawler. Although her level was simr to many others in her year level, her strength was greatly superior to them due to a better bloodline, better training programs, more effort, and more spiritual fruits growing up. Her fists sparked as she stuck in sharp, precise blows that knocked other students off their feet. She also had a pair of solid fire iron gauntlets that supplemented her strength, but she didn''t equip those when training with the other students. As the days went on, Princess Zoerina remained much stronger than the others, but she never looked down on her fellow students and pushed them to train harder. She held a fiery temper for toward anyone who bullied others, resting in her main ss being considered off limits for the older kids to bully. Nobody dared challenge the princess, not just because of her strength but also her status as royalty. As the first years were sitting in a grand auditorium, Matron Hubble, the coordinator for their year level, alongside Principle Herring, stood before the first years. "Students of Year 1, the yearly Fae Expedition ising up in three months, and it is up to you whether you wish to join. The second and third years are traditionally the only ones to go on this trip, but due to recent events of the dungeon outbreak in the south-east, alongside the demon incursion many of you have already heard about, it is suspected this may be the final year we can do it. Therefore, the opportunity is also extended to first years, but you are advised to think carefully before deciding to participate. Matron Hubble, if you would please exin it to everyone." The white haired woman pushed her sses up the bridge of her nose whilst giving a hawk like stare towards all the people in the crowd. "Students, many of you probably are already aware, but the Fae Forest Realm is a special pocket dimension that opens once a year and only allows those at the First Step to enter. Inside are countless monsters that can be tamed and form pet contracts with, given the right opportunity and luck. The level of first years is generally too low to participate as it can also be very dangerous, so you are advised to think very carefully about participating." "As students of the Hendesberg Royal Academy, we are always guaranteed one of the hundred slots in participating in the expedition, and one of the benefits of studying here." The students began to chatter amongst themselves whilst several raised their hands to ask questions. Matron Hubble''s piercing gaze swept over them all and stopped on several before asking them to present their questions. "Matron, what is the danger that is befalling the kingdom? Is it the demon invasion? Do we need to be worried?" "There is no need for you to be worried, our defence forces are constantly working to keep our kingdom safe and secure. The only issue is that this pocket dimension is in the south-east of the kingdom, close to where the dungeon outbreak has urred and in line with the demon''s main invasion. It is safe to attend this year, but we don''t know about the following years." "Matron, I heard that that Monster Lords are acting with the dungeon outbreak Isn''t this too dangerous?" "We are veering off topic too much. The Monster Lords are a threat, but it is unlikely that they will present themselves before such a low level pocket dimension. Danger is a part of life within this world, and the level of danger urring at the pocket dimension is currently low. Those who cower will never achieve greatness, no matter what." Several students, including Princess Zoerina, nodded within the crowd. ~~~~~ Piri was infamous within her new school. Being a dark elf, she constantly held arge umbre to shield herself from the sun''s rays that were harmful to her whilst staying indoors as much as possible. She normally wouldn''t have attended a normal school due to this, but Styx wanted her and the other children to receive the standardized education of the kingdom, which was much moreplete and had centuries of refinement behind it. "You''re just an invader!" The leader of a small group of kids spat on the ground in front of Piri and the three human ve children who followed her around everywhere, Avora, Felix and Thomas. "And you''re just the defeated, how dare you be so rude!" Piri raised a clenched fist whilst ring at the other kids. The teachers saw this from the distance and were hesitant on what to do. They knew they should intervene, but many of their loyalties remained with the Maple Dragon Kingdom, causing them to turn a blind eye to the situation until the dungeon girl had been taught a lesson. Piri shocked everyone though, as even whilst holding an umbre in one hand, her other fist was wrapped in highly refined and dense mana before pummelling the other kids until they were ck and blue. Several had to be sent for medical treatment in the school infirmary for fractured bones too. Avora, the female ve child and one of Piri''s oldest friends, spoke to her. "Piri, did you need to be so harsh on them? You should understand their frustrations" "Hmph, what are you saying, they decided to attack despite being weaker and of a lower status. I am to be one of Styx''s wives, I am already forgiving that they don''t show the proper respect." "But you haven''t be his wife yet" "Shut up and carry my bag!" Piri stuffed her bag into Avora''s hands and strutted off to the next ss with a huff. Her steps were elegant and fast whilst an enormous amount of mana constantly churned through her small body. Over theing weeks, Piri didn''t make any close friends due to her attitude, whilst her position within the school was cemented in violence. During the practical training sses, she was especially heavy handed, knocking down other students and causing bone fractures. Due to Styx''s upation of the city, dungeon monsters were also included in fighting partners, creating a much more realistic and thorough training experience, but the small dark elf was still the most feared person to be paired up with. "Weak! Get up and raise your guard. The enemy isn''t going to let you catch your breath!" Piri stuck her chin up and looked down upon the fallen training partner, who was clutching his ribs whilst his face was scrunched in pain. "Miss Piri, that is enough," The teacher in charge hesitantly chastised her and tried to get her to restrain herself with obvious fear towards the dungeon and Styx. "Hmph, it''s for his own good!" Despite how harsh she was, Piri never actively bullied anybody within the school and never ran out of patience with people. She was bossy,manding other people around and turning violent if they defied her, but she always pushed people to break through their limits and grow to greater heights out of pure desire to help them grow. She was even harsher on herself during training, creating a situation where others found it difficult to chastise her for being too hard. Due to this nature of hers, she was rapidly bing a young queen of the school, especially as Styx''s culture and ways of life pervaded the society of Lagoon Porter city more and more. ~~~~~ All the students sat in their respective sses in the morning whilst their home room teachers exined the recent announcement to them. "Despite the recent change of ownership of the city, the education and experiences of the young students is to carry on as per normal. At least, as much is feasibly possible. This means many excursions, especially those for higher years, are cancelled, but some we will be maintaining." "The Fae Forest Realm expedition is one which the entrance is located not far away. Our school had previously won one of the slots to participate this year, and we intend to participate as originally nned. I believe the headmaster is talking with the Mistress Hilda to allow this." "Ridiculous." The teacher furrowed her brow and looked towards the noisy student within the ssroom. "Miss Piri, do you have something to say?" "That is the pocket dimension where everyone can get a beastpanion? So what? I will take everyone to the dungeon and they can choose a monster to serve as a beastpanion. If it dies, they can have another one too." "Miss Piri, the beasts in this pocket dimension all have high aptitudes at a bare minimum. There are 3,000 schools within this kingdom, and everyone is vying for one of the measly 99 slots auctioned by the royal capital every year. We were lucky enough to get one of the final spots, it would be a waste to lose all that money." "Money doesn''t matter all the much anymore since my future husband has taken over the city. What does it matter, is this pocket dimension all this important?" Piri crossed her arms and red at the teacher defiantly, thetter of which was at a loss of words as there had never been a student this rebellious towards her before. To make it even worse, the student had a background she was afraid to challenge. "It is." "Very well, then I give you permission to go on this excursion. I don''t see the point, but I will go as well." "Miss Piri, you can''t just give permission It needs to be approved by-" "Hmph! I can give permission. I will speak with Styxter about it and ensure there is a guard. Maybe Lady Aura wille herself, let''s see which kingdom rats dare to challenge us then!" Everyone gave the rebellious dark elf an odd re, as they too were technically under the same category not too long ago. Chapter 131: Warriors of Heaven Chapter 131: Warriors of Heaven Styx had everyone retreat from the giant, almost vertical ancient city. He sent in a group of flying monsters to pick everyone up and also carry out the damaged armor pieces that hadsted from times forgotten until now and also contained an incredible magic system within them. He also wanted the corpse of the fallen god, but nothing remained as it turned to ash and blew out over the city rooftops despite there being no wind. It seemed to be carried by another force that couldn''t be seen nor felt. The retreat was firstly to regroup and go over the exploration strategy, as several dungeon residents had perished to the strange husk monsters. Just as important were the three angels with bright golden wings, one of which with two pairs of golden wings just like Loreley, behind their backs that just arrived at the public town outside of the dungeon entrance. They were fully equipped in thick silver te armor with heaven runes engraved along the seams. Styx wasn''t sure exactly what enchantments were applied to the armor, but it looked very imposing. They didn''t appear to be carrying any weapons, but they each had a space ring on their finger which stored all their items. "Your reinforcements are here, quite quickly too," Styxmented to the beautiful fallen angel as they returned through the portal to the main dungeon. "That is natural. Heaven is interested in such a strange and ancient area, so they will dispatch people as soon as possible." Loreley nodded matter-of-factly as she responded with hesitation. Back in the dungeon, herrge crown like ck halo begun revolving above her head again as her connection with Heaven was restored. ~~~~~ "Greetings, Dungeon Lord Styx, my name is Urs," The angel with two pairs of golden wings, and obviously leader of the trio, bowed before Styx in his throne room. "So you three are the reinforcements sent to Loreley to explore this new area?" "Yes, Archangel Nil himself passed down this order, such a truly great honor it was." Styx pinched his chin in thought. Everything about Heaven lines up with his knowledge during his previous lifetime, but he had never heard of an Archangel Nil amongst any of the biblical texts. It rose questions in his mind that he had no means of getting an answer to just yet. He already had people scour the local libraries within Lagoon Porter City, but there was no mention of the world before merged into the infinite world, nor even the early history afterwards. All the history books only went back approximately 500 years, so he would have to take over more and more of the kingdom until he found the answers he was looking for. "How much do you know about this area?" "Only that it is void of mana andpletely dead, everything mysteriously dposed to ash and soot which contaminates the entire environment. It is something we have never seen before, and suspect it could be a far distant." "A distant?" "Yes." "Aren''t we all on the same." Urs shook her head and faced her palm upwards. Her golden halo, which was simr to Loreley''srge ck crown like halo, only a bright white with a yellowing hue, shone brighter and output a stream of mana into her body. A hologram made of countless white stars and smalls rotating around several stars shone through the giant throne room above the artificialke filled with pink and white spider lilies. The projection spun under armors angel''s control, focusing on one of thes. "Yes and no. We can be described as being here, along with maybe one or two other kingdoms. All thes are considered the terran domain, and they are all connected in seamless connections that make everything seem like one. If you cross several kingdoms, all of a sudden you could be half way across the gxy. Go even further and you could leave it entirely." "Eh, really? Couldn''t one just use the terran realm for transportation across the gxy and beyond, then?" "Of course, and there is usage for that, but it would also mean one''s main logistics channels are public, which are easier to track and intercept." Styx nodded in understanding at the logic. By passing through the universe, one would be able to move much more privately and with a seemingly infinite more room. He still had other questions, such as what would happen if a was destroyed, but he held off on that and allowed Urs to continue exining. "In regards to the terran realm however, there are a lot ofs that are not connected to it, or have been cut off from it. The fact that there is no mana in this ce, tells us that it is a that has been separated from the terran realm. That is what our divine researchers have spected at least." "Is that such a big deal?" "Yes. Based on the report, there is the existence of life and divinity on this, even after it got cut off. Worlds usually are only separated from the terran realm when all life on them dies and resources are depleted. It''s rare, but it does happen ever epoch or so. But, there has never been a stray world found that contained life, nor has there been one severed from the realm." "Could it be the original residents had split from this myriad world themselves?" "The amount of power required to sever and iste a world from the terran realm is infinite. It is simply impossible." Styx resting his head on his elbow whilst falling into thought. Based on what the fallen god mentioned in its final words, the world was severed from the terran realm. He spected that perhaps it had be something akin to a cancer in which the only solution was to cut it out. As for the nature behind the incident, he could only investigate the ancient colossal city more. With the reinforcements of these three Fourth Step angels, however, he could ce them on the frontline to act as the trailzers. Heaven would reap benefits from this undoubtedly, but he would be able to protect his people better too. "As interesting as it is, I am only interested in any valuables, magic and technology remaining. I will send another exploration party in a couple days, which I will have you be the main strike force of." One of the two angels who only had a single pair of wings ruffled her feathery wings in outrage at Styx''smand and immediately raised her voice. "Treason! We will be exploring this realm on our own. We don''t need any of your people holding us back. Heaven''s warriors do not do the bidding of others!" "Ridiculous," Styx snorted in derision and looked down upon the angel despite her being a powerful Fourth Step ranker. "This is my area. Heaven is given preferential treatment to share and seek benefits, but you will follow mymands on and work alongside my own people. That is the condition for your entry." "Do you think you can stop us?" At the thinly veiled threat behind the angel''s words, Urs shot her a re out of the corner of her eye before stating, "I apologise for my sister''s words. She can be a rough around the edges, but her heart is faithful. We will naturally work alongside your people as we explore this world." "Good. I will have Therina show you to your residences. Should you require anything, you can speak to any of the women in the dungeon. Make yourselffortable and enjoy all that the dungeon has to offer. We have recently acquired a dungeon city that you can explore as well. Loreley can exin anything information on the lifestyle here." The two-winged fallen angel nodded her head from beside Dragon and agreed, "I must return to Dragon''s dungeon with him to overseer it, things are never peaceful over there, but I canmunicate with my sisters regardless of distance as long as I''m connected with Heaven." Styx was disheartened that he would have one less Fourth Step angel to explore the region, and one less Monster Lord too. Whilst Dragon only acted near the end and wasn''t taking an active role in the exploration, he was a trump card to turn around a sticky situation if need be. Therina stepped forth and led the angel squad away from the Throne room and into the city in the dungeon where they were each given adjacent apartments to call home for their stay. ~~~~~ "You aren''t wearing your armor?" Styx asked the three angels several dayster as they were on the cusp of returning to the ruined world. Urs and the other two white winged angels all stood in form fitting clothes that didn''t restrict their movement. These were all made out of some of the most expensive materials that Styx purchased during the Myriad Flower Devil Festival and offered superior defensive value. Urs wasn''t overly busty, but she had a curvaceous body that Styx eyed more than once. She had long legs and her two pairs of wings hung behind her back freely whilst arge golden halo-crown floated above her head. "Our armor is a natural conductor of mana and constantly releasing it into the surroundings whilst alerting us of any ambushes, hidden enemies and other factors. As we can''t use any skills that use mana, we cannot use the armor either. It would simply feed the enemy husks." Styx had met with the angels several times and exined all that he knew about the ruined world and enemies that were discovered within. The fallen god caused them all to be apprehensive as it was not normal for any godlike figure, no matter how degenerated, to reside within the mortal realm. Behind him, and his personal guard, the giantess spider Monster Lord, Everest protectively stood. Her gaze didn''t leave the back of his head for a moment, except for when someone else got too close to him would she momentarily re at that person and emit a heavy scent of danger. "Are you ready?" The three angels were highly trained and had been through arge number of battle in their long lifetimes. They each nodded their head without a trace of fear and the attitude of veteran soldiers. Behind them, Aura, Vivy, and a handful of Third Step elites from within the dungeon residents all lined up fully equipped. Styx stood in front of Urs and casually raised his wolfish hand and tried to grab the angel''s breast. Her hand moved faster than he could perceive and captured his wrist before he could reach his goal. "You have grabbed my breast several times. Sister Loreley warned me to not let you do this as you are not allowed to perform sacrilege to Heaven. I implore you rethink your actions." Everest leaned closer whilst coldly watching the four-winged angel out of the corner of her eye with a dangerous glint in it. "Heaven wished for me to help them raise the Max Level of you angels, didn''t they? That is half the point of the embassy." "Are you trying to apply leverage?" "No, no, of course not," Styxughed whilst quickly raising his other free hand and grabbing onto Urs''s other breast, the soft meat bun under her clothes squishing under his fingers. "I am just saying that this is how I do it." Despite being distracted enough by Styx that she let his sneaky move slip by, she waspletely unfazed by the wolfish paw grabbing her breast. The other two angels were spitting fire with their eyes and grinding their teeth in anger though, but this was not the first time Styx had disyed his licentiousness behaviour towards Urs or even them. "That is true I am still a soldier of Heaven however, so do not forget that I won''t hesitate to break your hands should you dirty Heaven''s property." "A soldier through and through, such a shame. Do you not feel anything?" Styx found her nipple through her top and alternated between circling it and pinching it between his fingers. He was truly thankful that they had discarded their armor, else it would have been almost impossible to take liberties with them. "I feel some difort." "It must just be a matter of growing ustomed to it." Urs release Styx''s hand upon his resistance, that same hand then snaking around her waist, beneath her wings, and pulling her body into his. "I disagree." He tried to be more intimate with her, but the angel quickly became uncooperative and forced him back by pushing him away. Styx was certain Loreley would be spoiling his enjoyment sooner rather thanter, but still didn''t rush trying to win over the Angel''s affection. "Later, then. The five of you can depart. Take the hell gryphons and fly into the city. They don''t use mana to fly and can take you all there rtively easily." Aura was highly reluctant to depart from Styx, especially when Everest gave her a proud look as if she had won somepetition. Regardless, she still followed Styx''s orders and left alongside the others even though her current motivation was at an all time low. Chapter 132: Antiquated Library Chapter 132: Antiquated Library Urs and the other angel''s wings weren''t capable of performing flight without the use of mana. In fact, their wings were natural conduits for mana and contained their own manaworks that gave them the Flight and other skills depending on the type of angel and heritage, not that Styx had the opportunity to investigate this so far. Because of this, they were currently grounded and couldn''t fly, but Styx''s monsters were different. He had provided five hell gryphons, a red-feathered Second Step monster that hadrge powerful wings and flew on their muscle strength alone. The only issue was with Aura. Despite being virtually entirely under his control, the hell gryphons wouldn''t carry her. Her presence supressed them on a biological scale and their bodies refused to listen to the order Styx was giving them. In order to avoid being surrounded by anything unexpected, Styx had the new expedition team start off where the previous one left off. Uponnding, Styx saw through Aura, Vivy, and several others that the entire front of the giant cathedral, the one which the fallen god had emerged from, had copsed into rubble and scattered along the silent street, further damaging the already ruined urban area. Aura''s nose twitched as dust and ash lingered in the air from the copse of the megastructure. The air was stale with rot and decay and even as powerful as her body was, it was an ufortable feeling that prated to her core. "We should head deeper inside of the city," Urs stated after alighting the hell gryphon, having already observed the surrounding areas on the way over. Styx gave his affirmative to Aura and the others to follow their lead. He too wanted to see what other secrets this city held. The expedition party effortlessly and dexterously jumped between giant pieces of rubble, advancing into the cathedral with giant leaps. Whilst they were incapable of flight without mana, the angel''s used their wings to stabilise themselves in the air and increase their leaping distance with a glide. Whatever husks that remained within the area appeared to have gone into hiding, no longer showing themselves to attack the mana rich intruders. The only sound within the cathedral was the footsteps of the expedition party echoing through hollow and dead corridors, their footprints leaving clear and distinct tracks on the ash and dustden floors. "It looks like these people were once human," Styx stated into Aura and Vivy''s minds, but more so just speaking to himself. Whilst most of the furniture had been destroyed by time, there wererge marble statues which remained whole, albeit covered in a thickyer of ash. They were humans, each in valiant armors and wielding powerful weapons. There was some text engraved in the base of the statues too, but it had eroded to the point Styx wouldn''t be able to read it even if he knew thenguage. ~~~~~ Styx was busying himself with testing the new magic engravings on the armor by inserting mana into them. They lit up briefly upon activation, but only several appeared to be in a functional state. ''Aura Couldn''t you have been a little gentler?'' He mentallyined to himself whilst testing out what magic inscriptions were working. These were arrays for automatic defenses, empowering, and even weapon skills. One particr array Styx found could help him throw a giant fireball. "But how do they work!" He shouted in frustration as each one appearedpletely unique and without rtion to the other. It was as if each ran on its own magic system, but the dungeon lord knew they had to be some form of connection between them. He just couldn''t understand the underlying principles of it yet. Before he could go any further, his attention was taken away by the expedition party in the ashworld, as he started calling it, whom had just entered a giant library, Urs stood at the forefront of the group as she led everyone into an enormous library with a ceiling forty feet high. Bookcases were arranged in a circr ouy that had a dozenyers until it reached the center of the room. At the center was a giant open area where desks and other equipment once stood, but was now just another empty area with nothing but traces left in the ash on the floor. The ceiling waspletely open above this ce, revealing six more floors of simrly full floors. This library was an extensive source of knowledge, more than anyone could have imagined. "This mirrors some of the great libraries of heaven, only below our grand arcanums," Urs maintained a stony expression and observed everything much like a soldier. "Theyout is a bit different, but it should also have a management system." For whatever reason, the books had been protected from the passage time somewhat,rge tomes and scrolls of all sizes crowding the shelves. Urs and the angels pped their wings and blew away the ash on the ground, revealing some faint lines remaining on the ground of a grand array that covered the library. Several of the expedition party member tried to grab some of the books and scrolls under Styx''smand, but they were unable to retrieve them. It was as if the shelves and the books were all one entity. Urs looked at them and simply stated, "It is pointless. All the books are protected, even if there is no mana applied. They are locked in an existential state and cannot be removed or read. You can destroy them along with the bookshelf though, which you will do if you try to force it any more." Styx investigated and found it interesting. After a few more questions, he understood this protection to be simr to encrypting aputer''s files. Even without power, they would stay encrypted, and would require power to start the decrypting process. "Can we use mana to power it?" The four-winged angel respectfully asked Aura and the others, fully aware that Styx could hear her through them. "Investigate the surroundings first and make sure no husks or anything is nearby, I don''t want the use of mana waking anything else up." Hearing his response, Urs didn''t argue and instead went scouting alongside the others. Aura''s nose was useless as the husks smelt the same as everything else around. Even though all of Styx''s girls could see mana too, they didn''t have any mana to be seen in the first ce. The expedition team found several groups of hibernating husks, which woke up as soon as they got near, but were easily dispatched. Urs and the angels disyed divine weapon skills as their pure white des cut them down instantly, whilst Vivy silently beheaded several and Aura effortlessly dismembered them with her ws. "I think that is all of them, any others are too far away to be disturbed. We can now turn on this array and retrieve some of the books if it works." Urs ced her hand on the floor where one of the nodes of the array was located and extended her wings out. The girls, and Styx via their proxy, watched as mana flowed through her wings as it shifted and changed, eventually passing through her body and entering the array directly. The library thumped as if it had a heartbeat. Spreading out from where the angel was crouched, blue lines and inscriptions lit up. Styx recognized this as being the same type of magic system which was the basis of the armor enchantments. This was infinitely moreplex though, even neither Urs or the other angels appearing to understand it. At the center of the room, a glowing hologram made of Urs''s mana was created. It was a giant face of a prim looking, yet beautiful, woman with long flowing hair. The inscriptions protecting the shelves and books within them also lit up. Not only did it serve as their protection, it also served as the means of searching for and automatic retrieval of the books and scrolls. The mouth on the giant face moved, but the entire hologram flickered and distorted, a clear sign of deeply rooted damage to the array. "Bring me all books rted to the history of this kingdom," Urs triedmunicating with the hologram. Before anything could happen, a powerful suction emerged from deep within the earth and sucked all the mana out of the array from a backdoor without leaving a single drop behind. The entire holographic construct copsed and vanished as the array died. As it was in the process of lowering the protection over the books, it caused arge number of them to copse with it. Some books exploded out of the shelves in bursts of paper, but most simply became free for the angels and dungeon residents to stat pulling off several books. Vivy looked around in interest before stating, "Styx said not to activate it again. Whatever it was that absorbed all the mana, it doesn''t appear to be heading this way or alerted of our presence. It is best not to do anything that will attract its attention. The angels solemnly nodded as they too were surprised by how fast the mana was absorbed. It wasn''t a small amount of mana that was injected into the formation, but it was all sucked out in the blink of an eye. Instead, they all travelled around the library to see what books they could recover. ~~~~~ "Can you understand it?" Aura ryed Styx''s question to Urs whilst looking through some of the books. "...No, I haven''t seen anguage quite like this before. It feels ancient and tribal, but is clearly used in an extraordinary way." Styx maintained his silence as he was in an advantageous position, He also couldn''t read it, but he noticed simrities in thenguage. It was very reminiscent to the antiquated Mayan script. It was almost like thisnguage was based off of it. Chapter 133: The Wife is Always the Boss Chapter 133: The Wife is Always the Boss Duchess Euklid flew into Whitecliff City, her own dungeon city, atop of a flock of Styx''s flying monsters. Serving as her vanguard was a group of elves and tiger beastmen fully equipped in sturdy armor and holding weapons of the finest craftsmanship. Whitecliff City was once abuzz with activity, a beacon of life amongst the craggy white cliffs and birch trees of the southern regions. Due to the simultaneous yearly event and unexpected beast wave though, the walls were in disrepair and it was severely under-protected. Even the cannons which mounted the walls had been destroyed or otherwise disabled, allowing them to fly in without any danger. Several guards readied their weapons at the monsters, but Duchess Euklid told the monsters, or Styx via them, Not only had the safety of the dungeon city fallen, crime had increased with the absence of guards that once patrolled the streets. Now, people stayed behind locked doors and even the adventurermunity had slowed down with more powerful adventurers praying on the weaker ones once outside of the city. In the vast grounds of the duke''s mansion it was still guarded by a full toon of elite city guards. They patrolled around the white stone brick walls of the enormous buildings and around the perimeter of the grounds, ensuring nobody intruded on the privatend amidst this dangerous time. As Duchess Euklid descended, all the guards were on high alert with their weapons ready. From below, all they could see were monsters approaching so they had instantly assumed it to be an attack. Duke Euklid also stood with the guards with a two-handed sword and a steely expression. His brownish hair was long for a man, cut at the shoulders and maintained to be glossy and sleek. His jaw was sharp and vivid blue eyes held a piercing re within them. "Hold!" The duke rose his hand and stopped the mages and archers from attacking as he saw his wife atop the leading monster. "Husband, I have returned." The duke silently watched as his wife alighted the gryphon and the exotic race guards behind her. "You vanished over a week ago in the middle of the night. The city was put on high alert and a city wide search was conducted." "I apologize for that." "You don''t sound very apologetic, dear wife. Where were you? Not to mention, you appear to havee back with quite the entourage." Edna Euklid nced towards the mansion behind the duke and the tense guards. She saw her other three sons and daughter all peeking out of the windows both nervous and confused. "Unfortunately it is quite the long tale, shall we step inside to discuss it in private?" "Your escorts will remain outside." At the dukes words, the leader of the duchess'' escord, the Third Step female tiger beastman who had evolved to be closer to a beastkin, stepped forth with hostile intention. Her mana revolved through her body like a tsunami, ready to be unleashed through her wed gauntlets and into the humans. "Very well," Duchess Euklid stated and signalled her escorts to cooperate. The duke and duchess then entered the manor and locked themselves behind closed doors whilst everyone was still on their toes. ~~~~~ "What are you saying?" Duke Euklid had a grave and overcast expression as he red at his wife. "That you need to surrender this city." "...Are you listening to yourself right now?!" "I am, but neither you nor I can contend with Fifth Step Monster Lords. We will fall either to the dungeon and Styx, or the Monster Lord in the wastnds once it learns of Goddess Eve''s absence. This way, we will instead receive the protection of Monster Lords and be able to stay within safety." "Edna, I allowed our daughter to be married off to form ties and increase our defenses, but that was within our own people. This is far too much! I will never agree to it!" "You don''t have a choice, Harrison." "What, are you going to kill me if I refuse?" "...If I must." "Edna! You would betray me and our kids over this. Where is Reba? I heard Lagoon Porter City was captured by the rogue illegal dungeon lord, is she still there?" "Reba was the one who arranged for all this." "Impossible!" "" "...You have betrayed me" "Harrison" "Guards!" The duke called out and a group of guards fully armed stormed into the meeting room. "Arrest Duchess Euklid and lock her away in the dungeon. Take her spatial ring too, to ensure she has no weapons and can''t escape." The guards shifted ufortably on their feet and looked at the duchess, hesitant to act. The duchess snorted through her nose and spoke without her gaze leaving her husband. "Arrest Duke Euklid immediately. Hand cuff him and remove his possessions." "What do you think you are trying to do, Edna Hey, why the fuck are you listening to her?!" The duke''s jaw dropped as the guards heeded his wife over his, the dungeon lord''s, words. "Husband, I have taken over the guards and most publicpanies since long ago I am sorry it had toe to this, but I must think of our kids and people." "You would betray our kingdom! Do you not know loyalty?! Fuck, get off of me you bastards, I am still the dungeon lord!" Duke Euklid was a powerful Third Step ranker in his own might, even more powerful than the systemically trained guards. They hadn''t given him so much as time to draw his weapon though, immediately subduing him. The guards mmed the duke face first into the ground, causing the wooden floor to break and send splinters flying. The duke was unharmed overall, but it dazed him long enough for the guards to ce a set of eternium handcuffs on his wrists that not even a Third Step ranker could break. Duchess Euklid nced at him before turning to the guards, "Take him outside the city so I can take over the dungeon core." "Yes, Duchess!" Right before he was forcefully taken away, Duchess Euklid closed her eyes and looked away before stating. "Please don''t resist and cooperate, husband. I also do not want to betray the kingdom, but this is our only path to survival. Our kids and our people all rely on our decision making to live. ~~~~~ It had been another week since the end of the war against the Maple Dragon Kingdom''s army so Styx once again levelled up. [ 41,100 exp used to level up. Lv. 24 -> Lv. 25 umted skill experience bonus: Mana Control -> Dungeon Facility Construction Trap Construction Mining ] [ Species: Dungeon Core (Dungeon Master: None) Name: Styx Mana: 3,155/3,300 Exp: 2,271,698(+) Level: 25 Abilities: Dungeon Creation Mana Control Mana Infusion Mana Vein Creation Remote Control Mana Logic Construct Dungeon Control Dungeon Facility Construction Biomass Converter 100 mana Breeder 50 mana, 20 biomass Storage Crate 10+ mana, 10 physical material st Furnace 100 mana, 20 stone Storage Tank 20+ mana, 20 physical material Rotary Mana Engine 40 mana, 10 stone, 1 iron Material Refiner 150 mana, 10 stone, 2 iron, 1 emerald, 1 ruby, 1 amethyst Alchemy Table 200 mana, 5 stone, 10 iron, 1 ruby, 10 quartz Mana Constructor 400 mana, 30 steel, 1 manasteel, 120x gears, 450x screws Stable Storage Crate 100+ mana, 20 physical material Stable Storage Tank 100+ mana, 35 physical material Magmaforge (BP) 250 mana, 40 magmasteel, 5va, 0.2 brimstone powder, 5x brimstone flowers Soulforge (BP) 1,125 mana, 80 stone + 5 tortured soul powder (*Soulium upgradable), assorted items High Pressure Water Cutter (BP) 730 mana, 50 stone, 5 steel, 0.2 manasteel T1 Conveyor Belt: 1m (BP) 40 mana, 2 stone, 1 steel, 8x gears, 12x screws T2 Conveyor Belt: 1m (BP) 90 mana, 3 stone, 1 manasteel, 24x gears, 48x screws T1 Item Picker (BP) 70 mana, 2 steel, 0.1 manasteel, 30x gears, 50x screws Obsidum Mana-Saw (BP) 550 mana, 3 steel, 1x obsidum de, 1x engine, 20x gears, 30x screws High Speed Turbine Engine (BP) 680 mana, 0.5x manasteel, 1x steel, 5x gears, 10x screws Basic Dungeon Construction Scan 10 mana/m3 Blueprint Creation 342 blueprints Blueprint Manufacturing 342 blueprints Mental Projection 1 mana/min Visible Projection 5 mana/min Autobuild 4 mana/s Trap Construction Bait 5 mana, 5 biomass Spike Trap 20 mana, 10 stone Pitfall Trap 10 mana, none Arrow Trap 20 mana, 10 stone (5 on reload) Weak Poison Gas 50 mana, 1 stone, 1 biomass (expendable) Chaotic Space Trap 200+ mana Crushing Wall Trap 30 mana, 20 stone, 2 iron Internal Resource Storage (457,480/1,024,000) Mining Basic Material Identification Mineral Detection Auto-mine Overdrive Earth Fracture Advanced Material Identification Avatar Creation Skill Replication ] Styx never let up on training his skills and avatar. Each level up did not bring arge jump in power, but one of the greatest benefits was the increase in his ability to process information. He had learned two new subskills recently with both not only the level of his skills increasing, but his own feats and aplishments. The first was Advanced Material Identification, a subskill of Mining which allowed him to view much more detailed information of materialspared to before when he had to research everything all on his own. Whilst he still had to do his own research for the crucial technical information, this revealed to him arge amount of the properties of the item. This didn''t just extend on raw materials dug out from the ground either, it even extended to raw materials from monsters such as bones, horns, scales and more. The second suibskill and what Styx viewed as his greatest strength came from his research into the enchantments on the damaged armors of the giant husk knights. "Come, fire your arrows at me," Styxmanded a line of nervous Second Step elves who all had arrows knocked on bows. "Milord Are you sure about this? None of us wish to harm the one who gave us our strength. We cannot turn our hand on you" "Nonsense, it is just one volley! I am stronger than I look! Now, fire!" The elves still followed Styx''s words in the end and fired a volley of arrows at Styx. The dungeon avatar didn''t so much as flinch as powerful arrowsnded upon him like ballista bolts. Before the arrows could tear through his body and mutte it though, small hexagonal pink shields appeared in the air and blocked the arrows. Styx''s mana went down by a small chunk due to the defense, but he was so joyous he didn''t care about the little things. "Hahahah! It works!" With the books he had piged from the library in the fallen ancient kingdom, he had managed to decipher the enchantments on the armors and directly apply them to his body. ''To think, their enchantments and magic system itself are the replication of skills and manawork channels!'' Styx silently thought in his head whilstughing uproariously What these ancient people used was a mana logic system modelled after manaworks and the automatic skills they gave to people. It was incrediblyplex and took him an entire week to decipher just one basic spell. Using Mana Vein Construction and Mana Logic Construct, he replicated this manawork pattern within his own body, imbuing himself with this automatic defense subskill. The elves in the training room trembled and allow bowed before Styx as Everest showed herself from the ceiling of the room, deep crimson eyes ring at the frightened exotic race women and men while she exerted her power to press them down. "Enough, Everest. Do not bully my people." The pressure seemed to fade away and Styx watched the angels through Aura''s eyes. The heavenly warriors all scratched their heads in befuddlement whilst looking at the ancient text in the books. They couldn''t understand the first thing about thenguage despite their extensive knowledge banks. They were also currently cut off from Heaven so had no way of requesting a higher authority or system analyse and trante it for them. Styx was actually surprised that they were so clueless on thenguage. Heaven was a huge part of human society and had supposedly existed since the beginning of time. There was no reason why they were this lost, but he figured it may tie into why the archangels and major figures he heard of being in Heaven, did not exist in the Heaven he knew when he was still human, albeit nigh immortal. Chapter 134: Mana Absorption Source Chapter 134: Mana Absorption Source Styx was following the events that were happening on multiple fronts through his residents. In Whitecliff City, he watched as Duchess Euklid had her own husband imprisoned, the legitimate dungeon lord, imprisoned until he surrendered control over the dungeon. Even as resolute as she was, she refused to kill her husband just to forcefully take over control of the dungeon core. Either way, Styx would be able to forcefully take over it via a dungeon war once his own region extended to this distant city. Duke Euklid was unwilling to take this lying down though and forcefully halted all monster summoning circles in the cities underground dungeon training area. Even if he wasn''t present before the dungeon core, he was still within the dungeon''s territory and could freely operate the main functions at will. Duchess Euklid had been tempted to have him moved out of the city before he could do something like this, but there were no outside facilities which were of an adequate security. Allowing him to escape was potentially a far worse consequence than the city''s dungeon shutting down. "Mother! Are the demons invading?!" Reba burst into the duke''s study, where her mother was looking over the territory reports with a frown. Several of Styx''s residents stood guard inside of the room, including the evolved Third Step female tiger beastman. They all maintainedplete silence whilst the females extended their mana senses in arge radius, ready to respond to any threat before it even arrived. "Ba you heard?" "Yes! Styx was shocked too. The demons haveunched a massive offensive into the kingdom and are destroying everything as they go. This is mainly from the south-eastern border, and is in direct line to strike at Lagoon Porter City." "There are many more cities before they get there but it appears they haveunched an invasion in force that our country never suspected was possible from them." "But why now?" Reba was physically and mentally exhausted after a long day of socialising with local daughters and sons of the noble families in Whitecliff City, catching up on thetest news and making a return of her social presence among the nobles. She pulled on the ribbon tie around the neck of her frilly blouse and undid the top button, exposing her slightly sweaty,rge cleavage before sighing in relief andying sideways across a chair in an overtly udylike posture. "Ba, as a noble, you must maintain your appearance at all times. Sit up straight and cover yourself properly, gossip would spread like wildfire amongst the noblewomen should your current appearance be seen." "Then it''s a good thing I am no longer a noble, but a dungeon wife. I think they would have for more juicy gossip than a loose blouse should they hear of that." Duchess Euklid nced at her daughter and audibly sighed before addressing the earlier question. "As for this demon invasion. It appears the rest of the kingdom, at least the nobles I know, are unaware of this news, but it is likely due to the injury of Goddess Eve. I still don''t understand how that urred in which mortals can injure a god, but it has created a fatal weakness in our country until she can recover. They don''t even need to act; the mere presence of a god is enough to stave off most invasions. Once that presence is gone though" "How could they have known though?" "The Neth''rite Demon Kingdom have their own god, a Demon God who is only slightly weaker than Goddess Eve. He must have detected it andmanded his mortal kingdom to act." "Styx is very upset" "...I imagine he is... I had thought the kingdom put up too little response to a city being captured, but it turns out they n on using Styx as a shield." "Styx says he has Monster Lords, the demons would be wise to avoid him altogether, let alone start a fight." Duchess Euklid scribbled her signiture on several documents before cing the pen down and calling for some refreshments to be delivered to the room. One of the tiger beastrman guards quickly left the room and returned not long after with a trolley containing several small cakes and other pastries alongside two cups of tea. "Goddess Eve was injured so he can act wilfully in this kingdom for the time being, but the demon god is very much inplete health. I''m not privy to what urred with Goddess Eve, but viting the Treaty of Gods and giving the Demon God an excuse to act is very risky business." ~~~~~ Deep inside the ruined world of dust and ash, Urs and the other two angels scrunched their brows and tried to make sense of the text in the books they deciphered. "Wolf monster!" Urs stared at Aura in frustration,cking any intimidated from the Monster Lord. "Trante this page for me, this is such a primitivenguage it doesn''t even have a proper structure!" Urs was correct in that it was a textualnguage closer to sharing concepts and thoughts, in which they could change and alter depending on the surrounding characters, but there were some rules to it. Styx, being familiar with ancient babylonian and several other deadnguages, due to being alive during that era, also had some difficulties due to the differences. He could still trante it at a high level given time though, a fact that Urs and the other angels were fully aware of. "Styx will trante it if you give him a show What is a show?" Urs''s soldier like calmness had slowly been crumbling inside the ruined world as Styx would make more and more unreasonable requests whenever she asked for trantions. Taking a deep breath to calm her emotions, Urs closed her eyes and uttered, "Nevermind, I will use Heaven''s information processing powers to analyze them once we leave here." Styx clicked his tongue at this, a sound only audible to Aura in her mind. The expedition force had long left the library and were investigating in the direction that the mana was absorbed. They slowly travelled deeper into the city, clearing out any husks that attacked them as they moved. Aura was the most powerful not just due to being the only Fifth Step existence among the force, but her ws and godlike instincts allowed her to create enormous amounts of destruction without the assistance of any mana. *ng* *nk* *ng* *crash* Several behemoth like knights that stood fifty feet tall and were covered in thick te mail pushed the corners of severalrge buildings as they came from around several corners. The current location was a maze of giant houses with streets twisting, turning and crossing one another in an arrangement that made no sense. There were houses stacked on top of houses, brokendders sprawled across the street and a persistent nose irritating ash that lingered in the air As they moved deeper into the city, the husks they encountered varied more and more, and oftentimes were increasingly powerful too. These gigantic knights were monstrosities under their armor that were living on only the faintest spark of life, the same as the normal husks, but they were hundreds of times more powerful. "Die!" Urs pped her wings and darted off buildings, destroying ancient stone pirs between what were once windows. She held two pure white swords in her hands that left faint afterimages in the air, a trait caused by the heavenly metal rather than any mana application. She released all her pent up stress on these giant heavily armored husk knights, her divine sword art slicing it apart with the utmost precision. Without mana to fuel them or their armor, these giants had the strength of Third Step rankers and the expedition team had improved on their ability to avoid using mana under almost all circumstances. Six giants appeared altogether. Urs targeted one whilst the other two angels suppressed another. As powerful as they were as Fourth Step angels, they couldn''t use any mana so their strength was restrained from their true capability. Vivy and several other dungeon residents attacked a third giant te armored knight, its enormous size proving a challenge to severely wound without the aid of mana. Vivy struck its tendons behind the knee through the gaps as it walked, causing the monstrosity to fall down. The tiger beastman and elves then moved about to avoid the thrashing of the monstrosity as they targeted its joints and neck, creating a river of blood before it finally died. Aura took on the remaining three enemies. She appeared before the first and hit it in the chest with her hand in the form of a w grip. It''s chest armorpletely caved in and blood was projected everywhere as the giant was sent cascading into a distant building. "ROARRRR!" The remaining two roared at Aura, her hair fluttering behind her as she shed from one position to another. The giants swung maces and overswords, but their size made them slow enough even the Third Step elves could easily dodge them so long as they saw the attacking with enough time. Aura didn''t bother to dodge these weapons, she fought back at them with her bare hands and feet. A colossal mace came crashing down above her when she dexterously flipped in the air and kicked it as hard as she could. The mace cracked slightly from the blow but didn''t shatter, a testament to how powerful the base metal alloy was. It was sent flying from the giants grip though and into the head of the third giant knight with a force that it continued on through several buildings as a giant headless corpse fell to the ground. Without a weapon, the giant tried to crush Aura beneath its gauntlet, but the wolf Monster Lord shed forward and kicked its legs out from under it. As it fell to the ground, she appeared again above its head and stomped down in a brutal force that crushed its helmet inwards and destroyed its head inside. "" Urs saw this gory scene and was a bit trepidatious. The most fearful fact wasn''t that a Fifth Step Monster Lord had this level of physical strength, but that she had this much strength whilst only being in the early levels of the Fifth Step. This was the strength typical of someone or higher, whilst Aura was currently only . Aura didn''t get any blood on her clothes from this brutal scene either, a feat of dexterity long practised since she used to only have one item of clothing. ~~~~~ Aura, Vivy, Urs and the others arrived at the core region of the maze like clutter of residential homes, ash filled garden beds, and giant zas, where a shocking sight presented itself to them. "The mana got absorbed into there?" The expedition team stood before a gigantic abyss like sinkhole in the ground that was at least a dozen miles in diameter. Clock towers, high risers and countless buildings were already half fallen in to this bottomless hole. The girls with mana sight could see faint will-o-wisps like tendrils of mana flowing into the ground and circling deep within its depths. "It smells like old, dead meat" Aura scrunched her nose and looked into the hole with distaste. As dreary as it was, it seemed to hold a certain sense of sanctity, preventing onlookers from being hostile towards it. Urs and the other angels looked at their wings, considering using them to glide down, but a message from Styx was spoken by Vivy. "If there is something down there absorbing mana, you will never be able to fly out." "...I know." Urs spoke methodically, but there was an obvious pause of hesitation at the start. "Let''s go back," Vivy inly stated in a sense of helplessness. "There is nothing we can do to safely get down there and back out. Let''s return with the books and other items that we have secured." "Greed only leads to misery," Urs stated with an approving nod, indicating she was of the same mindset to retreat for the time being. Styx tried to send the hell gryphons, but before they even got close to the girls current position, they were shot down by a barrage of bone giant ying arrows. Styx couldn''t even tell where they were shot from, but he cringed that some powerful enemy is going to feast on the mana in the hell gryphons corpses. With the option of being picked up out of the question, the expedition force could only retreat by foot until they reached the safer outskirts of this seemingly endless city. Once out, Styx would be able to n a method of safely descending into and returning from the abyssal hole in the city. Chapter 135: Possessive Chapter 135: Possessive The expedition team returned after fully clearing a safe path between the portal and the abyss deep within what was once a residential district. Styx''s monsters were able to fly directly to there so long as they stayed low and close to the rooftops. Once they returned, everyone except Aura and the Fourth Step angels were drained and needed to rest. Aura had greatly missed Styx and amorously rubbed up against him while humming. "Don''t disturb us," Styxmanded Everest, who was ring menacingly from the shadows. Aura didn''t even pay attention to the spider Monster Lord as she tightly pressed her body up against Styx, squeezing herrge and plump breasts against him to express her desire. "Hungry" ~~~~~ Aura and Styx were the only ones in the throne room at the moment, Styx kissing her whilst crossing his tongue into her scorching hot mouth. She wed at Styx''s clothes in a clearly depleting sense of self control, thetters clothes quickly being torn to shreds and exposing his bare body in parts. All the other dungeon wives were currently busy, even Therina was off exploring and deepening her understanding of the dream realm. "If you are that keen, who am I to deny you?" Styx whispered into herrge wolf ears, prompting her to turn around and lean over the side of her own throne. Aura panted in anticipation as Styx pulled down her skirt and stockings, exposing her pale yet stunning rear before him. Just below it, he had a clear view of her tight pink slit that was already covered in a slick coating of vaginal juice. Styx caressed the pink flower, running his finger up and down the slit whilst also asionally sliding inside of her exploratively and getting covered in her thick and sticky fluids. He could feel her raging emotions through their bond at the moment and knew that she wouldn''t be able to restrain herself for much longer, so he pulled out his rock hard rod and positioned the head against her opening. Styx was filled with ecstasy and bliss as he leaned inwards, spreading open her vaginal entrance as his shaft buried itself in her vagina. He almost came instantly as she mped down around it. Styx ran his hands up the back of her shirt against her bare skin as he depressed his hips against her ass and forced himself just that little bit deeper inside of her. "I can''t move if you don''t rx your grip," Styx chuckled lightly and waited for Aura to stop mping him so tightly before he started moving. His shaft rubbed between the inner folds of her vaginal canal as he drew his hips back before mming his rod all the way inside of her again. He couldn''tst long though at this rate and gave a final thrust, her vaginal entrance forced wide open as it tightly encapsted the base of his phallus. Styx''s dungeon seed burst out of his penis and flooded her womb, prompting the wolf girl to quiver as her body was assaulted by an amalgamation greed and pleasure. The pleasure was both sensual and fulfilling as she instinctively ''ate'' it, whilst the greed was an insatiable desire for more. "Aura, you climb on top now~" Styx slid himself out of her, not a single drop of his seed escaping her lower lips, and sat down on her throne. She immediately mounted herself on hisp and showered him with kisses and a licking tongue. Her tail wrapped around the two of them and bound them together as she sat herself down atop his still engorged phallus. Styx felt her vaginal canal expanding and once more conforming to his shape as she slid down his shaft using nothing but the weight of her body. His penis was very quicklypletely swallowed up in her deepest recesses as her pink lips passionately kissed the base of his rod. Aura was very quick to learn the things that pleasured Styx and would cause him to ejacte faster. Styx pulled the wolf girl''s top off and buried his face in her buoyantrge chest, nibbling on her nipples whilst she continued moaning in heat. His fingers ws at her back whilst his mana tendrils prated all the way through her body. His everything was inside of her at this current moment, and yet she still wanted more and didn''t want to ever release him. Her absolute and undying trust was within him, whom made her entire life worth living. To Aura, Styx was like the air she needed to breathe but never realising it until she met him. No longer was she wallowing in stagnation, but instead constantly trying to improve herself. Styx ejacted again into her womb and she poured out her heart to him. "Love. I love you. I love you. I love you" "I love you. I love you." She was basically chanting the words in fanaticism by the end of it, madness taking hold inside her eyes. Styx looked back into her eyes and spoke not into her ears, but also the minds of all his dungeon wives. "I love you too." ~~~~~ "Stop. I can''t keep going" Styx uttered the words he never thought he would. His phallus was red raw and could no longer sustain itself. He had believed he could fill Aura''s endlessly devouring womb and get her pregnant, but he had been far too naive. It was never enough as her desire was simply insatiable. All the other dungeon wives that were near the dungeon had gathered by now. They all circled around him in the throne room. The only sound was the asional drop of water and Styx and Aura''s pants echoing across the seemingly endlesske covered in pink and white spider lilies. The dungeon wives hugged the naked Styx and Aura without care, joy blooming in their hearts. Beatrice''s emotions flowed the strongest over their connection, making her stand out from the rest. "Enough, all of you, make some room," Styxmanded after a brief respite. All the girl''s hearts were still beating with excitement, Styx''s confession having such a profound impact on them. Irie and Beatrice were rubbing their swollen stomachs, Irie far further into her pregnancy than the phenelf. Styx had felt an inexplicable bond form with Aura during their mating session. He had practically be one with her, his mana tendrils burying themselves into the deepest recesses of her soul whilst she herself surrendered total control to him, something that could never be aplished consciously. This formed the strange bond between the two of them, which is what Styx wanted to test out. The two naked parties stood facing one another, Aura looking at him in curiosity whilst her tail wrapped around him. Styx tugged at that strange bond and ''pulled'' himself into Aura. All the girls gasped as Styx''s avatar turned into light motes that entered the wolf Monster Lord''s body. Styx wasn''t simply within Aura now, but was in total control of her body. It was a strange form of possession where he wasn''t dominating her in any way, yet he hadplete control. His dungeon senses were merged with Aura''s, and vice versa. Aura, still within the body, could sense everything he could as a dungeon, whilst his senses now extended far beyond the dungeon, even covering a giant swath of the Abyssal Forest. He could even extend those senses further, but they became more and more vague the further they were extended. Even nearby things were missed at that point. Styx had no understanding of Aura''s skills and battle experience, but she was the one who could use those skills whilst he was simply piloting. Launching a world devouring attack was as simple for him as pressing ''up up down down A B'' on an old arcade game. "D-darling, This is?" Therina and several of the other girls looked at the naked wolf girl, who Styx had just entered. "Possession," Styxmented from Aura''s mouth, flexing all the muscled in her body and feeling her true power. "Or at least, some form of it. Aura is still here hugging me and refusing to let go after all. If I had to describe it, it''s warmth, like holding one another beneath the bed sheets and simply sleeping." He nced down and couldn''t help but also test the bodies senses, kneading her breasts and caressing her vagina, even slipping a finger in and out. It was only his wives here, so he was not ashamed to test such things before others. He extended his tail and grabbed Therina, the lithic naiad yelping in surprise and he pulled her into his embrace. Being suddenly hugged by ''Aura'' was definitely an odd feeling, but all the wives were close to one another to varying degrees whilst Therina could still feel Styx from within Aura. Styx held a newfound confidence whilst inside of Styx''s body as his senses extended deep into the Abyssal Forest. "Come to the entrance," He told the girls before abruptly vanishing. Styx stood at the not just the entrance of the dungeon, but the very periphery of his dungeon zone. He had made a pit stop at their private residence and grabbed some of Aura''s clean clothes first though, so as to avoid him exposing his wife as some kind of public exhibitionist. Previously, his avatar could not leave as it was technically a part of the dungeon. It leaving was like taking a kidney out of the body; incredibly painful and the kidney can no longer sustain itself. Now, however, Styx had a body that could sustain his avatar. Therina, Beatrice, Irie, Elena, ir, and Fiore appeared, whilst an Styx''s senses detected an extremely possessive and borderline enraged Everest hid in a fold in space. "Husband! Have you thought this through?" Beatrice eximed abruptly, her concern and worry flooding into Styx''s mind. "Of course. In the worst case, my avatar inside of Aura is expelled and dies, or just dies, and I can create another one in a week." With no more hesitation, Styx stepped over the border and outside of his territory and nothing happened. "HahahahHAHAHA!" Styx maniacallyughed in Aura''s voice, feeling exhrated as if he had finally been freed from a long imprisonment, even if it was extremely conditional. His senses extended deep into the forest, identifying various Monster Lord''s territories before eventuallynding on Dragon''s territory in the heart of the forest. ''Let''s go for a visit, shall we?'' Chapter 136: Alchemist Dragon Chapter 136: Alchemist Dragon Whilst upying Aura''s body, Styx exerted his strength on the ground and gravity seemed to simply vanish. He seemed to fly over the treetops before dropping back down and dashing through the forest so fast the naked eye could no longer track his form. With Aura controlling all the skills ording to his control, he activated Phantasmagoria andpletely vanished from the world. He dashed through a city on a broken moon, howling ghosts haunting the world, before stepping upon an open prairie. Each scene shed before his eyes like clips in an old film reel and they seemed to hold no connection, but he understood. He leapt out of the phantasm realm and returned to reality, now deep in the heart of the Abyssal Forest. Styx''s senses spread out and immediately located Dragon''s presence. He had also detected him, or at least he had detected Aura, but held no hostility towards him and produced an inviting signal with his aura. He followed that Aura to a gigantic cave, the sounds of modern industrialisation faintly echoing from its depths. Just as he entered, Dragon appeared with the four-winged fallen angel Loreley in tow. "If it isn''t our neighbourly wolfing to visit. Are you here on Styx''smands? Do you need some more nationless viges?" "No, that''s not it." "Hmm, so what is it?" "It''s about the angels," ''Aura'' said as ''she'' looked at Loreley, indicating for her to approach. Loreley didn''t fully understand but she still followed the gesture and approached the wolf Monster Lord. She was a Fifth Step existence after all, and whilst the fallen angel proabably could have bested her originally, that was no longer the case once Styx helped her level up and unleash a century of built up potential. Just as Loreley go close, Styx controlled Aura''s body to shoot her hand forward with the utmost precision. That hand was too fast for the fallen angel to defend against and firmlytched onto her breast before squeezing. Loreley blushed slightly, but her expression twisted in anger far more prominently. "You!" "Apologies, it must put you off bnce to only have one side grabbed." Without any sense of shame or remorse, Styx had his other hand shoot grab the remaining breast before Loreley could try escape. "Styx?" Dragon''s brow raised in surprise as he quickly paired the speech pattern not to Aura, but to Styx instead. "You are surprisingly sharp." "Enough!" Loreley burst out in anger and tried to shake Aura''s iron like grip free. "It''s pointless, I have caught you now~" Styx teased her, whom had previously always prevented his advances, was finally caught off guard and fell into his hands. He wasn''t about to let her go that easily. As she struggled, Styx spun her around in his arms and embraced her from behind, trapping her arms to her side whilst still fondling her through her clothes. "I will not forget this" Loreley said in an ominous tone. "Neither will I~" Styx teasingly quipped back in Aura''s voice. "Release me." "Don''t be in a rush, I have finally captured you, I am going to savour it for a while." Styx leaned Aura''s head forward and exhaled in her ear, but didn''t make any further sexual advances. He had no reserves in doing anything to convince a woman to be his, but he would never physically force her. "Come," Dragon sneered arrogantly, his actual emotions being friendly and weing counter his expression and tone, "I had always wanted to show you my dungeon. I also want one of those mana shafts you built but I will provide some good stuff, okay?" Styx thought about it and grinned inwardly, "Oh, no need to worry,e help me for a couple of days and I will help build you one." Styx eventually released the disgruntled fallen angel who would asionally send him angry res. He followed Dragon deeper into his dungeon and was astonished by how much progress he had made. The caverns were enormous, flora and fauna flourishing deep within. He couldn''t alter many types of nts like Styx, but had apparently stolen a few without Styx realising. Dragon has also apparently forgotten and avoided eye contact when they were spotted. Instead, he drilled giant holes out into the world above, causing sunlight to enter enormous caverns and provide enough sunlight for many nts to thrive in this strange ecosystem. Third Step and even some Fourth Step monsters lurked in the shadows, watching the group progress. They were well behaved with Dragon and Loreley present, but the ferocity given off by their bodies showed that they were allbat veterans and likely fought each other often. Deeper inside the dungeon, the lower levels were sculpted with much more care. Strange arrays to manipte the environment also functioned all over the ce, created artificial golden clouds that could even be walked on. A certain fallen angel''s smug expression showed that this was all her design. Styx detected breeders off in another area, using local monsters to produce dungeon minions for all purposes. Dragon had set up several production lines with devices he had traded from Styx, even producing some of his own machines under his own ideas and Loreley''s engineering. He seemed to enjoy metals and was constantly working on producing new variants. "What''s the purpose?" Styx asked whilst looking at the strange production lines. "Every metal has countless variations and uses. Iron is but amon ore, yet it can create steel and empower mortal humans far beyond what they were originally capable of. It can protect them too." "Of course, but what about it." *Ahem* Loreley cleared her throat before exining for Dragon. "Dragon is deeply interested in alchemy. He wants to create stronger and stronger product. His goal is to create an armor that would allow a Fifth Tier existence to be able to block attacks from a god." Dragon handed Styx a small te of metal the size of two palms with a smug grin that could only be seen as arrogance. "Break it." Styx held the te between his hands exerted Aura''s strength onto it. He abruptly raised his brow when he felt how powerful the te was. He had seen how easily Aura broke his own metals. Even eternium that was used to restrain criminals all over the kingdom was torn to shreds in her hands. He bit it with her teeth and manage to deform it, but it still didn''t break. He eventually activated Phantasmal Fangs and was finally able to break it. He then activated Sin of Gluttony, turning the two broken pieces into shadows beforepletely devouring them and turning them into a huge amount of energy that filled Aura''s body with power. It was a strange skill that cost no mana to use, yet would devour anything and supplement her vitality, stamina and mana. "I look forward to all the metals you have and will create in the future." "Oh? Do you want some?" Dragon snorted and spoke like a gangster this time. Styx was used to these odd attitudes and merely epted them. "What is this metal called?" "It has no name currently." He then had a tour of the rest of the dungeon and arranged for Dragon to visit several dayster before returning to his own dungeon. Back in his territory, he could now safely detach from Aura. Motes of light drifted out of the wolf girl''s body before coalescing and bing Styx''s avatar. Her body fully under her own control again, Aura looked at her hands and tugged her tail whilst smiling sheepishly when nobody could see her expression. "Do it again," She said like an addict, wishing to be one with her mate again. "Next time. There are other things to do first." ~~~~~ "No." "...Refuse." Aura and Everest immediately rejected Styx, thetter ring at them for rejecting hismands. "You cannot refuse. The sooner your task isplete, the sooner you can return. Whitecliff City is currently in a very precarious situation whilst the demon army advance is getting closer every day. I need you to go to Whitecliff City and either subjugate or kill the nearby Monster Lord. You are both going for your own safety." The two Monster Lords couldn''t resist Styx''smands for long considering their bond with the dungeon lord, especially Aura. "Aura, this is a chance for you to level up too. There is no need to restrain yourself agaisnt the monsters down there. You getting stronger is the same as protecting me better, don''t forget that." This caused the wolf girl''s tail to start swaying in excitation, her motivation immediately improving. "Everest We will make more babies once you are back." With this, both Monster Lords were much more eager toplete this task and departed shortly afterwards. ~~~~~ The town outside the entrance of the dungeon was getting closer to a city now, extending all the way to the border. Most of the more indoctrinated citizens from Lagoon Porter City moved into here, setting up an entirely newmunity and trading post. Traders passed through much more frequently, whilst the dungeon residents would venture out into the city and interact with them too. This created a bit more of a buffer for Lagoon Porter City as the entire city was still adapting to the changes. Monsters roamed the streets as a part of the Core Guard. Dungeon products were entering the market too as Styx created new production lines and mining points below the city. He was also in the process of digging a new mana shaft below too. Chapter 137: Hand Chapter 137: Hand "Miss Aura Miss Everest. This way, please," A Third Step soldier politely, yet extremely nervously, greeted the two Monster Lords outside the Euklid Manor in Whitecliff City. Everest''s auraced with her irritation and unhappiness washed over these soldiers, causing them to all freeze and begin stuttering. "Mistresses!" Reba stepped out the front of the mansion and curtsied to the two Monster Lords. Although she was a dungeon wife just the same as them, she was still respectful considering the power difference between them. Not to mention they were currently in a highly vtile mood that could have serious consequences not so much to her, but to the city. She had already expected this oue and rushed out to prevent any of the soldiers from dying to the temperamental Monster Lords. Neither of them were currently in a good mood. It wasn''t the first time Aura had appeared before the guards of this city, so they were somewhat familiar with her, but the giantess Everestpletely terrified them. "Where is the Monster Lord?" Aura asked impatiently. "Please hold on, we also need your help in the city as well." "Exin." "Due to the recent damage andck of city guards, there has been a growing amount of chaos within the city. One of the main offenders is a shadow organisation called Hand that have extended their roots here." "Where are they?" Everest''s icy voice slipped out from between the giantess'' lips. Everest didn''t want to be waiting around on what she was not motivated to do. Human schemes were something convoluted and didn''t make any sense in her mind. They scurried about and didn''t have the faintest idea on how toy a proper trap. "That I don''t know. They don''t appear any different from any other person, but they hold secret meetings every two weeks to share information and ns. We have interrupted a few of them, but countless more have slipped by. People have gone missing and crime rates are skyrocketing. There is little more we can do at the moment than rely on Styx." Space folded around Everest as soon as Reba exined the situation, the spider Monster Lord vanishing before everybody''s eyes. Reba had the strongest mana vision, but even to her, Everest''s skills were obscure and shrouded in mystery. He control over her mana was incredibly precise as she wove it in webs around her. She used monstrous amounts of it, but Reba had trouble seeing even the smallest amount. Little was she aware that invisible webs made from space itself slowly creeping across the city. They filed up dark cracks under the eaves of buildings, even inside of old and worn closets inside. Being made of space, they didn''t have the same limitations of traditional spider webs. These were like Everest''s tendrils, extending from her body that was hidden within subspace. She no longer wore the irritated expression from before, but had be a cold blooded killer. She crouched amongst her webs, silently waiting for her prey to appear. She would only strike once, for that was all an apex hunter needed. Aura was different. She was much closer to the other dungeon wives than Everest, so she worked alongside Reba and the city guard. She used her hyper sensitive senses and inspected several of the previous sights under guidance of the guards. She didn''t need to rely on Styx''s advice either. She had previously spent a long time watching humans in order to stave off her boredom, so she was able to form some level of insight on her own. To her, this was like a hunt, and was far more enjoyable that she had anticipated. Her motivation to track down these people was currently overwhelming. If the members of Hand knew that a Fifth Step Monster Lord was so intent on tracking them down, they would have immediately fled the city. s, sometimes it isn''t until it is toote that such dangers present itself. "Fear no demons!" A hawker had set up a stall on the side of the street in the slums and was bartering small blood colored stones. "Our kingdom is at war, but with just this bloodstone, you will be safe from the demons!" The hawker was a poorly dressed man that wouldn''t stand out in a crowd. The moment he saw the guards nearby, he immediately fled from the stall and into a nearby alley, leaving all his goods behind as if they were of no value. Aura didn''t immediately chase him but stood in front of the stall and looked at the ruby like stones. They smelt of blood, yet also only seemed like stones. Her keen sensed detected there was something off about the stones, like a bad smell, but she was by no means well informed of any matters rting to demons from the neighbouring kingdom. She knew that they had a demon god backing them, and that was more than enough to reason to stay away from them. ''Go catch him before hepletely escapes,'' Styx''s voice reminded Aura in her head, as the man was still escaping. He didn''t get far, eventually turning around a tight corner before the entire world changed. He should have ran down an all too familiar back alley that even the guards would have trouble tracking him through, but he had inexplicably ended up on a beach. The sound of waves crashed behinds him whilst the smell of salt water filled his nostrils. "W-what the" His words died off as he stared at Aura. The wolf girl looked back, her ears twitching happily, like a hunter ring down her target that could no longer escape. The man knew he had to escape by any means, so he turned and ran straight into the ocean whilst trying to convince himself it was all just an illusion meant to trick him. Unfortunately, the waves only increased in might and reminded him that this was all very much real. He was taken off his feet and swept back onto the shore without being able to resist the force of the ocean in the slightest. Above him stood Aura, a wide grin spread across her face. ~~~~~ A week passed and Aura intruded into a room where several high rank members of Hand were having an emergency meeting. Their people kept getting picked off, and they needed to either retaliate or go into hiding. Despite working very hard over the past week, she had not grown tired of this cat and mouse game with the members of Hand in the slightest. Little did they expect that Aura was an excellent interrogator, s the methods she used were frowned upon by other humans. Nobody liked seeing their brethren eaten even when they were the most heinous criminals, let alone when they were cannon fodder members of some shady underground organisation. All the men and women in the room, all high level members of the local Hand branch, jumped to their feet and drew their weapons. "So you are the one who has been picking off our members? Coming here alone was a foolish mistake." Aura was currentlypletely suppressing her aura, so the men and women had no idea of her true might. "Come." She eagerly said whilst brandishing her hands. Aura currently wore a pair of wolf gloves that were horribly disproportionate in appearance to how fearful they were. Styx had sent these items over on a mount for her to use during thest week. She wanted to fight with weapons out of her own amusement, so he had sent over several different types. The ones she was most fond of was a pair of gloves that looked like wolf paws but with soulium ws. They were weaker than her bare hands and own ws by a huge margin, but this was just for her amusement in ying with the humans. Before Aura could attack though, the head of the deputy leader in the meeting abruptly rolled off his head without warning. The sudden thump of the head, followed by the body, falling to the floor, took everyone by surprise. The only one who knew what had actually happened was Aura who immediately red up. "They were mine!" "...I found them first." Everest, who hadn''t been seen allst week, spookily crawled out from a fold in space and sqeezed her body in the room. Aura could momentarily see into subspace as Everest left it. Inside were about a hundred fresh bodies tied up, mostly human but with a couple beastmen and other exotic species. Some had already died and were turned into what could only be described as an ancient mummy though. The higher ups of the local Hand branch could only shed tears as they were forced in between the conflict of two Monster Lords who were at odds. Everest didn''t try attacking Aura, but she did deploy a web of space webs to dy her a bit. Whilst Aura cut through the blockade, Everest pulled her finger and revealed the true trap in the room. Invisible threads whished around the room and abruptly wrapped up all the people bar Aura. She immediately retreated and pulled them into subspace, not a single one of them, nor Aura, were capable of preventing her. It was as if it was all nned out beforehand with how smoothly everything went for the giantess spider Monster Lord. "That is how a trap isid" Everest mumbled to herself as the space fold copse in on itself and she vanished once again. Chapter 138: Battle Between Monster Lords Chapter 138: Battle Between Monster Lords The main executives of the local branch of the underground organisation, Hand, were trapped and tied up within subspace. They all looked at Everest with eyes full of fear, the spider Monster Lord not restraining her aura in the slightest. "Y-you You are breaking the Treaty of Gods," One of the members mustered all the courage he could and tried to threaten Everest. The giantess didn''t even bother bickering, the invisible webs tying him up immediately contracting and slicing him up into a mush of flesh and blood. The others immediately sealed their mouths out of fear that this would be their fates too. ~~~~~ "They were my prey!" Within the Euklid Manor in the heart of Whitecliff City, Aura red up at Everest with all her hair bristled up. The amount of killing intent she was releasing was a staggering amount. Even without it directed at them, all the guards around the mansion felt like they had cold des pressed up against their throat. Everest was unwilling to simply be on the receiving end and her temper also red up. "I got them first, pig-eater." The two Monster Lords had always had animosity towards one another and were constantly at odds end. This was just the most recent conflict, but it didn''t seem that way to the people around them who were at risk of being unintentional coteral. Calling a temporary truce due to Styx speaking into their minds to calm them, the two asked about the enemy Monster Lord. "It is beyond the Earth Scar ravines south of the city. The entire area is a forbidden zone because of the monster. I don''t know much about it, but it has the ability to split the earth open into giant ravines and causes earthquakes." The Monster Lord was truly a cautious one. It had distanced itself far enough from the city that even Aura and Everest''s senses couldn''t reach it. Perhaps Dragon would be able to sense that far, but without the Monster Lord releasing its strength, they would have a lot of difficulty finding it. "I will kill it," Aura immediately dered before vanishing through her Phantasmagoria. Everest wasn''t to be outdone and she too folded space around her and vanished into subspace without saying a word. Reba was left standing in an empty room all of a sudden and was taken by surprise at how fast they vanished. ~~~~~ South of Whitecliff City, beyond the craggy mountain peaks and seemingly endlessndscape of bottomless ravines snaking across the earth, Aura and Everest were hunting the Monster Lord. They had to either subdue it and bring it into Styx''s forces, or kill it if it refused to surrender. The former was the likely situation given the pride Fifth Step existences, especially monsters, had. Aura used her leg strength and leaped over the great ravines as if she was flying. She would vanish in and out of the phantasm realm too, making it difficult to keep track of her figure. Everest remained out of sight, but Aura could feel her presence when she was nearby. Whenever Everest got near, Aura would attack and vice versa. This wasn''t to kill one another, but just thempeting to find the Monster Lord and kill it first. Styx tried reminding them that they needed to work together, but their cooperation between one another was absolutely abysmal. Everest was the first to locate the Monster Lord, a giant beast that was some strangebination of turtle and a ck obsidian like stone. Just one look at it and one could tell that its defences were imprable. Due to her rushed attack, the turtle Monster Lord detected Aura before she couldnd the first blow. It was instantly enraged as threads of space wrapped its neck and tried to sever its head. *GROARRRR* The Monster Lord emitted a roar that caused the entire valley it was in to start shaking. Even the air shook with such a ferocity that a human below the Third Step would simply be shaken into mush by the vibrations. The earth quaked under its steps andndslides of stone and dust poured down from the nearby mountains. The old, seemingly dead trees within the valley also copsed into splinters under the immense forces. Everest was unharmed by the force, but it did destabilise her space webs and make them difficult to control. The turtle''s neck shone with a ck lustre that prevented the space thread from cutting its skin. "I found you," A deep voice echoed through the valley as the Monster Lord exerted more of its power. Much to her surprise and shock, Everest found her subspace waspressed to the point she was forced to escape or be squashed inside of it. The moment she exited, she found the gravity to be at least a thousand times more than normal, causing her body to fall crashing onto the ground. "Be careful," Styx''s voice rang with calmness inside her mind. "Your greatest strength lies in traps and ambushes, don''t get over your head and fight head on, no matter the rush." Whilst she was indeed taken by surprise, the Spider Monster Lord was by no means helpless. Everest turned into her giant spider form and spat toxic venom at the Monster Lord like a cannonball. An earth wall abruptly shot up from the ground and blocked the shot just in time before it melted into g and toxic fumes. The Monster Lord was deeply shocked by how potent the poison was, especially as just the fumes alone made its head spin. Everest used this opportunity to escape into subspace again while the tortoise adopted a new found sense of caution towards her. She erased her presence so it couldn''t locate her tounch another targeted gravity attack at her subspace, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. The tortoise sat perfectly still, thend under its feet throbbing like a heartbeat as its senses were pushed to its maximum. ''I can''t let that poison hit me. It may actually be able to prate my stone skin,'' The tortoise thought to itself as it built its armor even thicker around its skin. It was at this moment that Aura arrived. The wolf girl and leaped at the Monster Lord from the distant mountain and fell like a meteorite. Her Phantasmal ws shone in a multicolored radiance, like oil on water, and stuck with enough force that a crater was formed beneath the tortoise. Its defence was so powerful that even this absurd attack by Aura had only punch several holes through the armor but barely scratched its skin. This was enough though the give the tortoise a stronger sense of apprehension though as it immediately perceived Aura as a fellow Monster Lord that could pose a threat to it. "Two Why are you teaming up? Are you trying to start a war?" The tortoise'' deep voice echoed within the valley, its power building up deep within its core as it circted an enormous amount of mana through its body. Aura looked at it without a change of expression, her eyes like that of a hunter looking at its prey. "Surrender or die," The wolf girl tantly stated the ultimatum Styx had dictated. "Hmm? Do you not fear the goddess? Or are you nning on leaving thesends for new ones?" The tortoise tried to buy some time to analyse the situation, but several space stringstched onto it and tried to cut through its skin again whilst Aura also attacked. Phantoms of giant wolves attacked, their teeth glowing ominously as if there was nothing they couldn''t bite through. Aura also traversed through Phantasmagoria and attacked with her own body. Gravity changed and attacked Aura, but Everest still remained hidden. The wolf girl was unfazed by this, dropping to all fours as her mouth opened wide and a small mountain sized phantom of a wolf appeared behind her with its mouth agape. The world seemed to be absorbed into her mouth as she activated Sin of Gluttony. What she swallowed was in fact gravity itself. Aura''s fingers were dug deep into the ground, causing her to remain stable, but the tortoise on the other hand started to irresistibly float up into the air. With its connection to the earth severed, its power weakened significantly and its control over the earth became much more subdued. "You bastards! Let''s talk about this! We can make a deal, give me some humans for food, and I will help you!" The tortoise didn''t dare defy the goddess behind the Maple Dragon Kingdom, but it had no qualms using others to defy her. If they were killed by the goddess too, it would only be happier. "Surrender or die," Aura repeated once more, parroting Styx''s words to it. "There is no other option." "Do you really think there is nothing I can do about the two of you!!?" The tortoise Monster Lord released all its powers, reinstating gravity and causing the earth itself to erupt into seismic waves that whipped and sent Aura flying into the distant mountain. The space strings were broken once again too, but Aura kept moving her location to prevent her from being trapped the same asst time. Aura immediately healed her body and shed back to the battlefield that was being destroyed more and more the longer the fight went. ~~~~~ Space was torn and fractured and chaotic energies ran rampant across the battlefield. Aura devoured earth and magic without distinction whilst attacking the weakened Monster Lord, whilst Everest spread fatal poison and deadly spatial threads. Everest had adopted to incorporating the Monster Lords vibration attacks ording to Styx''s guidance in her head. He couldn''t follow most of the battle as their senses operated at too fast a pace, but he could still understand many things. He had the spider Monster Lord allow her strings to vibrate whilst strengthening their core. This didn''t stop them from breaking apart, but it did momentarily increase their severing power several fold momentarily. She then whipped these threads at the Monster Lord and cut off chunks of flesh. As the battle dragged on, Aura and Everest targeted each other too, preventing one another from taking home the achievement of killing the Monster Lord. "S-stop," The tortoise Monster Lord weakly said as he regenerated a leg Aura had bitten off and devoured, his voice no longer as grandiose as it once was. "Let''s talk about this" "You have no choice. Do you surrender?" "To that dungeon you call master? I surrender to you, but I shall not bow before someone weaker than me." "Then you will die." Aura was unrelenting, immediately dering it''s life forfeit. The Monster Lord wouldn''t surrender to Styx as this was beyond its bottom line. It was incredibly powerful to begin with, so it surrendering to Aura and Everest was the greatest it could do. "Kill it," Styx decisively and without hesitationmanded both Aura and Everest in their mind. The two immediately released the entirety of their killing intent, flooding the valley and causing any surviving monsters nearby from the battle to cower in fear. The tortoise also knew this was the end, he had lost too much flesh and mana, his regeneration no longer able to keep up. Everest appeared and bit into the back of the tortoise, her giant spider fangs piercing straight through the weakened shell that no longer held its ck lustre. The most fatal poison she housed in her body was injected directly into its body, causing it to rot from the inside out at a rapid pace. With the enemy''s life aura rapidly fading, Aura unleashed her devouring powers. With Mana Burst, Time Stagnation, Hyperspeed, and Sloth activated to further bolster her strength, a giant phantom of her true form appeared behind her and used Sin of Gluttony. The giant maws of the phantasmal wolf opened and tore a hole in the world is it ripped the tortoise''s head, along with half its neck, clean off its body and devoured it. The gigantic body of the Monster Lord copsed on the ground as Aura smugly imed the kill for herself, a massive influx of experience going to her as well and even causing her to fill the final amount required to level up. Her information panel shed before her eyes which Styx also saw through her vision. As it was a Fifth Step existence, the same as her, she received no penalty on the experience gained. The amount from one kill alone caused Styx''s core to be filled with envy. The boost in her skill levels, whilst nowhere near as grand asst time, showed that she was not slouching at all and was training them very diligently. [ World Core Stonebeast killed! + 247,864 exp ] [ Experience threshold met. Level Up! Lv. 84 -> Lv. 85 umted skill experience bonus: Polymorph -> Imprable Skin -> Phantasmal Fangs -> Phantasmagoria -> All Stats(Excluding Luck): +16 ss bonus: Str +4, Dex +6, End +4, Vit +2 Int +1 Mana: 45,134 -> 47,280 ] [ Species: Phantom World Devouring Wolf Name: Aura Age: 348 Mana: 21,028/47,280 Exp: 0/1,217,759 Level: 85 Str: 667 Dex: 704 End: 620 Vit: 639 Int: 514 Mnd: 465 Lck: 23 Skills: Sin of Gluttony Hyperspeed Sloth Instant Regeneration Presence Erasure Mana Burst Polymorph Spatial Movement Time Stagnation Imprable Skin Phantasmal Fangs World Devourer Phantasmagoria Titles: Kin Eater, Invader, Human Enemy, Human Nemesis, Human Cmity, Elf Enemy, Elf Nemesis, Consumer of All, World Devourer, Monster Lord, Forbidden Zone Ruler, God Defier, Phantasm Ruler, Fate Defier, Limit Breaker, Dungeon Guardian, Queen of Gluttony ] Chapter 139: Bee-turf Chapter 139: Bee-turf Styx felt it was a shame that the tortoise, or stonebeast Monster Lord had refused to surrender to him, but he did not feel any regret. Either way, Whitecliff City was currently safe and would remain so for a considerable time. Even if the other Monster Lords lurking in the various forbidden zones were to discover the Goddess'' injury and current absence and go on a rampage, there were no longer any close enough to him to warrant any concern. He currently had shifted his focus onto several other projects, one of which was spatial magic. "What is this?" Dragon asked whilst standing along the high mana density residences lining the central mana shaft. He wasn''t asking about the concentrated mana rising before distributing itself throughout the dungeon and powering machines, all of which was behind an energy shield andpletely safe, but Styx''s strange integration of magic and architecture. "This is the future!" Styx stated grandly whilst raising his arms out wide, a giant grin stered on his face. Loreley stood silently besides Dragon and had been silently giving Styx a death re the entire time, but even her face twitched as she struggled to not ask what it was too. They were currently on the middle levels of the shaft where there were manyrge stone and wood architecture houses and shops built into the walls, bridges and stairs interconnecting various floors and areas together like some abstract painting. The other angels along with a couple of the dungeon wives were also in attendance to see Styx''stest creation, the dungeon wives in particr were highly interested. What everyone was marvelling at was the integration of a unique spacial array, or spacial skill, inside the construction of the home. This home had been a two bedroom home that was somewhat spacious beforehand, or otherwise described as ''cozy'', but had now been transformed into a giant mansion with vast halls, a pool sized bath and even a sports field out back. Styx had built a basketball, sor and tennis court, although only he knew the specific sports they were designed for. It was almost like the inside of the house was an entirely separate world. However, there was no further excavation of the home, the interior space had simply been expanded to a preposterous degree. Styx hadbined the knowledge he learned from the ancient city in the dead world with his own arts. Able to see mana and explore his people''s manaworks, he already had a foundational knowledge of skills. He had learned from Kale''s manawork, the dark elf dungeon wife who evolved into a cosmic prowler. She was a species heavily attuned to space, and could freely fly through the air, teleport and more. Just as the ancient people of that city integrated skills themselves into armor and weapons to create incredibly powerful arms, Styx incorporated the spacial skills of Kale into the very walls themselves. To Styx and the dungeon wives who could naturally see mana, mana flowed through the walls and ceiling, even the floor, in intricate andplex, yet patterned and orderly routes. It ebbed and flowed and seemed to bepletely alive. That was because he used both Mana Vein Creation and Mana Logic Construct from his Mana Control skill to create them, the same way he could replicate skills within his own avatar or manipte and mutate the nts and flowers to thrive underground off mana and have various attributes. "It''s beautiful," Kale mentioned whilst rubbing her fingers over the wall and feeling a deep intimacy with how the mana flowed through them. Therina pushed some of her own mana into the construct within the walls and hummed happily as it seemed to respond to her input. "Incredible..." Upon hearing the dungeon wives praise and seeing their focus on the walls and floor, the angels pulled their halo down in front of their face and gazed through the ring. The vision through the halo not only made mana visible to the Fourth Step angels, but revealed a great deal of information rting to attribute and density as well. Even Styx felt slightly jealous at how useful their halos actually were. They were Heaven''s greatest invention, and he hoped to be able to create a simr support type apparatus that could be a part of his residents just the same in the future. "God above, is this life creation?" Urs, the four-winged white angel marvelled at the sight with eyes wide open. "But I''ve never seen life quite like this before." "Life?" Styx''s brow rose in surprise. "Well, in a way yes, but at the same time no. There is no consciousness, receptors to the outside world, or thought pattern. It is more of an artificial existence like aputer program." "Aputer program?" "A set of instructions built into something to create a specific oue. This ''life'' merely uses ambient mana to generate space and keep it within a specific boundary. I can also include magic arrays that it can activate under active or passive stimulus." "I see" Urs nodded her head but the confusion was still visible within her eyes. "So what did you need me for?" Dragon scoffed and said sarcastically, although his attention was glued onto the space expansion. "To pay off your debt of not delivering on your promised protection." Styx didn''t mince his words and got straight to the point. The way he said it could be considered as being rude, but Dragon took no offence. He turned around and faced the main mana shaft again, indicating towards it with a nod of his head. "Your job is to dig several more mana shafts for me. This one is nearing its peak efficiency and more are needed to cope with the ever growing need for more mana." "Dragon is a Fifth Step Monster Lord," Loreley red at Styx and finally spoke to him. "Don''t waste his time with mundane things like digging holes, you have cannon fodder monster and miners for that!" Rather than wasting Dragons time though, Styx felt she was simply still bearing a grudge against him and wanted something to find fault with. ~~~~~ Styx''s army of miners, goblins and so forth couldn''tpare with the work efficiency of a Fifth Step Monster Lord, especially one as strong as Dragon. He burrowed through the ground like it was water, digging giant shafts deep into the earth both in his dungeon and also below Lagoon Porter City Completing this task under Styx''s guidance also served as practice for Dragon who could then create his own, which Styx had previously said he would provide the equipment and nts to make it functional. Styx transnted the heavily modified mana absorption nts into the bottom of the shafts, along with the concentric rings that generated the shield to contain and direct the released mana. With the flowers nted, he found himself in a standoff between the opposing forces of bees. The blood crystal bees formed a small army on one side of the cavern, the blood crystal queen bee present herself within the giant swarm. The reason she was here was that this was where the majority of her army were. She used to reside in safety within her hive at all times, but the dungeon bees had mounted a siege attack on her previously when her main army was distracted elsewhere. One the other side were what Styx called dungeon bees, but had be something so much more than that. The dungeon bees were originally ordinary bees and weren''t even considered monsters, but their life in the dungeon had been incredibly hard just like all the other native creatures that wandered in or created new homes in Styx''s bowels. Just like all the other species though, the dungeon bees were forced to adapt to survive in an incredibly mana dense area. The mana formed a powerful force too that caused them to mutate, something that insects already did very easily. Through countless rapid generations, survival of the fittest created a swarm off bees with powerful toxins, could consume mana, and hadrge, powerful bodies. Whilst the blood crystal bees were naturally still stronger due to their manaworks and monster status, the dungeon bees reproduced incredibly fast and had grown to the point they could challenge the former. This lead to countless wars over "bee-turf" where each hive imed ownership over certain regions of flowers to collect pollen from. Whilst the dungeon bees didn''t have Styx''s mana band to shield them from the over-saturated mana density at the bottom of the mana shafts, their bodies were sturdy and had a high enough mana resistance that they could enter with just their body, albeit not stay for longer than an hour. They would lose their flight ability after merely twenty minutes, but they could still groggily crawl out or be rescued by a fellow bee for the remainder of the time. "Do you really need to do this?" Styx helplessly asked the blood crystal bee queen, her emotions of anger, frustration and greed flowing back to him in response. Styx had seen all these turf wars, especially over the past few weeks, and was already ustomed to this war that ravaged his fields below the leaves. As he left, this sparked the war for this mana shaft and the freshly painted flowers. The blood crystal bees were vicious, stinging and pulling apart the dungeon bees with reckless abandon. Razor sharp wings hummed in the cavern and even more fell like autumn leaves. The dungeon bees, albeit a bit weaker than the blood crystal bees, were more numerous and usedrge wave tactics under the control of raremander bees flying in the front line and buzzing angrily. Despite his avatar no longer being present, Styx could still see the battle unfold with his dungeon vision. He couldn''t help but roll his eyes as this battle would y out again over and over with each new mana shaft. He also knew the hidden location of the dungeon bees'' nests, but wouldn''t tell the blood crystal bee queen so as to give her an unfair advantage. Chapter 140: The Signs of Falling in a Fallen Angel Chapter 140: The Signs of Falling in a Fallen Angel Styx was taken by shock by a group of surprise visitors to the dungeon. He detected them the moment they stepped into the external dungeon city, where his dungeon "border" reached up to. At the forefront were Peacock and Ygralea. The former was one of the Monster Lords from the western region of the Abyssal Forest, whilst thetter was a a beautiful woman with long green hair and antlers, also an envoy for The Void. Despite her charming appearance though, she was a brutish fighter who ripped and tore her enemies apart with her bare hands. She was at the Fourth Step, yet as powerful as a Fifth Step ranker or Monster Lord. Peacock had very fanciful hair that shimmered under the light. By staring at it closely, the various colors and patterns made one''s mind spin and be disoriented. Behind them were several other exotic species mainly of the Third and Fourth Step in strength. They clearly weren''t from the Maple Dragon Kingdom, not only due to the kingdom''s strength which was disproportional to their group presence, but also a me-like tattoo on their forehead representing The Void. They had a trail of caravans which Styx could tell had strange spacial extension charms in their internal space. He couldn''t tell what they were, nor what was in them, but he suspected it was materials to build their temple. He would have preferred if they had at least given him some forewarning that they wereing though. ~~~~~ Leading a group of monsters and surrounded by dungeon wives and several tiger beastman guards, Styx met the procession of people from The Void with a big grin on his face, albeit slightly forced. Loreley stood by his side with her nose turned up towards Ygralea. Whilst there was no enmity between the two factions, they were both envoys for their respective factions and as such hade into conflict when recruiting. "I would have preferred if you sent a message ahead of time so I could prepare." "We will keep it in mind," Ygralea nonchntly said without faltering, leaving Styx to wonder whether she meant it or not. Either way, Styx had agreed to this long ago and was not about to go back on his word. Not to mention the mere presence of both The Void and Heaven''s temples would deter many forces that would otherwise attack. They also formed a connection between Styx and outside empires, allowing him to trade for rare goods and also sell his own speciality products. Should war ever wage between Heaven and The Void, as unlikely as that was, Styx would remain as a neutral territory. As long as he held enough value to both sides, that is unlikely to cause too much friction between them. "Come, I will show you several locations where you can construct your temple. I would offer to do it for you, but" Styx trailed off while looking towards all the good carrying various construction materials and people. "We have everything to build our own temple along with our own craftsmen. Please just show us the locations as to where we can construct it." Styx nodded his head and lead several people through the town and into the dungeon. Along the way, he showed several locations that they can use to build the temple, which turned out to be quiterge ording to their description. Peacock also showed a lot of interest in the internal dungeon structure, his hair lighting up as he breathed the mana rich air in. "We''ll build it over there." Ygralea was very happy with arge patch ofnd in the eastern caverns of the dungeon. This was near the intersection of some of the dungeon''s mana lines, causing the mana in the air to be denser here. Loreley had been oddly quiet this entire time, herrge pitch ck halo silently rotating above her head. It wasn''t long before she turned to Styx and stated, "Heaven wishes to send down their own team to build their temple." "Oh? Why now all of a sudden?" Styx asked with a sly grin on his face, already knowing the answer. "Now was just a good time to do it." Loreley didn''t appear to be lying at all, but Styx knew she had beenmunicating with Heaven ever since Peacock, Ygralea and their procession arrived. ''Who are you kidding, aren''t you just putting a rush on things know that Ygralea and her faction are ready before you? It isn''t even a contest,'' Styx thought to himself in his mind before deciding to use the situation to his advantage. "Only if you are no longer mad at me," He stated with a glint in his eyes. Loreley tapped her foot on the ground subconsciously, her brows furrowing in annoyance. Styx reached out wrapped his hand around her waist, pulling her into his body before she could collect her thoughts. "...I am no longer angry," She reluctantly said, but Styx wasn''t about to let things go that easily. "Then prove it to me." Ygralea watched with great amusement as Styx used his other hand to hold the side of Loreley''s face. He moved lowered his head and tried to kiss her, but the fallen angel wasn''t about to let him get away with that. Loreley grabbed Styx''s face with an open palm and forced his head away with enough force his neck cracked and threatened to break as if he didn''t have a Second Step avatar. "Control yourself, you dungeon in heat. I am not like my sisters who you can trick with sly words and empty promises." The fallen angels cold gaze pierced through Styx, but he had already expected this. He released the enraged angel and backed away with an smile that said "I''m innocent" stered on his face. Turning to Ygralea, he motioned for her toe over. "Well, Miss Ygralea, I recall your priests also need help in expanding their mana channels. That extends to you as well, so how would you like to be the first to experience it?" As if organised beforehand, she coordinated perfectly with Styx. Her smile didn''t so much as falter as she used a ground shrink technique to close the distance between the two of them in a single step. "I would be honored to have the dungeon lord grace me with such a gift~" Loreley''s emotions were in turmoil at this. Rapidly calcting in her mind, she decided that she wasn''t about to let The Void''s envoy beat her in this regard too. Her inhibitions rapidly crumbled in the face of her inner conflict and she acted in a moment of frustration. The fallen angel''s ck halo shone brightly and Styx not just saw, but felt the incredible amount of mana radiating from her body as she teleported between Ygralea and himself, knocking her away with her wings. Her seemingly powerless hands grabbed Styx''s clothing with an irresistible force and she pressed her lips against his. ''Even Aura in heat has more control over her actions than that!'' Styx winced as he felt his teeth were about to be knocked out, but he didn''t let it show. He kissed her back and pressed his tongue in between her pursed lips. She allowed him to pry them open before his tongue to slip inside her mouth. Loreley waspletely amateurish in matters between the two sexes. Styx wriggled his tongue inside her mouth and captured hers whilst she moved hers around like a lost kitten, unsure as to what she should do. Her mind and thoughts were running around in circles at an incalcble speed, but she was quickly adapting. "Is this it? This is what you tricked my sisters into doing, didn''t you?" Loreley steadied her breathing and pulled her head back, a thin strand of saliva still connecting their lips. "Urs has yet to have her mana channels increase, despite your promises." Styx picked up Loreley in a princess carry, the stunning fallen angel not resisting his man handling this time. She was already filled with guilt, but she was determined to at the very least prevent the envoy from The Void taking the lead. Styx moved his face into the crook of her neck and deeply inhaled her scent, causing Loreley to momentarily blush. "It is one part of it. The key to it is to build up trust between them and myself. Urs doesn''t think deeply about it, but her being able to trust her body in my hands is the first hurdle to cross." "Why?" Styx didn''t answer verbally but instead opted for demonstration instead. Countless mana threads extended out from him and begun wrapping around Loreley''s body. Ygralea had already sent her workers off to startying the foundation for her temple and begin construction whilst she watched this exchange from the side with great interest. Upon the mana threadsing into existence, she detected the movement of mana and her eyes abruptly glowed in a violet hue. Neither of the envoys or their entourage had a piece of Styx inside of them nor were they of the Fifth Step, so they couldn''t see mana without the assistance of high levelled techniques. Peacock could see it though, and his brows rose in surprise at the incredibly dexterous usage of mana. Loreley noticed the others surprise and Ygralea''s glowing irises and pulled her halo in front of her face before being surprised herself. Styx''s mana tendrils tightened around her thighs, moderate breasts and waist in an erotic way, yet the sensation they gave was different. They were trying to enter her body, but the rejection within her subconscious was an iron wall before them. They weren''t powerful and even a First Step ranker could resist them unconsciously, let alone a Fourth Step fallen angel. "This is" "You need to rx and leave your body in my hands." No matter how he said it, this was an incredible step of trust from one person to another. It was simr leaving your very life in the hands of another, and there was always at least some level of hesitance or rejection in this. Loreley nced at Ygralea one more time before closing her eyes, strength leaving her body as her muscles rxed. She wasn''t like Styx''s dungeon wives and most of the citizens who had unconditional trust in him and subconsciously epted his mana, she had to actively retract her defences. She had known Styx for long enough that she could at least ce that trust in him momentarily. Styx''s mana tendrils abruptly slipped through her skin and entered her manawork. Her channels were incrediblyrge andced with what Styx could only assume was holy energy from Heaven. Loreley''s cheeks flushed crimson and her breathing elerated as she felt her connection with Styx be incredibly powerful. She felt him inside her body, as if filling up every cell at the same time. He ran his tendrils through her body and massaged the channels, slowly at first before be more vigorous. Her hands wrapped around his neck whilst she hid her face in his chest, unwilling to show her flushed expression to the others nearby, particrly the antlered, green haired envoy. Without warning, Styx abruptly pulled all his mana tendrils out of the fallen angel, leaving her feeling as if there was now a void in her body. She looked up at his face at a loss, wondering what happened, and saw a very stern expression on his face. "What is it?" She asked, standing on her own feet with her expression returning to normal. "...Demons." Chapter 141: Demon Raid Chapter 141: Demon Raid Half a day travel west of Lagoon Porter City, several adventurer''s were caught in a desperate fight for their lives. They were residing inside a small tavern in a vige that was known for its horse and grass oxen breeding. The roads were only dirt and covered in wagon tracks and beast hoof prints, the recent rain turning it quite muddy. Many of the old wooden houses hadnterns hanging beside their front doors, and even several streetmps. In a fantasy world where all kinds ofbustible reagents resided, oil was an inexpensivemodity even formoners. This group of adventurers were inside themon area on the ground floor of the tavern, a local farmer disying their talents ying rxing music on a piano on the stage. They were four men and a woman of the Second Step. The men''s sses were Martial Artist, Polearm Specialist, Iron Defender, and a Hunter, whilst the woman was a White Mage. She was a healer, but also someone from Lagoon Porter City who had undertaken Styx''s strengthening during breeding. Her mana pool had grown significantly and she had learned several offensive magics despite her specialised healing ss. As a healer, she had learned several blood type spells that could not only replenish a person''s lost blood, but could also rip all the blood out of an enemy just the same. It was a gruesome sight andpletely unexpected from someone with such a bright and bubbly personality. Dark clouds concealed the moon and stars this night, a bone chilling deluge of water running off roofs and turning the ground to mud. The hearth in the tavern blocked the outside chill and kept the interior warm though, causing many to congregate here for a joyous night. Cashmir, the Hunter, was the first to pick up the faint sounds of screaming from somewhere outside and barely audible due to the rain blocking most sounds. He gravely signalled his party members that there seemed to be trouble outside The rest of the party nodded in understanding and silently equipped their weapons. They slunk out of the inn so as to not disturb the other patrons, their hands casually resting on the pommels of swords and the tail of arrows. A keen eye could tell they were ready for battle should it ur. Outside, the heavy rain carried an oppressive atmosphere. The oilntern by the door barely lit up more than a dozen feet, the othernterns on the street and nearby buildings were but hazy will-o-the-wisps beyond the curtain of water. *Aarrrhhhghhh!* The faint cry of pain was even clearer now. Several other nondescript sounds also prated through the storm and reached the party''s ears. It wasn''t just one person, or even one direction "Be careful, this is giving me a bad feeling. I think it may be a group of bandits." Luke, the Iron Defender, raised his shield above his head as an umbre and stepped off the front balcony of the tavern and into the rain. Boom! Lightning stuck in the distance, a giant silvery bolt of the wrath of the heavens that lit up the night sky and pitch ck clouds, a deafening crack following immediately afterwards. "Let''s hurry this up, I for one don''t want lightning to strike my sword or armor What is that in the sky though?" As lightning struck again, the party bore witness to small ck dots, not quite as dark as the clouds, showing up in the sky above them. "S-save me!!" At this moment, a bloodied man in tattered rags came stumbling through the rain and heading towards the tavern and adventurers standing outside of it. The man''s feet slipped and he tumbled face first into the muddy ground, his groan drowned out by the rain. He struggled to get up, but before he could, a creature flew parallel to the ground with a barbed spear while making a sound that was a jarring mixture of a cackledugh and a shriek. The demon had crimson red skin and short, obsidian horns on its head. It was a lower demon species called an imp, a creature of unsound mind and relished in ughter. They would eat any fallen enemy, even if it was a fellow imp. "Demon!" Luke cried out in shock and lept forward to defend the fallen civilian. Whilst not fully equipped in his armor, adventurer''s and mercenaries were always ready for a fight in the event of an ambush or any other moment where they needed to fight at a moment''s notice. He still wore his cuirass and a helmet with both his sword and shield equipped. Before the imp could impale the fallen civilian, Luke barged into it and smashed the creature away with his shield, causing the demon to crash into a building with a screech. Immediately afterwards, several arrows cut through the rain and impaled it to the wall, taking its life instantly. Cashmir received a small influx of experience from the kill that informed him the creature was truly dead. Sarah, the White Healer, ignored the downpour that soaked her robes and huried over to help the man up. "Slowly, good. Let me heal you, Heal!" "Th-thank you," The man groaned but honestly thanked the healer as the deep gashes in his waist rapidly stitched themselves together. "We We need to hurry and warn everyone!! We are under attack! The monsters the demons! They came out of nowhere!" The adventurers looked back up into the sky again as more lightning lit up the sky. What were previously ck dots circling the sky hade much closer and could be seen more clearly now. They were hundreds, no, thousands of lesser demons thirsty for blood and circling around their prey. "Don''t worry, we will help protect the town!" Unlike many other adventurers, this group took it upon themselves to protect the town rather than focusing on only their own lives. "It''s not like we are going to be getting out of this either." Sarah avoided the eyes of her party members and hesitantly said, "Guys actually, I never spoke about this, but I have a connection with Lord Styx." The men in the party looked at her out of the corner of their eyes and had varying degrees of grins. "We already know," Cashmir almostughed. "Seeing your power increase, sudden distancing in your rtionship with us, and well, disappearance between quests" "It''s not like that, you know. There are still people, especially adventurers, who judge us harshly for that" Sarah blushed briefly before clearing her throat. "What I want to say is, Lord Styx will know what''s happening through me, and I can also request reinforcements. We will be able to evacuate the vigers too." "I know what Lord Styx is like. Do you think these vigers will be epting of monsters? They have spent their entire lives fighting them to protect their livestock and families." "I can''t force them, but I can save those who ept it." "You are skipping over one point, what will these reinforcements cost you? Can youmunicate with Lord Styx directly and negotiate." Sarah looked up at the approaching swarm of demons, several small clusters already swooping down elsewhere in the vige followed by some faint screams that were quickly extinguished. Most of the vigers were of the Second Step, but that didn''t help them much in this kind of ambush. "That I can''tmunicate with Lord Styx himself. It''s more like an automated system ah, you wouldn''t get it. As for the cost, it is mainly just evacuating the citizens here which aren''t a part of his territory. I will just be absent for a bit longer than usual after this." The other party members rose their brows at this, their imaginations running wild over rumors they heard of the breeders and their fellow beautiful, if not frighteningly strong, female party member. "Stop imagining things and pay attention! We need to gather all the vigers together and hold off the demons with any able bodied fighters until rescuees." The cries of the demons were much clearer now and citizens wereing out of their homes to investigate. The adventurer party were also attack by more and more demons. Sarah''s hands glowed with a crimson radiance, her teammates healing whilst the demons would have all the blood in their body ripped out of their body. Most of the demons were only at the First Step, through and through lesser demons by anyparison. What theycked in quality though, they made up in quantity with their seemingly endless reinforcements. It was only a matter of time until stronger demons appeared too. The more people were killed or captured and blood collected, the closer the demons became to summoning their elder demons from the demonic realm too. "Everyone, stay inside the tavern!!" The adventurers cried out over the sound of pouring rain. "We will find and others and bring them here too. Rescue is on the way, we just need to hold out!" Blood, both human and demon, was shed only to be washed away by the flooding roads. On one side, an already bloodied First Step female viger war pulled and dragged into the sky where the demons feasted with their teeth and ws, whilst the other was the adventurers repelling or killing any demon that approached the tavern alongside several farmers with clubs and swords. Several nightcrawlers and other shadow type demons snuck over the roof of the tavern nning to ambush the defenders, but Sarah could see magic and they were instantly detected and met with a barrage of arrows and blood magic. Sarah''s giant mana pool was slowly drying up as the night grew darker. The demons were endless and death was all around them. "Luke!" Sarah cried out alongside herpanions as the tank of the party was impaled through his waist. "I can still go on!" Luke raised his head and roared into the rain whilst using his shield to smash the attacking devilkin into the ground before running his sword through its neck. Sarah quickly worked on casting healing spells, but the damage for toorge for her magic and he was slowly bleeding to death. All she could do was prolong his life and pray Lord Styx''s army would arrive faster. Chapter 142: First Conflict Under The Midnight Storm Chapter 142: First Conflict Under The Midnight Storm Styx gazed through the eyes of one of his women who was a frence adventurer. No matter where they came from, people always desired more power. This woman was no different and held quite the passion for increasing her strength. She made a request to Styx, or at least the one of the automated partitions in his ever growing dungeon core. "Demons? They have certainly cut through the kingdom quite fast," Loreley said with mild surprise. "Yes, a bit too fast even if it is their main force. I''ll need to send scouts out west to see what happened. People in the capital may know as well, but I am cut out from their informationwork until I can get some of my people inside." Arge passage was cleared around the entrance of the dungeon and several other hidden hatches as monsters marched out into the world, taking to the skies or running along thend. This was in even greater effect at Lagoon Porter City nearby. With the poption of the city being immenselyrger than the dungeon residents, a significantlyrger number of monsters were bred there despite the disparity in uptake in breeding duties between the two locale. The citizens of Lagoon Porter City looked up at the stormy clouds with a sense of foreboding. Thousands of flying monsters, from talonhawks and harpies to stingray like creatures that could transport dozens of other monsters and people, cut through the rain as they flew west. There were some Third Step monsters as well as arge group of dungeon residents rode the beasts or marched alongside them. The monsters and riders all carried light sources on them to give sight to those without nightvision. *Boom* Lightning struck and lit up the world for a brief moment, revealing the army in the sky in all its glory. Residents nervously closed their windows and huddled around hearth fires. Both children and adults secretly shook in fear, although the adults put up a brave facade tofort the young. *ROAR* Along the ground was an evenrger army of terran monsters and dungeon residents. Whilst the flying army numbered in the thousands, these numbered in the tens of thousands. They charged through the streets of Lagoon Porter City on their way towards outside the city where they were congregating into a giant army the followed beneath the flying monster swarm. They roared as if in defiance of the lightning that periodically struck as if in defiance of the weather. It was the women who usually undertook breeding that provided the mostfort to their families and other residents, preventing the ensuing panic. They also actively responded to Styx''s directions and cleared streets to ensure nobody was injured by the travelling monsters. Whilst most of the monsters were only of the First and Second Step, they were all bred through women and with Styx''s bonuses, making them much stronger than normal monsters. One or two could be dealt with rtively safely, but this army in the tens of thousands was nigh unstoppable to everything below the Fifth Step. Aura, Everest and Dragon remained in the dungeon and Lagoon Porter City to maintain their safety. Styx wouldn''t allow them to leave and leave himself unprotected from any potential ambushes by high level demons. He knew their tactics and had to prevent them making blood sacrifices. This was the Monster Lords main focuses, as well as killing any summoned high level devil. Outside the city, the army was made up of beasts of all kinds and sizes alongside elves, dark elves, tiger beastmen and the subsections of various evolved exotic races. None of them cared about getting wet or dirty as they were all soaked in the rain and stained by mud, especially the monsters. The residents at least didn''t ssh mud all over themselves and those riding beasts also escaped the main sludge that was kicked up by the monsters. Leading the army was Vivy and her collection of husbands. The Third Step Shadowthread Archer who had previously evolved into an abyss demon. This abyss demon race wasn''t to be confused with the various demon races from the Neth''rite Demon Kingdom, although they appeared to share a simr heritage. Vivy had a pair of short pitch ck horns on her head that appeared dark blood red under the reflection of light. Her originally long dark grey hair was still in a ponytail, but it had now turnedpletely ck with a single streak of silver through it. It had also be more voluminous and wild, threatening to break out of the binding that kept it tied behind her head. Her mouth twisted into a devilish grin as her battle intent overflowed from her body. Styx could feel her excitement at the thought of engaging in such arge battle, the thought of losing never uring to her. He felt this waspletely natural too, as the former dark elf''s strength was already approaching the standards of Fourth Step rankers from the giant megalithic empires such as Heaven and The Void. Her reverse harem had long been trained to no longer have fear of anything, let alone dying, and did everything in their power to please her. To this day, she still constantly attempted to add Styx''s avatar to her reverse harem, promising all kinds of sexual services and preferential treatment. ~~~~~ The small adventurer''s were almost defeated by the demon swarm that only became more ferocious and numerous as time passed. The tank, Luke, was barely holding onto hisst breath in the tavern, his waist wrapped in thick bandages as whilst Sarah''s healing had been able to staunch the blood flow, it hadn''t been able to fully heal him. Nearly a hundred of the local residents had been killed so far, almost half the small town''s poption. At this moment, those that were nervously looking out of the taverns windows saw another huge army approach from the sky, whilst the roars of the army drowned out the booms of thunder. "Lord Styx''s forces are here!" Sarah came rushing inside and frantically spoke to everyone huddled inside. "Everyone be ready to evacuate. You will receive medical treatment and food as soon as you reach Lagoon Porter City." Many of the residents had looks of hope return to their faces, whilst others were still nervous. "...Isn''t that the city that fell to demons and had all its women turned into breeders for dungeon monsters?" A young freckled woman nervously called out, not understanding how being taken there was counted as recuing. Sarah, one of those ''breeders'' in her mouth, furrowed her brows and causing her beauty to be marred by the action. "You can sit here and be torn into pieces by the demons, turned in food for imps or a blood sacrifice for devils, or you can go to Lagoon Porter City where you will live under Lord Styx''s protection. What will it be?" The young woman avoided eye contact and asked, "Will we be able to return?" "When it is safe to do so in the future." Sarah didn''t bother trying to convince them that they held misconceptions about Styx nor tell them the price she had to pay for their rescue, whom weren''t under Styx''s sphere of influence. She made this self sacrifice out of the kindness of her heart, not as something or lord over them. If there were those who refused this kindness, she would not care for their fate. Outside, the flying monster army collided with the imps, bloodgoyles, and other flying demon subspecies in the air. Water was sprayed everywhere and the grating shes of steel rang over the town. Monsters weaved through the sky and tore with teeth and ws, releasing breaths of fire and lightning at every enemy around. The riders, mainly elves and dark elves, weren''t disorientated in the least and picked them off other demons with arrows. Blood and broken demon corpses began raining down from above, turning the rain red whilst the fallen demons crashed into houses and send the mud on the street sshing. The local defenders did their best to avoid the falling corpses. They weren''t used to this type ofrge scale conflict and were merely hanging on by the skin of their teeth. "Defenders, retreat and prepare to help the citizens evacuate!" Sarah stormed out of the inn and ordered the citizens as she turned a grey demon with a pronged table into a shrivelled corpse. The extracted blood then boiled under her power before sshing across the eyes of other demons in arge arc, causing the rain to turn into steam as they screamed in pain and wed at their eyes. Styx''snd army charged through the town and killed every demon they could find. Steel, iron, bronze and soulium shed under the sparse oilnterns, creating rivers of demon blood that mixed with mud. The demons screeched and monsters roared. There were those that escaped from the sky and were instantly pounced on. Vivyughted and shook the blood off her soulium curved daggers as demons didn''t even understand how they died beneath her hands. Tiger beastmen snarled and leapt off building, catching low flying demons before mming them into the ground and tearing them into pieces. Their eyes werepletely beastlike at this moments as they feasted upon the blood of the demons they killed which only enhanced their beastial nature andbat prowess. Lights flickered and shadows moved throughout the battle, but with every strike of lightning, the gruesome and bloody battle would appear in its entirety for a brief moment. Thunder rolled over the battefield but even that was drowned out by the cacophony of roars, screeches, and weapons shing. Through the monsters, Styx could see that this was just the vanguard of the demon horde. An army more than ten times this size wasing from the distance. There was also arge number of Third Step demons and even several dozen already summoned Fourth Step devils from previous cities than fell under their hand. Unlike this vanguard, the main army was lead by demonmanders with intelligence and tactics. Some of them were high rank demons with almost human appearances, their calcting gazes of bloodlust focusing on Styx''s army of monsters behind the seemingly imprable curtain of rain. They didn''t care for the death of the lower demons. They were mere cannon fodder in the eyes of the more intelligent advanced demon races. ~~~~~ In the vige, the citizens were rapidly evacuated from the tavern and onto monsters which carried them through the rain and away from the battlefield back towards Lagoon Porter City. Styx did a sweep through the entire vige with his residents breaking into all the homes and rescuing any hidden survivors. Once he was confident he had found all the survivors, he had his army do a final strike on the demon vanguard army before retreating back to the city where his main defense and defensive turrets were ready. By this point, the main demon army had already started to use long range magic spells and demonic rituals to manipte the weather, causing bolts of lightning and other curses to befall Styx''s monsters and residents. Casualties happened in this short battle, but it was only the weak that fell, whilst the rest only got stronger. It was easy for Styx to replenish the lost monsters with hisrge poption, especially once he had built a bridge for his dungeon to Whitecliff City. This meant that despite the deaths, the overall impact on his army was practically nothing. He even had a beautiful blonde healer who he would enjoy over the next month as well. Chapter 143: Building Climax On All Sides Chapter 143: Building Climax On All Sides In one of the adventurer''s guilds within Lagoon Porter City, one of the counter girls temporarily closed her section and quickly begun writing up an emergency quest. "What are you doing?" One of her colleagues quietly asked. "There is an emergency quest from Lord Styx for anyone willing to man the walls. It is pretty good pay too." "That have you been to breeding and have be one of his women?" The two beautiful women had known each other for a long time, so the colleague didn''t want to cause a scene. "Hmm? No, nothing like that. It''s not umon to want strength, and this method is, well, quitefortable." "That''s not it. You know our guild is supposed to be neutral and not tied to any kingdoms, right? They specifically warned us not to do that or we could lose our job You still have a son, Andrea" "Shh, I am not tied to Lord Styx in any such way." "But you can hear his words in your head." "It is difficult to exin," Andrea stated whilst cing the emergency quest onto the job board for all the adventurer''s to see. ~**~ EMERGENCY QUEST Our city and our people are under attack. An army of demons are marching towards us as you read this, and they will not stop until either we are dead, or they are. Lord Styx has released a quest for any adventurer, mercenary, mage, or able bodied, unaffiliated guild member to join the battle. You will be paid handsomly, or your next of kin will. Locale: City Walls and Outer Perimeter; Core Guard manning the defence will direct you to where to go. Time: Tomorrow; 2pm Yellowday, 14th of Brightmoon. Reward: 2 Gold + kill bounty/person ~**~ With the emergency quest ced upon the quest board, the two girls quietly gossiped. "You know I''ve heard things about the breeding. Is it really as big as they say?" "...It''s not about the size, it''s more like he fills up every part of you with his existence. But, it is very big" "And you don''t have to serve him?" "Nothing of the kind, I am inplete control during the process. It''s not even him controlling it, it''s an automated process Surely you aren''t thinking of trying it!" Andrea hissed under her breath. "You are married, Hilda!" "Pah, what do you understand of married life. Grant barely pleases me these days, it''s inevitable I would think about it. I never said I would do it, though, sometimes it''s nice to just fantasise." "I hope that is-" "What is this?" A gruff voice interrupted behind the two counter girls whom weren''t at their stations. A man with a thick beard and bald head was ring down at the two with his shoulders crossed. He had heard the increasing noise from his office upstairs and hade down to inspect it. "B-branch leader!" Hilda stuttered and straightened her back as she turned around. "It''s Lord Styx, boss. He sent a messenger with an emergency quest." "And did you fill out the correct paperwork first?" "T-that No I''m sorry, it slipped my mind as it was from the local lord. I will fill it out immediately!" Andrea shook her hands in front of her in a panic and hurried off to grab the documentation that Styx, or his messanger, was technically required to fill out. The branch leader wasn''t stupid and could immediately tell something was up. He even secretly released a bit of mana out of his fingers and watched the receptionist track it with her eyes briefly, confirming his suspicions. Despite this, he didn''t say anything and pretended he was unaware she had technically broken the adventurer''s guild''s rules for staff. These emergency quests found their way into every branch of every guild within Lagoon Porter City. Styx had a huge amount of gold and gold coins, very little of which he actually needed due to being entirely self sufficient. He didn''t want to tie himself to the Maple Dragon Kingdom''s economy either, but he understood that adventurers and mercenaries were free spirits who needed money. This was a very rich reward to those who epted the quest, whilst to Styx it was basically free. He wasn''t using the gold anyway. ~~~~~ Within the demon army, two dozen high rank demons were holding a war meeting in a room nailed onto the back of an abyssal behemoth, the sounds of the storm outside blocked by demonic magic iid into the room. Every demon in this room was of the Fourth Step and extremely powerful in their own right. The Maple Dragon Kingdom had only thought four or five Fourth Step demons were within this army, but that was only what they revealed during battles. "What is the viewpoint on the army we ran into?" One demon, in crimson te armor, asked the othermanders and tacticians in the twisted tongue of demons. "What of it? They are just monsters bred in a dungeon. We have plenty of our own back home. They make great forbor and controlling the lesser species." Another demon, a beautiful female with arge exposed bosom that jiggled and forked tail swaying behind her rear giggled and chimed in. "The humans have foolishly forbidden the use of dungeon breeding. It harms women, whilst their virility as a species are their only strong point. They hold too much value onradery to allow that." The high subus licked her lips as she thought about the humans. There were many shrivelled human male corpses in her own living quarters that she would fondly touch whilst remembering their ever so brief affection before she sucked out all of their essence at once as if they were juice boxes. "So who are we fighting? They are in the middle of the human kingdom, whoever they are." One demon that waspletely ck and whose existence seemed to be more shadow than physical shifted in his seat and stated, "It could be jussst a human who issss breaking the humanwsssss. They often fall to greed and ssssin." "Either way, we will find out. Set up the weather formation and clear this damned storm. It is too inconvenient to storm a castle when our feet are slipping and sliding in mud." ~~~~~ In the royal capital, King Wanther XII was reading thestest report from his undercover intelligence agents. He sat at the head of his war council where the generals were silently waiting on his word. Within Lagoon Porter City, nigh all his female undercover agents had defected to the enemy side, whilst most of the other agents, both male and female, had been exposed and killed. "This bastard dungeon is like a parasite, infecting people and manipting them to do its bidding" The king cursed whilementing that he had initially moved toote, whilst detailed information about the dungeon and its capabilities had arrive far toote. He had always thought it was a demon or some other force that became a dungeon master there and attacked his kingdom from the inside, but it turned out to just be some rogue dungeon. Not to be mistaken though, this rogue dungeon had exhibited cunning foresight and vicious tactics far beyond what any dungeon should be capable of. In misunderstanding this, he was not at fault. The king''s war council and royal schrs were working alongside the Royal Academy of Research and Technology, especially with Earl Housen who resided in the area for a period of time, to better understand the dungeon. All of the main figures of each party were currently here within the war room The dungeon was a master of manipting magic, and would infect females in an intrinsic and unknown way. What was noted however, was that those who were infected would start working for the dungeon out of affection and loyalty. It was not an immediate change, but it would inevitably happen. Some of the spies who were turned had been turned were raised from infants to be loyal to the kingdom until death. They were loyal beyond any doubt, but after the delved deeper in the dungeon''s inner circle in order to uncover the hidden secrets, they started sending false reports until they stopped entirely. "Earl Housen," King Wanther XII spoke with a profound regality in his voice,"how is thetest research into dungeon monster breeding going?" Whilst illegal within the kingdom, the king was capable of giving royal pardons for anything within his kingdom. "Your majesty, our tests are running very slow at the moment. We have collected a number of female volunteers from the slums, even a couple of exotic races, but there are a lot of difficulties to ovee." One of the generals, arge man covered in powerful muscled furrowed his brow in frustration. "A single dungeon has managed to create an enormous army out of monsters within a short timeframe. Since taking over Lagoon Porter City, the speed in which that army is growing has tripled." "Yes, and we are still trying to understand much about that, from how they are being kept fed, to how the women can produce so many monsters without consequence." "Earl," The king cleared his throat, "It has been disyed that such an army is possible, and we may well need it in order to fight off the demons from the neighbouring kingdom. What is the issue, and how is your progress in solving it." "Your majesty, the problem with it is the main reason why it was made illegal. Using a human''s, or other exotic race''s, womb to breed monsters wears out the womb. It makes them infertile, whilst creating powerful monsters will also cost them their vitality. A woman of 30 who has bred dozens of monsters too powerful for her body will look 80, such is the consequence." "The dungeon is somehow either preventing that damage, healing it, or both. If we can solve just this, we will have crossed the most important hurdle and will be able to use its own techniques against both it and the demons. Demons may breed faster due to short infant periods, but the human race is the most fertile. Creating monsters could be our greatest weapon we have ever held." "We have already made great progress in this aspect." Earl Housen nodded his head to his assistants who hurried moved around the war room and handed out documents to everyone in attendance. The eyes of the royal schrs lit up upon looking at the texts, whilst the war generals were mostly unmoved. They still paid attention to it, but they did not understand it to the degree in which the schrs did. "As you can see by the biometric data, we can attach an artifical drip into the subjects veins to essentially provide a battery of energy to their circtory system. This is a special energy mixture that is rich in mana, and serves as a food source for the growing monsters in the womb, thus avoiding them sucking out the woman''s life force. We also have medication to protect the womb from damage, but its effects are currently still quite small." "It is at least a step in the right direction," One of the royal schrs adjusted the cor of his robe and spoke in admiration. "What are your thoughts on post birth treatment, to repair the womb. Can we use any form of healing magic?" "Unfortunately not. We can''t simply heal it, just as we can''t heal old age. Even whilst supplementing the energy to support the monster''s growth, it takes a toll on the body that only gets worse with each repeated birth." "So how does the dungeon do it?" "Our current suspicion is something simr to regeneration rather than healing. First, increase the body''s strength so it can support stronger monsters more safely, then regenerate the damage immediately after. It works on paper, but we are yet to achieve either. Stronger rankers can give birth to stronger monsters, and there are exotic races who excel more at this than others, but it still isn''t enough." The king nodded his head in approval at the current research and praised the earl. "Earl Housen, We are most pleased with the current speed of research, We will allocate more resources to you. If all goes well, We will personally grant you to title of duke and all its entitled powers andnd." "Your majesty is too generous," Earl Housen humbly saluted with a hand over his chest. "Between this and the pill to rapidly produce higher level soldiers, I believe we will be able to sessfully repel the demons and subdue that dungeon." ~~~~~ Later that night, King Wanther XII sat in his personal study with his wife, Queen Wanther by his side. The queen did not take much of a public role in the kingdom and would instead spend most of her time in the royal gardens being attended to by the maids. She would frequently have tea parties with the duchesses and countesses of the kingdom, maintaining the amicable rtionship between the royalty and nobles. "Husband, the Fae Forest Realm pocket dimension is so close to that dungeon, how can we allow our children to go there?" The king looked at his wife with a loving but stern gaze before letting out a sigh as he seemed to be deted in his chair. "That dungeon is apparently about to sh with the demons. So long as it can hold them off, the royal academy excursion will take ce one final time before its influence reaches the pocket dimension. This is a valuable ce where only the most fortunate of First Step people can enter and get a familiar. Zoerina has the most powerful bloodline within our entire history since the founding emporer and has the potential to reach the Fifth Step. She alone can cause our kingdom to rise once again, so we must give her every opportunity we can and not waste this chance." "...But" "My wife, We already understand. We don''t have enough time, so We must somehow create it. No matter what evil faces us, justice will prevail." Chapter 144: City Defense vs Demon Seige (1) Chapter 144: City Defense vs Demon Seige (1) As morning arrived, all the women in the city who could see mana saw the enormous phenomenon over the horizon. I giant pir of blood colored mana burst into the clouds. This pir pierced through the ck storm clouds and caused them to rapidly dispel, giving way to the first rays of the morning sun. Styx watched this from the Lagoon Porter City walls with a stern expression. The demons were close, and this giant mana pir was a threatening reminder that their capabilities weren''t just horde tactics of mindless lesser demons. Even in the far distant Whitecliff City, Reba Euklid looked out the window and towards where the demon army was with her eyes aglow. Several thousand adventurers and mercenaries signed up for the emergency quest posted in the guilds. People from all sides of life were equipped in armor and robes, with swords and staves, ready to defend the city. The demons would not let these people off regardless, so they figured they may as well at least bet their lives on a small fortune. If they died and the defence seeded, that money would at least go to their wives or children. A standard family could live for a couple of years off two gold if they budgeted it, and that amount would only go up with the more demons they killed. They all held special mana devices which were paired to their mana and would record the number and strength of demons they killed based on their earned experience. This wouldter be used to verify their war merits, whether they were alive or dead at the time. ~~~~~ The storm had cleared and left a bright blue spring sky throughout the day, but a thick dread still hung over Lagoon Porter City. A dense cloud of dirt and faint roars were ever getting closer to the city. All the defensive manaburst cannons were armed and pointed towards the iing army. With several giant mana shafts below the city, even though their mana generation wasn''t at full capacity, they provided the cannons with a thick flow of mana. Styx would be able to fire these cannons far faster than the previous Duke Ashburn could. As dusk begun to settle in, the demon army and Styx finally came into conflict. No words were exchanged between the two sides, nor did Styx show any hesitation or mercy. The demons screeched an screamed, therger demonic creatures roaring and stomping their feet. Between thend demons and those in the air, they formed what looked like a giant curtain that threatened to swarm over the city like a tsunami. The fully charged manaburst cannons roared and shot giant sts of condensed mana charges. The city walls glowed blue momentarily as rampaging mana exploded through the demon camp. Hundreds of demons were killed with each explosion, but even this seemed to be but several grains of sand on a beach "Defensive formation! Ultra-range archers and mages, target the enemy formations at will. Focus on the giant demonic beasts first!" Styx''s expression hardened as he shouted out across the city wall, an magic device in his hand to further amplify his voice. Themanders of the battlefield led the adventurer''s and dungeon residents to stamp their feet and shout in sync to boost their morale. Styx''s monsters, which formed a tsunami in their own right, also roared at the enemy army. The demons were still several kilometers away, and they had to cross that distance before they could trulyy siege to the city. The entire time they had to deal with Styx''s counterattacks too. The demons roared back in defiance and increased their speed to a sprint. Any fallen demon, or even those that were simply too slow and weak, were trampled into shattered bones and meat without mercy. The two dozen Fourth Step demonmanders each controlled a division of demons, that was then divided into even further subdivisions. The cannon fodder served to attract attention of the resistance as they charged, using their bodies to protect the stronger, more intelligent main demonic force. The two forced were like imprable walls that wereing closer and closer to one another, the empty space in between filled with bolts of lightning and fire, arrows and ballista bolts, spears and blood curses, meteors and explosive bursts of mana. Along the city wall, defenders and tanks lined up with shields to protect the rangers and mages behind them. Spectral castle walls and golden floating shields hovered in front of the defenders, protecting them for thrown tridents, blood magic, and poison arrows. It was pure chaos as each side tried to break the other. Once the distance became short enough, the air forces finally shed too. Styx''s flying monsters flew into the imps and other demonic monstrosities. Many riders putting their lives on the line to support these monsters in taking air supremacy. Styx furrowed his brows and controlled the manaburst cannons to stop at this point, their barrels starting to deform whilst their internal structure threatened to have a catastrophic malfunction. This gave the demons the leeway they needed to cross the final distance. Styx still held more tricks up his sleeve as he wanted to kill as many demons as possible before the melee confrontation. By his side where several Monster Lord and their envoys. Aura had lost thepetition with Everest and was forced to remain in the dungeon and protect Styx''s core in case a portion of the demon army attacked the dungeon. The dungeon was Styx''s heart and must be protected at all costs. Therefore, it was Everest beside him whilst Dragon and Peacock were also present. Loreley and Ygralea were also on the wall around him, but they were mostly unbothered by the war and didn''t actively participate in it. "Are Heaven and The Void not going to help?" Styx asked the two envoys without any sort of expectation. "This is your war, not ours," Loreley and Ygralea shook their heads in unison and answered much to Styx''s expectation. Heaven were a deterrent, but unless he was to provide an equivalent worth to them, they would not interfere in his battles directly. If he was to die, that was merely all he amounted to in the eyes of the two megalithic forces. "Allow me," Dragon sarcastically drawled as he transformed into his true form, a gigantic white dragon with silverish white pupils. The sudden appearance of the dragon that dwarfed the city wall brought a momentary lull to the battefield as everyone reeled in shock. On the demon''s side, when the Fourth Stepmanders saw the Monster Lord, their chest immediately clenched in panic. The pressure of not just a Fifth Step existence, but on at too, exuded and enormous amount of terror upon everyone. One of themanders, a violet haired female in mage robes and with a giant gnarled staff in hand sent innumerable demonic runes between the two armies to form a shield. The hellfire on her curled horns lit up even brighter as she channelled her mana through her body "Hide or evade," the demoness hissed across her allies. "That is a Monster Lord. This enemy has Fifth Step existences in its army!!" The subusmander dived into the ground like it was made of water alongside arge portion of her battalion. They weren''t physically strong so they would never be able to defend against the attack of a peak mortal life form that is close to godhood. War was just a game of numbers and tactics, but this trend broke down once Fifth Step existences were involved. Dragon''s enormous head reeled over the city wall and inhaled a giant breath of air before breathing out a tsunami of pure white mes that turned the dusk battlefield brighter than the midday sun. Everyone was forced to shield their eyes or have their retinas burned out before the mes. The demons responded much like a stirred up bees nest, desperate to get into the city before Dragon attacked again. Everest wasn''t cannon fodder either and gazed down at them with a gaze colder than arctic ice. Countless invisible but razor sharp thread covered the wall and city gates. They were all connected to her fingers, which she could control with the smallest movements. Whilst Peacock, Loreley and Ygralea weren''t partaking in the battle, they would still kill any demon thatnded on the castle wall and attacked them. Chapter 145: City Defense vs Demon Siege (2) Chapter 145: City Defense vs Demon Siege (2) "This human kingdom his its trump cards deep!" The infernal knight demonmander ground his teeth beneath his helmet and grit his teeth. "To think they managed to tame and use Fifth Step Monster Lords, not to mention use them so openly!" The Neth''rite Demon Kingdom had a territory four times the size of the Maple Dragon Kingdom, but there was only one Fifth Step Monster Lord within it. This was because the blood and flesh of a Monster Lord were incredibly valuable for all kinds of demonic rituals. Not only could they be used to power cataclysm level magic, they could be used in demonic rituals to empower the bloodline too. They were ticking time bombs within a kingdom, so the demons had long since hunted them all down and turned them into resources for the elite upper ss demons to further strengthen themselves. The only remaining Monster Lord was a sinister sin ouroboros that had fed upon demons and had evaded hunting for centuries due to its uncanny ability of nigh immortality. The demons were greatly different from humans or any other race. The demon gods didn''t care whether they lived or died, so they wouldn''t protect them from a Monster Lord. They instead viewed such a monster as an opportunity to weed out the weaklings and force the remaining to be stronger. ~~~~~ White mes burned over the ground that had turned into magma. The casualties to the demon force from this attack had been enormous as even the most fire immune demons simply evaporated in the face of these mes. Not even blood remained as the temperature was so hot the enemy weren''t burned so much as they were annihted. "Spellweavers, cursemasters! Enhance our soldiers and turn them into beserkers!" The demonmanders ordered their battalions in their mother tongue. "Ritualists, prepare to summon high ss demons. The battlefield is rich in souls!" The demon army picked themselves back up immediately and charged into the city wall. The behemoth-like creatures rammed their heads into it and caused the entire was to shake as if threatening to copse, whilst smaller demons wed at the polished bricks and climbed atop one another. Everest''s web traps constantly sliced apart demons, but two filled the hole for every one that died. The army was thinning, but this just meant their elites were taking the stage. The sky turned blood red as giant magic formations filled with twisted forme in demonic runes appeared. "Disrupt their magic!" Styxmanded his army to prevent as much of the demon''s offence as possible. The humans were winning, but the demons'' ritual-ss spells could rapidly change the tides. Several Fourth Step devils that were left over from the previous city attacked at this point. The skin of this type of devil was like a white carapace and their razor sharp teeth and ws could tear through almost anything. They tunneled through the wall, creating channels for demons to get into the city as well as emerge on the top of the wall in the middle of the defenders. Styx was ready for this as a second line of defender were waiting inside the walls to prevent the demons from having ess to the civilians. The battle reached its climax and devolved into pure chaos. Demons climbed atop the wall from both the outside and tunnels, others breaking away from the battle in the sky and frantically attacking the defenders atop the wall. The demons were crazed, not caring about their own lives as they chewed and wed at the humans defenses. Humans had a wide plethora of techniques while the tiger beastmen were the biggest predators atop the wall, almost dancing through the battlefield and ying countless demons. The giant ritual-ss demonic spell still hung above the battlefield, using not just the fallen humans, elves and beastmen, but also the demons as fuel. Styx tried to interrupt it, but he didn''t understand the demon''s magic well enough and all the human mages and archers attempts had shown no effect of the magic. He could see the flow of mana, constantly flowing into it from the battlefield, but he was helpless to stop it. He knew Aura would be able to consume it, mana and ritualbined, but he couldn''t leave his core unprotected for even a moment. The demonmanders joined in the battle at this point alongside the devils. The devils breathed miasma and death on Styx''s defenders, causing monsters and people to shrivel and wilt into death, their bodies breeding grounds to release more miasma that would make others nearby sick. "Die, human scum!" One demonmander held a giant ming ymore that cut through magic and armor like a hot knife through butter. He was like an unstoppable tank that nobody could stop. Another was a vampire that wielded blood as a weapon, and if he ever started to run out, would merely pull more out of the nearest human or elf. He licked the blood of one elf off his lips as his eyes lit up in delight. He transformed into a swarm of bats whenever he was in danger and would reappear elsewhere on the battlefield. For the humans, it was good that Dragon''s earlier surprise attack had killed most of the demonmanders and limiting the death and chaos the Fourth Step demons could wreak upon the battlefield. There were still plenty of other dangers lurking atop the walls. Subi and incubus demons exuded charm magic upon the defenders, causing them to turn their des on one another whilst the sly demons snuck behind them and slit their unprotected throats whilst they never realized how they died. It almost appeared as if Styx was losing, but this was not the case at all. Everest remained beside Styx to ensure he was not harmed and only killed the demons that attacked. Styx also held a long sword whilst his avatar''s body emted countless skills inside of it. With how fast he could process information, he could even kill a Third Step demon by himself. Dragon would move around the battlefield and clean up areas where the demons were close to overwhelming the defenders before returning to Styx. His agreement was to protect Styx, the dungeon, not Lagoon Porter City. However he had held guilt since being unable to help when he needed it the most against the human Goddess, Eve, and had since been helping him in matters outside of their agreement. Him breaking his promise had deeply harmed his pride. "Dragon, go clean up the battlefield," Styxmanded the white haired person in a white suit beside him, Dragon''s human form that he had returned to. "Actually deal with that first." The giant ritual magic above the city finally reached the point of satiation and emitted a deep and profound humming sound that one could feel in their chest. What Styx did not know was that demons would usually set up multiple soul and mana absorption arrays across a battlefield, even holding more localised sacrifice ceremonies to summon devils they could control more. This type of array that absorbs everything like a singrity was one of their most powerful tactics and had been used in the past to deal with especially powerful Monster Lords. All summons could remain in the mortal ne for a limited time, determined by the quality and number of sacrifices. Control measures were also put in ce so the demons could control the devil from the abyssal realm. This threw all control aside and poured everything together to summon the most powerful entity possible. It couldn''t be controlled and would simply rampage as soon as it was summoned, killing friend and foe alike. It was the fantasy world equivalent of a nuclear bomb. Drop it in the middle of the city then sit back and watch as the city is destroyed. "Fuck!" Styx cursed as the sky cracked open and a twenty-story tall devil dropped out. It was a balefire daemon, a creature from the pits of the abyss and was symbolic to ughter and chaos. It was incredibly powerful too, its strength only a step below that of godhood. "Get it out of the city!" Styx roared at Dragon just as he transformed back into his original form and charged at the infernal devil covered in mes and jagged carapaces, its horns extending up above its grotesque head and causing the air itself to ignite. A small portal opened beside Styx and a weary and bloodied covered Therina strolled out of it. "Darling the dream realm is incredibly turbulent. Fear and panic are setting over the city so it is bing harder to move through it. People''s nightmarese to life in there" Therina swiftly threw several throwing knives that killed several flying creatures and pulled out a thin rapier made of soulium. She thrust the weapon forward and illusory creatures leapt out from her twin wisp like tails, rapidly mutating into twisted monsters that then attacked the demons. "Your powers over the dream realm are increasing." "Nightmares are a part of the dream realm too. It is difficult, but I am learning." Styx had been deeply impressed by Therina''s growth in strength ever since she evolved into a lithic naiad. She was currently and waiting for the right moment to ss Up again, whilst Styx hoped she would be able to evolve once again and be even stronger. This dream monsters summoning technique for instance, whilst only avable when people were afraid or having nightmares, was incredibly powerful. The creatures were a strange construct that neither steel nor magic could touch, yet they could tear their targets into pieces. Just like a monster in a nightmare, the only way to survive was to run and hide, preying it never found you. "I found you~~ Hehe~" A slovenly female voiceced with sexual allure spoke in a twisted, but high level of the human tongue, "Lord of the humans~" Styx abruptly turned his head and saw the most attractive subus he had everid eyes on. She had long ck hair down to her waist and intoxicating pink irises that were vertical slits. She wore little more than a thin and loose strip of fabric around her bust and waist, hiding her genitals but creating a risque look that they could be exposed at any moment should a gust of wind blow by. A thin and weak looking tail with a pointed tip swayed behind her, asionally rubbing up across her bare waist and navel as if inviting others toe touch her. Her skin was pale and wless, her giant breasts jiggling and hips swaying with every movement she made. Every action of hers was designed to entice men, and she wouldn''t have it any other way. Her strength wasn''t to be underestimated as she was of the Fourth Step and had an entire arsenal of both exotic and erotic techniques that would drain a man of his life essence before he even knew it. "Darling!" Therina called out in panic upon seeing Styx targeted by the licentious demonmander. Everest also moved the dice up the subus with invisible threads, but before anyone could move, that subus'' eyes glowed pink and a strange murky barrier extended out from her. "Pleasure Call!" Chapter 146: Pleasure Call (1) Chapter 146: Pleasure Call (1) As the subus demonmander released its "Pleasure Call" technique, Styx felt the entire world around him vanish. All his dungeon senses were cut off from the world, despite the fact this technique only affected his avatar. He opened his eyes and found himself lying on his back on arge bed in a hotel. Not just any hotel, but one of the most expensive hotels he had ever visited in his previous life. The bed was like a heavenly cloud, a feeling he had not felt for what felt like aeons. Getting off the bed, he walked to the panoramic window that covered two walls and revealed the world outside. He waspletely naked, but this point didn''t bother him in the least. He could see the sprawling metropolis below him, cars both on the ground and flying through the air in their designatedneways, while people walked along boardwalks and footpaths like tiny ants in a model city. Giant holographic billboards disying thetest perfumes, movie trailers, and offworldmunities flew through the sky, only the most attractive actors having the chance to take part in these advertisements. "Where is this ce?" The subus who cast the technique had appeared behind him at an unknown point of time, her voice a mixture of shock and lust. Unlike the scantily covered clothing she wore before, if it could even be called clothing, she was now in a form fitting sweater, skirt and ck stockings. She almost looked human, if not for the two short violet horns protruding from her pitch ck hair and the pointed tail that extended from below her skirt. "A ce I wish to find," Styx said without turning his head, "And also a ce I wish to never visit again." "That''s quite the confounding answer," She licked her lips whilst slithering her arms around his waist, two giant mounds pressing against his back whilst her fingers traced his abdomen and teased going further down. "It is a ce of many regrets, after all." "Perhaps I can help you forget them~" Her buttery hands made their way onto hisrge shaft between his legs and begun stroking it. The subus seductively licked his back and hugged her body even tighter against Styx''s, her breath hot in his ears. Styx forced the subus off him and grabbed the knife that was on the small table, a high ss letter opener with an extremely sharp de. "I know this feeling, I''ve felt it before. Your ability has a temporal aspect. You are freezing time right now, aren''t you?" The subus had no strength in her body and was easily controlled by Styx as he pinned her to the wall with the knife to her throat, as if she wasn''t a Fourth Step existence. Styx felt his own power had been reduced to that of a mortal, so it seemed she was under the same restriction. He could no longer control mana threads, nor even feel mana. It was as if he hadpletely returned to being a normal human in his previous life. He considered this technique pointless by this regard, as she was much stronger than him before but had now given him the opportunity to kill her. The demoness grinned, revealing her wless teeth and sharp canines as if she felt no threat from the letter opener knife. "Have you never heard that a moment of pleasure can extend for an eternity. This is that brief moment of pleasure, and it will not be released until I suck up all your essence and you die~ Don''t worry, it will feel extreeemely good for you~ Hehe." The subus giggled and licked her lipssciviously. Her hands reached down to his cock once again despite the de as even she was extremely looking forward to having something sorge ravish her body. "That just means I have to kill you and it is over." "Or, you canpletely satiate me and my ability will naturally expire~" Styx didn''t understand why this demoness was so openly exining her ability, but he quickly found out. He tried to slit her throat with the knife, but it harmlessly glided across her skin and left no damage, leaving the subus to start giggling. "Sweetheart, don''t forget this is a pleasure call, meaning only pleasure is allowed~ All acts of violence are forbidden in this zone. You can''t escape, and you can''t kill me~" "Then I just have to fuck you until you die, do I?" Styx threw the demoness onto the giant bed where she rolled over and looked at him expectantly. One of her hands snaked its way between her legs and begun shamelessly rubbing her erogenous zone through the clothes before she begun softly moaning. "I certainly hope you do~" "In those clothes?" "This is a world built from your memories~ A location where you were mostfortable, and me dressed in the clothes you find most attractive~ I am usually immediately naked, so this is quite the refreshing y~" Styx leaned over her on the bed and grabbed her hair in his fist, pulling her face towards his and sealing his lips over hers. The subus immediately embraced him, her tongue reaching into his mouth and entangling with his as he moaned in pleasure. Her saliva was apricot vored which Styx practicallypped up. Styx pulled at her clothing, which she actively coordinated with. Her sweater and shirt underneath were stripped, revealing herrge, yet perfectly shaped, gravity defying tits. Her pink ares were tantalising to say the least She smelled like a bouquet of the finest flowers, yet also an erogenous smell that made him deeply want to press his face into her body and cover himself with her. The subus was the enemy, so he held no inhibitions. She had said herself that all he had to do was satisfy her and the technique would naturally expire. She was right that a single human could never satisfy a subus who were the embodiment of sex and lust, but he wasn''t human. He was a dungeon that impregnated thousands of women every day with monsters, and it was now just a question as to whether he would dry out or the Fourth Step subus would fill up first. Styx grabbed her skirt and dragged it down the giggling demoness'' legs before tossing it to the side. She wasn''t wearing any underwear, so her hairless vagina was visible through the stockings that had a very significant wet patch in the crotch. Not even bothering to try and take them off, Styx merely tore them up and exposed her lower flower before his engorged rod. "Ahhhnnnn~~" The subus moaned without restraint as Styx shoved his hand between her thighs and vigorously rubbed his fingers in her slit. He bent his fingers and shoved two of them directly into the tight yet highly stic hole of her vaginal entrance, burying them deep inside her inner cave. She clenched her meaty thighs around his hand and moaned even louder, hovering her hips as he forced his fingers in and out of her. He vaginal walls mped around his fingers and her sticky fluids spread to his hand as she was in a state of endless lust. This inciting both of their inner fires even more, the subus longingly gazing into Styx''s eyes and opened her legs wide. Styx gazed down at her tight slit that his fingers were mercilessly digging around inside before positioning his waist above hers. "Are you not going to tell me your name before you stick it in~?" The subus erotically asked as her hand grabbed his dick and pointed it towards the entrance of her vagina just as his fingers vacated it. "Don''t you want to leave your name forever burned into my memory?" "You can call me Styx, but it seems like you think I will die from this." "Oh sweetheart~ This only ends in one way~" The demoness looked at him with loving eyes and pulled his penis towards her lower mouth that was well and truly hungry. There was no man who could resist her allure, even Styx, but he wasn''t trying to resist her. He already understood that was pointless. She would illicit her victim to have sex with her constantly in this timeless zone, and only an eunuch would be able to resist her. Of course, her ability would restore their balls and full sex drive, as that was the optimal condition of their body. She softly, yet forcefully pulled it closer and closer, the head of his penis gently forcing open her vaginal lips before the tip slowly sank into her soft yet moist entrance. "Mmmyahhhh!!~~~" Styx showed no hesitation and abruptly shoved his engorged penis all the way inside her narrow channel and tightly pressing against the entrance of her womb. His hips pped against her vagina whilst the demoness arched her back and released her loudest moan yet. Styx also moaned and fell weakly on top of the heaven defyingly beautiful subus, his body exploding with sensations of the deepest pleasure as he almost came from just insertion. Her legs locked around his waist as her vaginal walls undted around his dick as if trying to wring his seed straight out of it. He stood up with the subus still attached to him and pressed her back up against the wall. With her tits squished against his chest and mouth sealed by his, he held her by her ass and begun pounding his waist into her without holding back. The demoness moaned into his mouth and drooled even more of her peachy saliva as her legs tightened their hold on his waist. She dragged her fingers down his back as if to express all the lust she held in her body. "Do it~ Fill me with your seed~ nt your babies into my fertile womb~ I will love you forever and be all yours~" Styx felt the building urge in his balls and with his fingers pulling at and poking into her ass, he mmed his hips into her one final time before releasing a thick load of cum directly into her womb. The subus weakly slumped over his shoulder, as if she had reached satisfaction, liking and kissing him all over his face. "Oh how I love you~ Hehe" "But I don''t love you." Unaffected by his words, her lips secretly twisted into a sly grin as she whispered into his ear, "But surely you don''t think this is the end, do you~?" The demoness'' words held a certain magic power in them that caused Styx to remain rock hard despite having just ejacted. His lust was also increasing even more rather than feeling any post nut rity. Chapter 147: Pleasure Call (2) Chapter 147: Pleasure Call (2) Styx''s reasoning was rapidly disintegrating with every time he came inside the subus. She was even more bottomless than Aura was. With what little mental state he had left, he threw her down and pinned her down onto the bed, her supple and sweaty body putty under his hands. He forcefully grabbed her tits and viscously bit her nipple. "Oh, it hurts~~!!" The demoness cried out in pleasure as her back arched whilst somehow also pressing her breasts harder against his face. Flipping her over, he forced her legs apart before plunging his dick once again into her narrow vagina. From this position, he could clearly see her vagina stretching open as his entire length vanished inside of her. With one hand pinning her waist down, his hips mmed against her ass and head of his penis prating into her womb. He used the other hand and pped her ass as hard as he could muster, turning it bright red as her moans shook the room and vagina mped onto his penis so tight he became stuck momentarily inside of her. "You are using violence~~" She moaned in pure ecstasy rather than pain. No matter what Styx threw at her, this subus felt pleasure. He used this to his advantage to try and make her overwhelmed with pleasure, but her sex drive was so far proving nigh infinite. "BDSM is a part of pleasure, therefore it is allowed," Styx said through gritted teeth as his worries began to grow. "Sweetheart, you have no idea how much I love you~~" Cumming deep in her cervix once again, Styx flipped her over and forcefully pulled her legs apart before shoving his dick inside her tight folds once again. He grabbed her throat and begun choking her as he mmed his dick into her. Despite being unable to breath and grasping at his hands, her body was only getting more turned on. Unfortunately he couldn''t kill her, as that was against thews of this subdimension, but he pushed her very close to it. The demoness, with unadulterated love in her eyes, pulled herself up and grabbed onto Styx''s body before sinking her pure white teeth into his shoulder. Styx grit his teeth and wed at her back with his nails and grinding his penis against her sticky vaginal walls whilst she drank his blood. ~~~~~ Styx''s body was weak. He didn''t know how long they had been having sex for, he had lost track after a couple of days. Sleep was threatening to take him, or perhaps it was death, as the demoness bounced her hips up and down his shaft. Her magic not only kept him hard, it also kept his penis in top condition, just like her vagina. No matter how hard he pounded her, pierced his shaft all the way into her womb, stretched her vagina or ass, it all returned to a pristine condition for her to continue sucking the very life out of him. Styx was still overwhelmed with pleasure, but his mind was slowing down. "I love you~" "I love you~" "I love you~" "I love you~" The demoness repeated professed her love for him over and over as she would sink her teeth into his flesh to drink his blood whilst his semen and vitality filled her womb. She sucked everything out of him, determined to wring him dry until not even life was left. This was just the way subi were. Luck seemed to be on Styx''s side this time though, as he still had enough semen in him tost. The subus was clearly tired too, not that her mouth cared to admit. Styx pulled her body down on top of him, his penis still fully entrenched in her vagina, as he poured another load of semen into her. She moaned and panted whilst weaklyying on top of him, her bated breath music to his ears after all this time. Her body twitched from time to time and her grip on him also periodically tightened. "I win," Styx said whilst biting his lip to maintain some semnce of rity. The hotel and world around them was rapidly crumbling into a ck void, her abilitying undone. The subus was too weak to move, her long ck hair draped over his face and enshrouding him in her scent. She may have been filled before Styx was drained in this "Pleasure Call", but for the first time in her life had finally been satiated. If she were to die right now, she still wouldn''t feel as if she lost. ~~~~~ Back on the battlefield, Therina''s nightmare monsters and Everest''s invisible threads were still heading towards the Fourth Step subus that weakly fell on the spot as all strength left her body. Styx was also immediately reconnected with his dungeon senses as time resumed itself and he rapidly instructed both of the girls in their mind due to his avatar also copsing. "Capture her alive and unharmed!" His voice was an undeniable order in both Therina and Everest''s minds, forcing them to rapidly recall their attacks. "Also, capture as many subi on the battlefield as you can. I have use of them." Whilst unhappy at what they thought that use was, both dungeon wives listened to him and the subus was immediately bound by Everest. His n for the subi was actually very simple. They craved nothing more than sex, whilst many of the men in his territory had been having difficulties getting women due to them attaching themselves to Styx''s breeding. Many of the women used his breeder to get their sexual pleasure and no longer dated the men, creating an imbnce in rtionship avability between the two genders. Styx nned on creating brothels of subi. As long as they were controlled to not cause harm to his people, they would solve this issue for him and give the single men more reasons to work harder for him. Chapter 148: Dragons Wrath Chapter 148: Dragon''s Wrath Citizens ran in panic as the gigantic balefire daemon came crashing into the ground, crushing buildings whilst congration burst from its body. Those only at the First and Second Step had no chance of surviving this and immediately burned to death, the dirty mes sticking to their bodies like glue and refusing the extinguish. Dragon knew of Styx''s apprehensions of a battle urring in the middle of the city and charged head first into the demon. He was handicapped as releasing his full power would kill an enormous number of the residents. He personally couldn''t care less about their lives, but he did not want to owe Styx more once again. He had to admit though that the ancient devil from the abyssal realm was powerful. Even he felt a constriction in his chest when its gazended on him, meaning it is at least as powerful as he is. **ROARRRRRRRR** Dragon released an enormous draconic bellow as he crashed into the behemoth. The devil raised its burning hands and wrapped them around Dragon''s neck. His scales glowed pink under the heat of the balefire that attempted to break through his defence, but he adjusted his enormous body and threw it off him. More houses were crushed and lives lost as it crashed into the ground, mes bursting from its body bursting as if expressing its rage. **GRAGGGHHHHH** The balefire daemon glowed brighter and brighter as it built up a frightening amount of heat within its body, the ground and building around it melting into magma and ash. If there were any citizens in the buildings before, there weren''t even corpses left. Dragon wasn''t about to let it attack as it pleased though, his chest and neck already swollen up from firepressed into a pure ball of fire that was as hot as the core of the sun. The humongous Monster Lord braced his body and released this fire that shot like a beam of light towards the balefire daemon. It couldn''t react nor dodge even with its Fifth Step strength and was hit in the center of its chest. The ancient devil was blown away by the attack that reached to the horizon. The ground was carved out and turned into boiling magma that ejected giant plumes of grey and ck smoke. The trench carved through the entire city, the distant city wall, and through a mountain too. A lot of lives were lost from this attack, but Dragon considered it to be a small sacrifice inparison to what would have happened if the devil had unleashed its attack which was a unidirectional st of molten rage. Based on the amount of mana and fire built up in its body, he had estimated at least half the city and most of the residents would have been annihted. Dragon took to the skies and shot towards the distant mountains like a meteor. The balefire daemon was waiting too as it jumped into the sky and intercepted him, mming his body through the peak of another mountain. The devil roared in anger and its power exploded, a giant shockwave emanated from its body that turned everything it passed into ashes. Even the mountains begun to turn into magma and slowly melt like ice cream cones under the sun. The air was so hot everything was twisted and distorted, but Dragon could see mana whilst the devil had thermal sight, being a being of fire itself. The clouds in the sky caught fire too, as impossible as that should be, creating a curtain of fire that was directly powered by the devil. Dragon roared again and stood back on his feet, his sizzling and breath further heating the atmosphere due to his rage. The Monster Lord charged at the devil and ripped and arm off with his fangs, the devil was unfazed and simply regrew another one as it struck back. The two were fighting in the most primitive form, but what was shocking was that the devil was winning. As it swung its fists, this skyfire wouldsh out like bolts of lightning, striking the ground and Dragon, while the devil was instead empowered by it. When it came to brute strength, Dragon simply couldn''t keep up and was beaten back again and again. "Haaahhh" Dragon collected his thoughts and gazed at the devil with ice cold rage. "I have to admit, I cannotpete with you in strength, but that is all you are good at. I will show you why I am the strongest." His words were quiet, yet they pervaded through the sounds of the battlefield. Aura had once used Dragon of being a smander, which was not without reason. He was indeed born as a smander type monster, the furthest and lowest rtive to a dragon. His fate filled him with endless rage, which he turned into power. It wasn''t until several centuries ago, when he evolved into a Monster Lord, that he became something simr to a dragon. As a newly evolved Monster Lord, he immediately fought and defeated the original Monster Lord that ruled over the Abyssal Forest and imed the territory for himself. He adopted the pride of dragons, even though he technically wasn''t a true dragon. His power that made him the strongest did note from pride or his Fifth Step existence, it was his wrath. Wrath that he was born a weak smander. Wrath that he could not breath fire. Wrath that he could not fly. Wrath that he would never be a true dragon. Many would instead suffer from envy, but he cursed at the world. What he breathed out was not dragonfire, it was wrath. The fire around Dragon abruptly stopped and even vanished from inside his body, as if it never existed. From below his feet, the magma instantly solidified and adopted a thickyer of frost. Even the inferno in the sky was extinguished as all heat disappeared. This ice spread out across the mountains at a rapid pace, whilst the sky turned white and ice shards began to rain. The balefire demon roared in pain as the mes on its body also began to die down. The first sight that something was strange was despite everything turning subzero, the ground beneath Dragon''s feet still smouldered and released smoke. The ice shards also burned as they touched the devil and the ground. Dragon eyed the devil and spoke in a soft voice that contained endless rage. "Feel my wrath." The entire world turned silent, everything white. The balefire daemon touched the ice on the ground, but it burned instead. A being made of fire was being burned by something that was hotter than fire. It tried to scream in rage, but the sound waves would freeze and be incinerated before they could reach even its own ears. A pure white dragon stood alone in this world of ice like a sculpture, its majesty awing even gods. The balefire daemon no longer having the strength to make a sound, its body and soul both frozen solid and rapidly being incinerated at the same time. ~~~~~ Dragon received a huge influx of experience, so much that he finally broke through to and received another giant power boost. He calmed his raging heart down and created stillness within. The ice, that burned hotter than fire, also melted at this point and the world regained its color. The mountains had beenpletely ravaged though and likely would not be able to grow so much as grass for several millennia, remembered as the location where two Fifth Step powerhouses shed. He secretly thought to himself that it was possible Styx would find a way to grow some mutated crops or overly mana rich food on them though. The fire and wrath mana of the balefire daemon and himself had truly permeated the ground after all. When Styx looked at the damage to the city and distant mountain, his dungeon heart truly ached in pain. He swore he would take that pain out on the subus, branding it into her once he had recovered enough to push her down again. It wasn''t like she wouldn''t enjoy it, and even Styx had developed a liking for such forceful y too. Chapter 149: Aftermath (1) Chapter 149: Aftermath (1) Styx''s avatar had fallen unconscious and even his dungeon core was operating at low efficiency. This caused his monsters to be slower as they relied on him, whilst other functions in his core became limited. The battle with the demons rapidly came to a conclusion though. The Fifth Step balefire daemon had been their ultimate n, or a Hail Mary so to speak. The demons didn''t scout ahead of their army to gather intelligence, they were simply like a train charging forward. Whilst the high rank demons may be more cunning than the mindless lower tier demon races, this was how they did war. Victors feasted upon blood and flesh, losers died and had their power devoured. With Dragon no longer upied by the devil, he returned to the battlefield and the demons became the target of his wrath. Blood soaked the city walls and the demon army was finally defeated, the final stragglers fleeing away from the city. It wasn''t just demon blood on the walls either. It was also elf, orc, dwarf, and beastman blood The Fourth Step subus was bound by invisible threads and curled up on the bloodstained bricks of the wall beside Everest, who was carrying Styx''s avatar in a princess carry. Not far away, almost forty other subus of the Second and Third Step were struggling as Everest''s threads restrained them too. "Kill Kill Kill" The Monster Lord looked at these Subi with utter disgust and anger. She would have sliced them into a hundred pieces with her webs if Styx hadn''t expresslymanded her to catch them. The thought of defying Styx also ran through her mind more than once, but her attachment to him kept her sanity tethered and she restrained herself. This didn''t stop a terrifying disy of her releasing highly poisonous baby spiders all over the subi should they try to escape though. Therina took down the hell knight demonmander, despite the difference in their strength. The fear and despair of the city residents allowed her to summon far more nightmare monsters than she would have otherwise. The demonmander was a physical type with magic reinforcement. In human terms, he would have been a magic knight. The nightmare monsters werepletely impervious to damage however, and attacked him in swarms. He soon realized that attacking the monsters themselves waspletely useless and targeted the summoner, Therina. She struggled to survive as he was far faster and stronger than her, who was still waiting to reach the Third Step. With Styx currently in low power mode, she solely focused on protecting her vitals whilst dragging out time to give her nightmare monsters the chance to wear the demonmander down. With blood dripping from her mouth as she was holding her body together with her regeneration, the Fourth Step demon finally copse in a pool of his own blood. The nightmare monsters continued to tear at the body with teeth and ws until the corpse could no longer be recognized. ~~~~~ Styx awoke, fully recovered, two dayster. The battle was over. The demons had been repelled and recovery and restoration effects were being undertaken even without his direction. The city residents worked under the core guard''s orders in clearing all the debris. The giant ravine from the battle between Dragon and the devil was currently being repurposed into a part of the city''s aqueduct. The temperature from Dragon''s firest has crystallised the curved bed of the channel into a type of ck obsidian that was somewhat glossy but also incredibly strong. A channel from the aquaduct was being nned and the water supply to that section of the city would increase. Bridges also needed to be built, and all the surrounding houses repaired or otherwise rebuilt. The western city wall and all thend halfway to the horizon was bloody and littered with corpses. Mages had been working together to conjure rain, but even that turned into rivers of blood in the end. It was an enormous task to collect all the bodies and process them. There were those that could be turned into valuable materials, such as the horns of demons, demonic bezoars, scales, and many other items. Whilst unafraid of any attracted monsters, the remaining bodies and body parts still all had to be burnt to prevent gue from infesting the city. This was a task that was expected to take at least another two weeks. "Beatrice," Styx called out as his avatar sat up, the dark phenelf appearing alongside Irie from the room over. Both of the dungeon wives were pregnant and hadrge, swelling stomachs. It had gotten to the point where their duties in the dungeon were on hold whilst others took care of them. Beatrice already hadrge E cup breasts, but now they appeared even more ''full''. Irie was simr, but she was already getting closer to giving birth. Both of them had reached just like Therina, but they couldn''t undergo ss Up, and especially a potential evolution, whilst they were pregnant. "How time flies," Styx gentlymented whilst looking at the two of them. The dungeon wives kissed him before Beatrice asked, "We were worried about you. What happened? The subus recovered yesterday, but she hasn''t been making much sense." "Hmm? How so?" "She keeps saying you are her mate and she will never leave you. Also, apparently your child is in her stomach When did you have sex with her?" "That isn''t that iprehensible, is it?" "This was condensed from about two hours of her bbering." "...I see. Let''s go see her then." Styx had automatically detected where the subus was as soon as his dungeon senses came back online. She was being held captive deep in the prison at the lowest levels of the dungeon alongside the other subi. Whilst the usual guards wouldn''t be able to stop the Fourth Step demonmander from escaping, Aura could. This was under the condition she even tried to escape, something she did not show any intention of. The other Second and Third Step subi seemed to follow her lead and didn''t try escape either, but they did throw some overtly flirtatious looks towards the guards. One male guard had nearly been enticed to enter one of the cells and ''have some fun'' before a whip . Vivy was still the head prison warden. The two melons on her chest jiggled and ponytail swayed back and forth as she strut through the prison, inspecting the prisoners one by one with a keen eye. This former dark elf, now evolved into an abyss demon, had remained in this position due to her lust towards men, which coincidentally filled at least 80 percent of the prisoner poption. She had first pick amongst these men and would frequently beguile them with her natural charms and promises of better food and beds. Styx strolled into the dungeon at this moment with Aura beside him. Everest was not to be seen, but her presence could still be felt by those keen enough. The prisoners all looked at the dungeon lord warily, each and every one of them imprisoned for various reasons. They were all either exposed spies, captured foreign nationless exotic races, criminals who broke Styx''sws, or demon prisoners of war. The dungeon residents were not above thew either, as there were plenty of those here under different term sentences for being destructive or harmful to either the dungeon or other dungeon residents. Chapter 150: Dungeon, Human, or What Chapter 150: Dungeon, Human, or What "What do you mean?" Styx quizzed the subus with narrowed eyes. "Dungeons aren''t an exotic race, they are technically monsters. Even if you can take on human form, sweetheart, that doesn''t change your existence." "So what?" "Well, have you ever heard of a monster getting a member of an exotic race pregnant, or vice versa? It is impossible. A dungeon can use any woman''s womb to breed monsters, the same with goblins, the monster kind, but that is different. If I was to describe it, the former is true life in the form of an exotic race, whilst thetter is more parasitic." "You seem to know a lot about this." "Sweetheart, my knowledge is your knowledge, I will even tell you the greatness of the great demon god~" Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Styx looked up towards the ceiling. "Everest," he called out, causing the Monster Lord in her giantess human form to appear from a fold in space with a quizzical face. "I have gotten you pregnant, but I have also gotten Everest, who is a Monster Lord, pregnant many times. So what am I then?" "A super breeder~" Ithrea giggled and threw herself at Styx with adoration filling her gaze. "I have even more hope for our daughter, sweetheart~" "Sigh,e with me. I will show you around the dungeon. That child is absorbing your mana at an ever increasing pace, so you will need an appropriate amount of food to supplement that." "Ahh, there is only one kind of food I like sweetheart~ And that is y-" "We have all kinds of mana rich food that you will eat to support your body. In the meantime, you will also need to help me train these other subi to behave and learn to use restraint." Styx cut her off and simply led the Fourth Step demoness out of the prison. She followed him under hismand as he showed her the various areas of the dungeon. She marvelled at therge swaths of underground fauna that lived off mana. Giant fields of blue tipped wheat, fat and juicy tomatoes, corn, and all kinds of crops grew in their own regions. Special windmills that spun from the draft of mana to grind crops, whilst all kinds of monsters lived in harmony with the residents. Ithrea had already learned Styx actually wasn''t a part of the human kingdom the demons were attacking, but that mattered not to the invading demons. They would still attack anyway. She wondered how long it would be until the demon''s next force attacked, which was only a matter of time. Battles could be lost, but they always won the war. She would stand on Styx''s side this time, or should her own people prove to win, take him as her own prisoner. ~~~~~ Styx sat in the throne room in silence, off in the distance across the boundlesske covered in pink and white spider lilies, Therina sat in meditation whilst channeling energies from the dream realm into herself. Beatrice, with her bulging stomach, sat on the armrest of the main throne, her head asleep on his shoulder. He already understood that if what Ithrea said about breeding to be a universal truth. This meant he was somehow bypassing that rule. The subus may have discarded that thought as her mind was filled with nothing but Styx, but he couldn''t shake off the feeling like there was vital information he was missing. His suspicion was that it was something to do with his previous life and that he was a reincarnated individual. As to whether this was true or not, there was only one person, or god, who would know. "Anthea, I have questions" Styx spoke aloud while looked up to the crystal lights that drifted along the cavern ceiling like stars in the night sky. Despite his query, no answer came from the goddess. "Anthea, what am I?" [ You the lover to Anthea, defier of Authority, world ender, saviour of gods. You are Styx. ] "Who is this?" [ I am here to answer your questions. Nothing more, nothing less. ] "Where is Anthea?" [ Goddess Anthea is currently upied. ] "...Very well. Am I a dungeon, or something else?" [ You are a dungeon. ] "So how am I able to impregnate exotic races if I am a dungeon? Is this rted to my previous life?" [ I do not understand what you mean by your previous life. Please rephrase the question. ] "Huh? I mean my life back on Earth. Am I different because I reincarnated?" Styx waited, but a system window did not open up in front of him. He didn''t know who was speaking to him through the system, but he was sure it must be someone rted to Anthea, possibly a minor god, servant, or even an automated system like he had done in his core. After all, it was his question that triggered it, whilst anybody else wouldn''t have done so. For some reason though, it suddenly stopped responding. "?" "Hello?" Styx wasn''t oblivious. Between the former time in which he saw Anthea and then those True Gods, and this information that was slipped to him, there were definitely secrets involved. Whatever was responding to him before had to have been silenced as it was simply autonomously answering any question he asked it, an opportunity that wouldn''t repeat itself. The names he was referred to as were also a bit suspicious. Anthea had previously called him world ender as well. "Anthea?" [ I cannot exin much, my love. There are rules that must be followed, and you need the majority vote of the other gods too. ] "...Why? And how?" [ Mortals need not know the knowledge of all past, present and future that gods hold. You were given Authority so you stand in the middle and have an opportunity. This is why. I cannot say how, when the timees, you will know. ] "What should I do, then?" [ Grow. Explore that fallen world. I cannot say any more. ] "It called me the Lover of Anthea." No matter what Styx said from then on, Anthea and the earlier automated response remained silent. Giving up on seeking answers for the time being, Styx closed his eyes and let his weary avatar rest. The throne room was silent except for the asional drip of water in the pitch ck depths of the cavern, and Beatrice''s gentle breathing in his ear. ~~~~~ In Lagoon Porter City, two new stores opened up and caused arge amount of controversy. They were brothels, one in the north, and one in the south. As for why they stirred up controversy, it was because they were specifically subus brothels, in which men would pay a small fee and be able to have a brief, yet highly satisfying session with a beautiful subus. They were under strict control too, in which they would not be able to charm men with their magic and suck their life essence out of them until there was nothing less. The city had just gotten out of a giant battle with the demons though, and cleanups of bodies, not just the enemy but also their own, was still underway. The residents held not only fear, but a deeply ingrained hatred for them. However, whilst the demonesses held pointed ears and short horns that poked from their hair, they still lookedpletely humanlike for the most part. Only a few of them had purple or blue skin, but they were just a beautiful nheless. It wasn''t long before the first adventurer ventured into the shop though, leaving half an hourter with a giant grin on his face and a gait that seemed like arge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. The subus slowly ingrained themselves in the city, even venturing out of their shops to explore other regions. They weren''t allowed to leave the city however as they were technically ssed as ves to Styx. Sex ves, to be precise. Either way, the male pops were getting a much needed reprieve from all the built up stress. There were still human and other beastmen brothels arorund, but these subi were specialists. Chapter 151: Arriving at the Waiting Grounds Chapter 151: Arriving at the Waiting Grounds "Students, is there anyone who is yet to bring in their permission slip for the visit to the Fae Forest Realm?" The teacher, Mrs. Margravette, asked the ss of young students around 13 to 15 years old who were sitting behind wooden desks with pens in hand. She was a slightly overweight woman, but that didn''t detract from her looks by much. She had her own ascetic beauty, although she had a strict personality that befit a teacher. "M-Mrs Margravette," One boy, fourteen this year and already growing into the size of a young adult, raised his hand and nervously spoke to the teacher. "Yes, Mason?" "My mother said it was too dangerous outside and I''m not allowed to leave the city" "Then you will have to remain behind, Mason." "But I really want to go." "Need I remind you that while the world may recognize you as an adult by reaching , that does not signify society sees you as an adult. Thew is that you must be 18 before we do not require your parents permission for excursions outside of the city." "Y-yes, Mrs. Margravette" "Are there any other questions?" At the rear corner of the ssroom was a young dark elf with a prideful expression on her face. This was Piri, her hair tied up in twin tails and sharp eyebrows bringing attention to her face. She still had her childish visage, but she had been growing, and her maturity was beginning to show through that. Around her sat her entourage, Avora, Felix and Thomas. They were the human ves Styx had purchased to be her friends when she was the only child in the dungeon. A part of that had caused her to develop a very domineering personality in which she bossed them around more than treated them like normal friends. Her mother, Asta, was helpless regarding this as the daughter had gotten close to Styx and promised herself to him. Her Aunt, Fiore, was also one of the dungeon wives and had been a bit too supportive ording to Asta. Fiore, a Second Step Wind Drifter, had felt guilty ever since she failed to evolve, even though her sister-wife ir was the same. As such, she had spent more time with Piri and her family since then. Piri had proven to be a student difficult to order around from the school''s perspective. The rtionship between the city and the dungeon residents had been unclear ever since the ownership of the city was imed by Styx, the dungeon lord. As she was from the dungeon, and apparently had a very high position in it, the teachers never knew how to properly guide or control her. Thankfully, she hadn''t been too tyrannical and forced them into the difficult position. Piri was very aggressive and domineering towards the other students, but it could never be said she was unfair nor bullied anybody. If anything, arge group of the student body began to look up towards her. Those who used to use their higher position or family wealth in the Maple Dragon Kingdom to bully their lower born ssmates had been thoroughly quelled. Piri''s fists didn''t discriminate and beat them all fairly, all the whilst her position of self proimed future dungeon wife ced her position above all the others. It would have just been false bravado too, were it not for her aunt being a dungeon wife. ~~~~~ A couple weeks passed by and the stench of blood had finally left Lagoon Porter City. All the corpses had been dealt with and people were beginning to return to their normal lives. "Students, please line up ording to your ss and board the carriage!" A balding middle aged man called out to all the kids who were chaotically grouped on the sports field. "Hmph. You, you, and you, stopzing around and stay behind us." Piri snorted and directed several students from her ss who were nervous and looking lost. "P-piri," One of the more nervous kids edged closer and asked the beautiful young dark elf under an umbre. "What?" "W-well, I have heard that cities from all over the k-kingdom would send their most promising students to the Fae Forest Realm" "So?" Piri''s words were short and direct, causing the nervous student to flinch. He had been hoping she would understand what he was hinting towards, but she just looked at him with her usual chilly gaze. Another student turned his gaze towards them and directly exined it for Piri. "...We aren''t a part of the kingdom anymore? Not to mention the cities usually only had a quota of 10 students at most from all their schools within the city We skipped that trial to select our star students and are simply sending everyone. It is likely we will be met with hostility." Piri snorted as a disdainful smirk on her face. "Let''s see them try. Styx said to take everyone, and he is providing all the guards for us. They may run away as soon as we get there." There were over a thousand cities in the Maple Dragon Kingdom, so every year there were over ten thousand star pupils from across the kingdom who made their way to the pocket dimension. Only First Step people below the age of sixteen were able to enter, and inside was a seemingly boundless forest teeming with tamable spirit beast. These beasts had various bloodlines and it was rumored some could even grow all the way to the Fifth Step. This was mere hearsay though as the strongest to ever be tamed grew to the early Fourth Step. This was the partner of one of the kingdom''s Fourth Stepmanders, s it had been killed by the demons several decades ago in an ambush. This trip was extremely important to the young boys and girls, as they were only ever allowed to enter once. The entrance would block them should they ever try to enter again, even if they fulfilled the entry requirements. It wasn''t umon for students to postpone their entry for a year or two because of this, thus allowing them to be stronger and have better chances of taming a stronger beast. All the students of the school gathered on the carriages before heading towards therger meeting point outside the city. Great earthbeasts pulled the carriages along at a fast pace, their six legs rumbling along the city roads. Outside the city was arge gathering of hopeful but nervous students on several dozenrge carriages. Tiger beastmen and elves headed the front and back of the group, whilst even more monsters skirted along the sides as guards. Lagoon Porter City was arge city, even considering the unfortunate losses during the demon attack. The total number of eligible students was around 40 thousand, while around half of those wanted to go to the secret realm, so Styx had to narrow that down at least. He couldn''t guarantee the protection of such arge number of students, and it was too risky outside of his territory at this moment. Therefore he did some narrowing of age groups and contracted that down to five thousand people. This was a tant challenge towards the Maple Dragon Kingdom, as it took up what would normally be the quota of five hundred cities. Styx didn''t care though. This was his n to provide his people with immediate benefits and not only win over more support in theing generation of people to allow a smoother control of them, but also to strengthen his people overall. It wasn''t just students in the carriages. Just like Piri who had joined a regr human school under Styx''s insistence, many other First Step beastmen and elves took part too. ~~~~~ The student''s journey took approximately a week. This was because the entrance to the secret realm wasn''t far away, whilst those from cities further away often joined together to use more expensive airships that usually only travelled around the central regions. To this date, not one airship had ventured out to Lagoon Porter City or Whitecliff City, not that they even had the necessary infrastructure to receive them. "Look over there!" Some of the more excited students stood up on the carriages and pointed fingers toward their destination. This was an area where lush giant great oaks with heaven epassing canopies grew across andscape that was marred by sharp cliffs both tall and short. Gigantic roots curled through the cliffs and arced above the ground The grass below was especially green whilerge crimson and violet birds flew in the sky above, creating a truly picturesque scene. The entrance to the secret real was a giant ring red crack standing up from the ground in the middle of arge clearing like a jagged bolt of crimson lightning. It stood almost a hundred feet tall but even that paled inparison to the trees. The entrance was currently closed, but that would change over the next week as it opened up into a giant portal doorway. Piri and the other students Styx sent weren''t the only visitors here. The kingdom had already sent their star pupils, which formed gigantic crowds with their tents clustered under the canopy of the trees. In fact, due to how close it was to the dungeon and not knowing if they would still be able to send their students over in the following years, they had doubled the quotas and as such formed an evenrge gathering than usual. Just as Piri looked at the kingdom''s students, they too saw the giant processioning closer to them. One that was apanied by an equallyrge grouping of monsters A tension so thick it could almost be felt formed between the two groups. Even the birds seemed to fall silent as the kingdom''s side red at them. "Halt! What are you doing here?" A Third Step teacher from a distant city stood in front of the group with several others backing them up. They held their weapons and were prepared to attack at any moment. Their main concern was not to battle though, but to ensure their students remained safe. The evolved female tiger beastmen leading the group looked at them coldly and without any regard to ying along with them. "Move," She stated without stopping their movement. If the teachers refused to move, they would simply trample over them. "S-stop!" The teacher''s courage was rapidly diminishing the closer they got, but even Styx told the females to ignore them. They weren''t here to make friends or form friendly rtions. He didn''t hold any intention of attacking the kingdom''s people, but he held no qualm in killing them should they attack first. The teachers were forced to dash out of the way, one of which wasn''t fast enough and was smashed aside by arge mace. "Y-y-you!" Their anger red and they seemed about to attack, but backed down at thest moment under the murderous res of beastmen, elves, and monsters alike. "Any who attack will be killed," The leading women dered arrogantly at the teachers, both the ones who tried to stop them, and the ones standing at attention at the kingdom''s camp. The kingdom''s forces, both teachers and students, felt their hearts bleed. The dungeon was being incredibly arrogant and provocative by sending this many people. It was taking away the opportunities of those who fought for their position, but none of them had the confidence to attack the giant monster army that were guarding the dungeon''s camp. Styx watched all this with amusement, figuratively looking down his nose at them. Not long ago, they hadunched a giant army at him and nearly won, despite his advantage of having Monster Lords protecting him. He had defeated them one way or another, even if it was a borrowed hand, and was no longer threatened by them. Even the demons had been repelled by him, what was a bunch of teachers and students. Chapter 152: Intermingling Students Chapter 152: Intermingling Students The tension between the two camps didn''t settle down. Instead, it seemed to increase. The Maple Dragon Kingdom''s side wanted to ease the tension and tried sending several diplomatic parties across, but all of them returned in fear at the aggression disyed by Styx''s monsters and guards. The most recent diplomatic party was a cut above the others though. "We are the teachers from the Royal Academy! Will you leader or representative step forth to meet with us?" A lot of the students from Lagoon Porter City looked towards them nervously, but there was a wall of monsters in between them that snarled and bore their teeth at the teachers. They stood there unperturbed though, a distinctrger amount of courage than many of the other teachers. An arrow flew out from an elf with piercing blue eyes, cutting off several strands of hair and causing them to flinch. She silently stared at the teachers with ice cold eyes, her opinion of members of the kingdom tantly expressed in her gaze. "You are currently trespassing on the territory of the Maple Dragon Kingdom!" That teacher held his expression in ce whilst trying to take the moral high ground. He didn''t give into the provocation but stood his ground. If anything, he was relieved that he had finally gotten their attention. He knew the rtions between the kingdom and the dungeon lord known as Styx were incredibly poor, so he wasn''t entirely surprised at their hostile reception to them. "This is currently in the territory of Lagoon Porter City, you should be relieved we haven''t ughtered you all." From within the procession, Therina stepped forth, two wispy smoke like tails floating behind her. Styx had in fact sent Therina here to not only protect the group, but serve as his representative should it be required. She was themander of this group, but she usually didn''t need to do anything. If anything, this was instead a vacation for her. "Miss Therina!" Piri abruptly jumped out in surprise and tried to rush over to her, leaving her school friends behind, but she was abruptly blocked by monsters whilst Styx chastised her in her head. The Royal Academy teachers were bbergasted with how shameless the strange dark elf was being, but they indeed held information about her and knew she was one of the highest figures in the dungeon, second only to the dungeon lord himself. "This is the entrance to the Fae Forest Realm, which has always been open to everyone," The teachers tried to steer away from a debate onnd ownership in order to avoid a fruitless argument ofying ims against one another. "However, the number of students you have brought" "We will decide how many we bring or don''t bring. What are you trying to say, that it''s too many? You seem to have four times as many students as us though." The teachers felt their kidneys hurt once again. ''Yes, but this is from over a thousand cities! You are just one city! Read the hint already!'' "Ahem We would like to discuss a truce for the duration of this expedition" The teachers took many steps back to announce this, as they truly did have the moral high ground on the matter. Therina also rose her brow at their words, truly expecting her provocation would cause them to attack. She already prepared a bunch of nightmare monsters which would reach havoc on the kingdom''s teachers and highest talents, but Styx was attentive on not making the first move in order to preserve his image. The moral high ground was important in gaining the support of the people after all, no matter whether it was the defenders or attackers. "A truce? Why should I agree to that?" "This is a trip for the young generation to secure a partner for the rest of their life. This is not a ce of war and bloodshed, we only wish to protect the young." Therina gazed at him in an ufortable silence before eventually releasing a long and resounding sigh. "Very well, should you not attack, neither will we. We cannot make any promises for the students however, but we will stop any fighting before us." Unbeknown to kingdom''s camp and their representatives, Therina had made this decision without consulting Styx. It had to be known she held extreme prejudice against humans ever since her vige was raided and countless elves, her brothers and sisters, were raped and sold into very. Ever since taking the life of the former Duke''s son though, as well as Styx taking over a human town, she had witnessed all kinds of sides of humans and formed an odd mncholy in her heart that quelled the former raging mes. She still didn''t like humans, but she was less discriminatory towards them and also held no desire to simply extinguish children. She could easily harden her heart and due it without regret or remorse, but she would not do it for any inconsequential reason. "We will hold the same stance. We cannot control the young, but we hope to at least not shed any unnecessary blood in this ce." Styx watched all this through the gaze of Therina and many others, simply smiling to himself and sipping on a bottle of wine he had tried his hand in distilling. With that, the icy tension between the two sides melted, but nervousness still remained between the two sides. ~~~~~ The students set up stalls on both sides, which they used for cooking foodstuff or selling weapons, books, mana crystals and other trinkets. Even though they were young, they were still able to explore the dungeon or train under supervision. There were those that slipped through the cracks and ventured on their own though, and this unfortunately lead to some untimely deaths among the students. In a world where everyone was either constantly at war or scheming against someone, this was considered a normal matter. Several students bravely crossed the distance between the two camps and mingled with the others to see what they were selling or gossip. Piri was among these, leading her ve friends Avora, Felix and Thomas, as well as a couple of other ssmates, across to the kingdom''s side. "Hey, why are you using an umbre when its not raining?" A young and handsome red-haired student looked at Piri oddly as he asked. The little dark elf nced back at him and simply stated, "The sun hurts my skin." He focused his eyes on her pristine light grey skin and briefly nodded his head. "Are you a dark elf?" "How observant." "Eh I was just asking Hey, I heard that all the women in your city have been turned into you know" "Breeders?" Piri''s voice was getting colder while her escort nervously tried to calm her down, afraid she wouldsh out at the red-haired boy. Several of the kingdom''s teachers also focused their attention at the unfolding situation, ready to intervene should it turn violent. They were also interested in information from Lagoon Porter City, which they had previously only heard from traders, who had a gic trait of overexaggerating everything, and some brief reports released by the Royal Academy of Research and Technology. "That is somethingpletely voluntary." "But I heard everyone does it. Is that wrong?" "No, most women do." One of the teachers had be triggered by this and stepped between the duo before looking down at Piri with a scowl on his face. "Do they not care about their bodies being destroyed from the inside, never being able to have kids?" "Hmph, who are you to lecture me? You know nothing of Lord Styx!" Piri harrumphed before departing, leaving the teacher rooted to the spot in shock that a student spoke back to them in that tone. The students interacted more and more over the next several days whilst the kingdom teachers became increasingly nervous about how their students were getting too close to the monsters. They didn''t trust the other side to be able to control their monsters to the point their beastly instincts would not cause them tosh out at some student who slipped up and looked at it too provocatively. No such incidents urred though, much to the relief of not only them, but also the teachers from Lagoon Porter City. Their understanding of everything was much greater than the former, but even they were worried about the monster''s bestial instincts kicking in. Both sides found out about the other''s VIPs too. The kingdom side had many sons and daughters of nobility, but more importantly the one and only Princess Zoerina too. Styx''s side was just Piri, and whilst not a princess, many secret reports about her were written of her being very close to the dungeon lord himself and also apparently a promised future dungeon wife, the title used for the women who were the dungeon lord''s wives and seconds inmand. Piri and the princess hadn''t met each other yet, whether by coincidence or by intention it wasn''t clear. Being the two most important students in their respective camps though, it seemed to only be a matter of time. ~~~~~ The giant red crack opened more and more every day, but there was still a film covering it that prevented anyone from entering. Piri stood at the forefront of her ss as her teacher begun reciting the rules to the secret realm once more. "Students, remember the following rules. Once you enter, you will appear at a random position within the Fae Forest Realm. There are all kinds of climates in there though, despite being called a forest, so do not be surprised if you end up in a desert." "All the spirit beasts, yes, spirit beasts not monsters, are at the First Step and cannot reach the Second Step until they leave the realm, so you will not encounter any dangers above that. Do not be careless, as even at the same level, there can be very big differences in strength." "You just need to share your blood with a willing spirit beast and the contract will be formed. You need to make it willing though, whether that is appealing through friendship or by force, the method is up to you. Each spirit beast is different and has their own temperament though, so all the homework on spirit beasts you have done leading up to this point will be very important in identifying their personality traits." "You have 72 hours to find and contract a spirit beast to be your partner. You will be ejected from the realm once that time is up. If you get one early, you can use that time to harvest spiritual fruits for the beast and train your bond. They can also increase the potential of your spirit beast, so feed it as many as you can." "You must be careful though, as others will often target you out of jealousy. If your spirit beast dies, you cannot contract with another one. There is no way to leave early, so take that into consideration." "We are currently at peace with the students from the rest of the kingdom so both you and them can remain safe. Competition is fine, but no killing." As the teacher exined all the intricacies one after another, all the students bobbed their head in understanding whilst having various thoughts. There were those who just wanted a partner in life and were filled with exhration, especially those who previously would have never had this opportunity. But at the same time, there were also those who harbored evil intentions in their heart, truce be damned. They would eliminate any potentialpetition if they could, especially if they had got a better partner than them. Envy was a very powerful emotion. Chapter 153: Spiritual Beast Companion Chapter 153: Spiritual Beast Companion When the portal fully opened, everyone was already packed up and ready to enter. The ring red portal wasrge enough four ten people to enter at the same timefortably, so Styx''s and the Kingdom''s side took one half each. The students on both sides looked at each other with a mix of emotions. Some were friendly, others nervous or even hostile. There was a greater amount of hostility from the Kingdom''s side, but nobody spoke aloud of this. What happens in the secret realm is out of the teachers, guards and supervisors hands. Among the crowds entering, neither Piri nor Princess Zoerina looked at the opposite force, instead focusing on their own sides. Piri was much less known among those from Lagoon Porter Citypared to the Maple Dragon Princess, but knowledge of her had spread through the students like wildfire in the week they had been camped here. She was now someone everyone had at least heard rumors about. The umbre she wore made her stand out too. ~~~~~ As Piri stepped through the giant red portal, all her hair stood up and her stomach instantly roiled. Whilst the world did twist and turn as she was transported into the secret realm, this wasn''t because of any sort of vertigo. Her connection with Styx, which was always present no matter where she was, was suddenly cut off. It was a strange feeling where the piece of Styx was still present within her, which she could still feel and retained her ability to see mana, but it had fallen into a dormant state. Either way, it was a sensation as if a piece of her had been cut out, causing the young dark elf to keel over and pant of air. "I I don''t like this!" Piri defiantly shouted as soon as her breath stabilised, despite there being nobody to hear her call. Piri found herself standing in a room surrounded by clouds, as if a bubble had been inserted into a cloud and she stood inside of it. The cloud beneath her feet was much sturdier than a normal cloud though as she didn''t simply fall through it. Her feet sank into the cloud as they were met with a strong buoyancy, pushing her back up and allowing her to walk Golden sunlight streamed through the walls of the room as if the early morning sun was shining through. Walking over to the wall, Piri pressed her hand against the cloud there and felt the same resistance as the floor, trapping her in this ce. On the far side of the room was a grandiose alter which golden engravings on it. On top of it, where those carvings seemed to be at their core, three eggs the size of footballs floated, intricate magic circles carve into the alter below them. "So these are the beasts most suited to me? Nonsense, the most suited beast will be the one Lord Styx puts inside of me~" Piri giggled to herself shyly before making her way over to the altar and trying to feel the eggs. She saw the intricate weaves of mana that swirled through the altar before flowing into and feeding the three eggs. The mana would then shift and be digested by the egg to sustain itself. Piri ced her hand before the first one and hummed as she extended her senses towards the egg. Chaos. Destruction. Magic. Such were the feelings she got from the egg. She could tell that the beast inside was very powerful and well suited to her, but she still examined the next one. Love. Darkness. Obsession. A thorny creature that embodied all of Piri''s feelings towards Styx. She felt warmth and intimacy from the egg at an even deeper connection than the first, even if the beast inside seemed less powerful. Elements. Chaos. Order. A truly befuddling existencey in the third egg. It was a contraction, embodying conflicting attributes that normally shouldn''t go together. It was like flipping a coin and itnds on both sides at the same time. Impossible. "Which one~" Piri mused aloud, but in truth, she had already decided since she first felt it. She grabbed the second egg off the alter and into her embrace, her lips rxing into a gentle smile as she caressed it. This egg was dark silver with dark gold etchings and bloody veins on the surface of it. It would have been grotesque to anybody elf, but the young dark elf didn''t hesitate to hold it tight against her body. "It doesn''t matter if you are not as strong as the other two, you are definitely the one most suited to me. I will be strong enough for the both of us in any case." Piri immediately felt the clouds beneath her feet losing their resistance before she fell straight through the floor with the egg, the altar and remaining two eggs vanishing behind the veil of cloud. ~~~~~ The world suddenly opened up into an infinite expanse as Piri left the cloud and was free falling towards a seemingly endless forest, a football sized egg in one hand and her umbre in the other. The wind blew her hair about as she squinted her eyes to see where she was going. She could faintly direct her falling direction tond at a specific point, but she was still bound to the local area. Even though she was free falling from the clouds, not once did the small dark elf feel any danger. She could feel the protection of wind coiling around her body, ensuring her safe descent and that no injury urred onnding. Just as she anticipated, the trees seemed to spread apart their branches to clear room for her tond, whilst the protection of the wind grew more condensed around her and slowed her descent until it was at a safe speed and even that was slowed further to ensure afortablending. As if the beast inside had just woken up, the egg in Piri''s embrace begun vibrating. Cracks soon spread over the egg and the creature inside broke free. "...This is" Broken eggshells rained from Piri''s small hands as a weightless ck sludge-like darkness covered her hands and forearms as it poured onto the lush grass beneath her feet. Piri was surprised by the true form of the monster. Contrary to what one would think, there was no beast in the egg, it was the ck darkness itself that was the spiritual beast. The creature wriggled and shifted its form on the ground, extending tendrils out and even morphing its entire body as if it was stretching and getting to know its body. The grass, now very dark as if a shadow had been cast over it, swayed almost imperceptibly under the movements of the shadow creature. "Come here," Piri said whilst squatting down and circling her finger through the shadow covered grass. As if finding a home, the creature twisted and fled into the dark elf''s shadow, bing one with it. Piri had a form of spiritual connection with it and couldmunicate, even if it was inferior to her connection with Styx. She felt the timid shadow''s timidness, afraid of being seen, yet also its possessiveness. It wanted to cling to and infect anything it touched. This wasn''t born from an emotion of destructiveness either, but merely it showing its affection. "You are still weak, let''s go find you some spiritual fruits and level you up," Piri giggled lightly as she squatted down and patted her shadow. Piri also instinctively knew what the spiritual beast was. It was known as a shadowkin. ~~~~~ "Please stop," A young student from a city far in the Maple Dragon Kingdom''s westernnds begged whilst standing in front of his spiritual beast partner, a brown and ck tiger cub. Piri stood before him with an expression of disdain. Her shadow twitched as hungry eyes seemed to open within it. "I will not be so kind next time." The young dark elf snorted and walked past him and his deeply injured spiritual beast with her umbre blocking the sun. On the grassy hilltop were seven other injured students and theirpanions, one of which was from Lagoon Porter City. That student looked at her expectantly, but was met with no dfferent treatment than the others. Piri fought with her bare hands, some small blood stains still remaining on them showing that she was far from a weak flower. She didn''t use gauntlets as her immense magic covered her hands and formed an armor all on its own. Nothing was a better conductor for her magic than magic itself too. On the peak of this grassy hill was an ancient oak tree with a cluster of spiritual fruits, small flower like nts withrge bulbous crystal fruits instead of flowers. Piri''s shadow immediately shot out from under her feet and covered the spiritual fruits. They were consumed by the shadow and left nothing but bare nts behind. She could feel it strengthening even more with each spiritual fruit. Now that these spiritual fruits had been consumed, Piri ignored the injured students and followed her mana sight to the next location that had arge agglomeration of mana. "Hmm~ I will tell Lord Styx all about this ce when I get out~ Lord Styx, I miss you" Not too far away, the MVP of the kingdom, Princess Zoerina, was fluttering through the woods in the same direction under the nose of her spiritual beast, a young fire drake. ~~~~~ Piri apprached a region in the Fae Forest Realm whereva begun to seep out the ground, yet the forest still stood vibrant and full of life. Giant great oaks had towering canopies and thick snake like roots that arched above the ground before prating back into the earth. Spiritual beasts flew through the air and along the ground. Fighting each other or any who were contending for the current spiritual fruit, a tree growing three fire essence peaches. Several students and their spiritual beasts were already here and fighting in a chaotic war. The native spiritual beasts were the first to notice Piri''s presence and immediately attacked as soon as they identified her as getting too close to the spiritual fruits. "Hmph!" Piri snorted and revolved her mana throughout her body, reinforcing it whilst also coating her fist in lightning. He umbre was retracted and became a weapon. It was in fact made from some of the strongest metals and fabrics Styx had avable, so it would serve as both a weapon and shield even when she was at the Third Step. A blood red unicorn like creature charged at her with its horn poised to run her through. Piri dextrously spun on her feet and avoided its charge whilst using her umbre sword to cause it to charge to the side. At the same time, her shadow shot out several jagged spikes that chased the unicorn before breaking out of the ground like needles and stabbing through its stomach. The spiritual beast whinnied and hastily broke free from the shadow needles, leaving several holes in its stomach dripping blood onto the ground. The unicorn wasn''t out of the battle yet, but Piri didn''t give it any chances to turn the tides on her. She dropped her umbre into her shadow, allowing her spiritual creature to store it within itself, and charged at the unicorn with her fists poised to strike. Piri easily avoided or parried the spiritual creature''s attacks with lightning d fists while punching and elbowing it back with expert skill. The unicorn cried in pain as electricity burnt its nerves and wanted to run, but the young dark elf struck its head and addled its brain, causing it to weakly copse on the ground. Her shadow branched out from her body and opened its giant teeth, striking at the spiritual beast''s throat and gouging out a significant chunk of flesh. It ate the blood that spilled out while Piri broke its neck and let herpanion feast upon the corpse before moving on. There were lots of students and other spiritual beasts contending for the spiritual fruits, and Piri fell into the thick of that battle for hegemony. Amidst the chaos, Piri suffered a surprise attack from behind, a long wooden arrow sneaking through her guard and piercing through her lower back. "Bastard!" Gritting her teeth, she snapped off the back of the arrow and pulled the remainder out the front of her stomach. Her regenerative powers were on par with the other woman of the dungeon and that hole could be seen closing at a visible speed. Turning her head, she red at the attacker. It was a young student that was using a skill to camouge into the background. Even his presence was masked, whilst the attack contained no mana, allowing him to catch Piri by surprise. The shadowkin spiritual beast felt Piri''s anger and struck back. After consuming so many spiritual fruits, it was much stronger than when it was first hatched. It had also reached from the spiritual fruits and fighting other spiritual beasts. The shadow tendrils shot across the ground faster than the eye could follow before opening up into shadowy teeth that bit into the attacker''s ankles. "Shit! Just die!" The young man knew his location was revealed and wanted to escape in the chaos tounch another surprise attack, but the strange shadow tied him down. Piri sprinted across the distance and nted her foot directly on his face and kicked him away. He tore free of the shadow, one of his ankles bent in the wrong direction, whilst bouncing along the ground beforeing to a stop amidst a small could of dirt. "Who the hell do you think you are telling to die?!" Piri appeared above him again, her entire body and especially her fists giving off an icy aura. The boy''s eyes shot wide open in panic as he ignored the pain of his ankle and rolled away, narrowly missing the punch that put a hole in the ground. His spiritual beast, a three-eyes green bird, swooped down from above. Piri''s senses had already detected it, so she intercepted it and snapped one of its wings with a targeted strike. The bird was especially unlucky as its wing was crippled as it partially fell in a smallva river that had emerged from one of the cracks in the ground. The boy regretted not aiming at the dark elf''s heart as she looked down at him in anger. His bow was useless in in closebat and his ankle was broken too. Piri''s shadow attacked again too, slowly spreading over him and corroding his body. Piri''s eyebrow rose in surprise as she raised her guard just as a new person attacked all of a sudden. She was knocked back several steps as the gauntlet-ed fists collided with her arms. "What do you think you are doing to a fellow student?" A beautiful yet stern and disapproving voice originated from the attacker. Piri looked at the young girl that was a national beauty in the making with long silver hair. On her shoulder was a young fire drake that constantly had small tendrils of smoke spreading from its nostrils. "I know who you are, the esteemed Princess Zoerina," Piri stated with hostility as she looked at the princess of the kingdom Styx was against. "I don''t know you, but I have heard some recent rumors. You have the courage to assert yourself against the Maple Dragon Kingdom, and also im spots in this expedition. You and your dungeon are poison in this kingdom." Princess Zoerina scrunched her brow and looked at her in an extremely unfavourable light. Her kingdom had enough problems, and Styx''s attack was one of them. Piri felt her fury boil up to the tipping point at her calling Styx a poison. Not to mention, she could tell that the young princess was overflowing with future potential. Whilst the amount of mana in her body couldn''tpare with Piri or the dungeon wives, it dwarfed that of all the other students here. She was also brimming with pure physical strength from her bloodline, as Piri could feel in her still shaking arms. Alongside a spiritual beast that could one day turn into an elder dragon, the young princess would be the most formidable opponent for Styx in the future. This was uneptable. For the first time sinceing to the Fae Forest Realm, Piri exuded her unadulterated killing intent. Chapter 154: Eliminating Potential Chapter 154: Eliminating Potential The young Princess Zoerina felt Piri''s killing intent and instinctively went on high alert. She had been trained by the royal instructers from an early age and had arge amount ofbat experience for a 13 year old girl. She trained harder than both her brothers, and also had more talent than the two of thembined. Piri crouched down low andunched herself towards the princess. She drove her fist towards the pit of the princess'' stomach, an attack that is incredibly difficult to dodge. The princess red back as she deflected Piri''s attack with one hand and struck back with the other. Piri''s fists exploded in fire and sparks as they collided, her mana coating her fists in the fire element. "Daring to use fire on me? Naive!" "We will see!" Piri was more agile and skilled than the princess, who relied on her overwhelming strength to supplement her attacks. The fire drake tried to attack Piri as well, but thetter''s shadowkin expanded from her shadow and counterattacked. The dark elf managed to finallynd a solid backhanded strike to the princess'' temple and sent her tumbling across the grass. "Princess!" "Your highness!" Many of the students from the kingdom hurried over to help the princess, a girl who was widely praised and esteemed throughout the kingdom. They blocked Piri''s path as the silver haired girl climbed back to her feet with a grimace. "You will pay for that!" "Hmph! I see you are in your rightful ce, cowering behind your vassals." Piri wasn''t threatened by the princess'' support forces as she had confidence to defeat them all regardless, it would just drag out this battle, so she taunted the prideful girl. The dark elf had a strong pride herself, so she could easily recognise simr traits in the opposite party. Princess Zoerina ground her teeth and charged at Piri. Her bloodline boiled in her veins and inted her strength to higher than anyone her level should ever reach. Her eyes also seemed to briefly change to be almost like those of a dragon''s, but it was merely an illusion caused by her aura. The two crossed fists with skilled movements, deflecting, defending or avoiding the attacks they can whilst trying to deal as much damage to the opposite party. Piri wasn''t messing around as her hand was coated in lighting and stabbed towards the princess'' throat. The fire drake charged up and spewed a fire breath over the dark elf that caused her to abandon the attack and avoid it though. The princess followed up with a roundhouse kick that sent Piri flying into a trunk with fractured ribs. The shadowkin retaliated from Piri''s shadow erupting with shadow spikes and teeth tocerate the princess. One of the shadow spikes pierced through Zoerina''s leg and caused her to wince, while she twisted her body agilely and only received minor cuts and abrasions from the others. Her clothing had been ruined though, revealing her hidden armor and a generous amount of healthily tanned skin. *Cough* *Cough* Piri vomited blood onto the ground, one of her ribs having snapped and pierced her lung. The other students attacked en mass too, causing her to take cover beneath the arch of the great oak''s roots. Arrows and steel projectiles flew at her, but the shadowkin formed a shield to block most of them whilst Piri swatted the others out of the air. She focused on controlling her body to reset the broken rib and heal the other fractures. She was forced to keep taking distance until she could heal the damage. Once she could breath properly, she fought back. With her mana coated arms and reinforced body, the students that were the best in their city''s struggled to keep up with her. Zoerina fought too, but with an injured leg, her movements had be slower. She had drunk a rare and expensive restorative potion, but nothing was instantaneous. Piri''s greatest strength was the same as the other women of the dungeon, especially the dungeon wives, regeneration. She could control the mana in her manawork to heal her body at an elerated rate in exchange for mana. The longer she fought against the other students, the more and more injured they became whilst she remained in optimal form. Her mana was depleting quite quickly, but she had arge enough reserve to sustain her for another half an hour at the current rate. Two more students, a brown haired boy and blonde girl with a bronze staff, were knocked out cold and left to their fate on theva riddled ground. Eventually, it was just Piri and Princess Zoerina fighting alongside their spiritual beastpanions. A few of the local spiritual beasts attacked too, but most of them were more intelligent and left the two to exhaust themselves so they could easily kill the weary victor. Princess Zoerinasted the longest out of everyone. She dealt blow after blow to Piri, but thetter was like a zombie whilst she could no longer keep both eyes open. Her once beautiful face was bruised andcerated, blood trickling down her chin and dripping onto the ground. Even in her condition, she continued looking at Piri with anger and a determination to destroy her. "You! Who are you to defy the kingdom!?" Zoerina dug at the ground with her bloody fingers, her entire left gauntlet broken to pieces. "Do you not have any gratitude?" "Gratitude? I was never considered a member of your kingdom. Your people hunt us, **** us, and enve us. And we are supposed to be grateful?!" Piri screamed in disbelief as her anger red up and fueled her killing intent, causing her to punch the princess'' face into the ground with a dull thud. She too was exhausted and her mana drying up. The shadowkin was providing thergest support at the moment, wrapping her under her clothes and strengthening her. It clung with affection and even shared its mana with her. "? A nationless vige? Is that the problem? Whose fault is it that you refused to be a part of the kingdom? If you be citizens, you are protected under all of the kingdom''sws." "Hmph, you are just shifting responsibility to excuse the actions of your people. Because we refuse to abandon our culture and lifestyle to integrate with you, we aren''t people and therefore it is okay to treat us as objects for your lust and greed, Listen to yourself!" Zoerina grit her teeth and spat a globlet of blood at the young dark elf''s face. "How about you listen to your own words. Where are you living now? Ruled by a dungeon lord that uses women to breed monsters. Do you think I don''t know? That I haven''t heard of the vile deeds that take ce there? Where are you living now, is it still this so called lifestyle that you refuse to change. You are a hypocrite." Piri was lost for words and didn''t know how to respond. Instead, she resorted to violence. With the princess on all fours, she kicked her in the ribs and sent her tumbling several meters. She also felt a rib cracking under her foot, and given the wheezing the princess started making, seemed to have dealt a serious blow. "You are a danger to Lord Styx," Piri hardened her heart and forced her anger to drain from her body, looking down at the half dead princess with an ice cold gaze. "I won''t kill or cripple you now, that would spark another war before it is time. However, your future potential is too high. You will be a great danger in the future. Therefore" Piri stepped over to where the unconscious and bleeding fire drakey on the ground, its body limp and defenseless. "No *cough* No. No! Stop! *wheeze* NOOOO-*cough**wheeze*!!" Princess Zoerina cried out despite the pain it caused her. Piri coated her fist in lighting and struck down on the defenceless drake''s head with all the strength she could muster. Blood and fragmented bone sshed out as her fist drove a hole into the ground, the corpse of the fire drake twitching twice before fallingpletely silent. "Therefore, I will destroy your future potential." Princess Zoerina stared with her one good eye in frozen shock, tears marring her face. Everyone only had one spirit beastpanion, and would not be able to receive nor tame another one, this was thew of the secret realm. "...Whore Whore *wheeze* YOU FUCKING WHORE!!" The princess'' face twisted in pure madness as she red at Piri with an unrivalled wrath. Piri only nced at her beforepletely disregarding the princess on her hands and knees in tattered clothes and covered in blood. The young dark elf turned her head and wandered towards where the spiritual fruits were and had her shadowkin devour them, ignoring the copsed princess'' voice. "You will regret this," Zoerina fixated her one good eye on the dark elf''s back with wrath, her bloody fingers wing at the dirt. The native spiritual beast had beenpletely intimidated by Piri''s viscousness and the killing aura still emanating from her body. None of them continued to vie for the fire element spiritual fruits and simply watched as the shadowkin ate them. ~~~~~ Princess Zoerina''s entire body was heavy and consciousness heavy as she sat on the ground, the corpse of her fire drake on herp. The riverlets ofva along the ground had dried and crusted with the spiritual fruits no longer present to fuel them with their essence. She mumbled to herself over and over under her breath, almost like a chant. "...Hero? Hero, where are you? Why didn''t youe? Hero?" A student approached behind the princess before nervously raising his voice. "P-Princess? Are you okay?" Zoerina looked up at the young man with lifeless eyes, all her emotions spent and leaving her empty within. "Are you my hero?" "Princess, let''s get away from here and recover. I will keep you safe." The young man saw the princess was gravely injured and couldn''t currently stand, let alone walk. The blood had crusted up, but her legs were severely damaged. In a bout of momentous courage, he wrapped his arms around the young girl and picked her up in a princess carry. Zoerina watched the headless fire drake tumble to the ground before turning her head back to the student. "Why didn''t you get here earlier?" "Princess?" "You are not my hero." Her hand suddenly stabbed forward and pierced into the young man''s defenceless chest. He stared as if unable toprehend what happened as the silver-haired princess crushed his heart under her immense physical strength. ~~~~~ The next two days passed by as Piri and her shadowkin spiritual beast grew in strength. It peaked at the maximum and there was very little within the Fae Forest Realm which could threaten it. Piri''s shadow normally seemedpletely normal, albeit a bit darker than a natural shadow, but that changed rapidly once the shadowkin attacked. Her shadow shot out like an ancient Lovecraftian god, the shadows stretching across the entire field as it erupted in spikes, or grew mouths to eat, it could even cover the target and cling to them, slowly eating away at their defense. It hid in the shadows produced by clothing, coating the body. The only way to dispel it would be to erase all shadows on one''s body with light, but that was near impossible. Piri had made it climb into a person''s orifices too and attack from inside the body, but the feedback she received was revolting so she never made it repeat that action after the first attempt. Piri''s reputation had erupted like a wildfire thorugh the Fae Forest Realm, and most students simply fled at the sight of her. What she had done to the princess frightened them all, and they feared the kingdom would seek retaliation for the damage she caused. They didn''t want to get in the middle of the kingdom and the dungeon fighting by any means. The dark elf had definitely harmed the kingdom in a way that couldn''t be forgiven, but she had also restrained herself by not killing the princess directly and instead leaving something to allow hesitance in erupting into full war so soon. What surprised her the most, was that during her time here, she never ran into the princess again. She had absolute confidence that the princess would be chasing after her to seek vengeance as soon as she recovered, she probably had enough expensive potions to do so after all. Contrary to her thoughts, thetter almost seemed to be hiding from her instead. ~~~~~ Three days after entering, all the students who were still alive were teleported out of the secret realm without any warning signs. The portal glowed with a deep blood-like crimson and spat them out one after another. The students quickly returned to their respective camps as the hostility between the two forces was much greater than when they entered. Over a thousand people didn''t return either, meaning a lot of blood had been spilled within the Fae Forest Realm. "Styx!" Piri called out in her mind in excitement as the connection between the dungeon and herself was restored to its full service. "Little Piri, I see you have gotten your littlepanion. How was your trip?" Piri exined everything about inside of the secret realm, which Styx didn''t have ess to, and all that transpired. "There was no need to spare the princess'' life. The kingdom isn''t ready to go to war nheless. If anything, it would just alienate people in future cities that I take over. Rather than kill her future potential though, it would have been much better to capture her. Her imprisonment would have been much better." Piri had an epiphany after Styx''s words and realized that she had been too narrow minded. Styx could have even trained her to be on of his forces, taking her potential and making it into his own force. "T-that, Lord Styx, forgive me. I was too naive and didn''t realize that at the time. Lend me the monster forces and I will capture her immediately!" "I fear you are a bit toote for that, little Piri." Just as Styx said, the kingdom force had already condensed their group and were retreating from the site at a fast pace. They had moved so fast that half their belongings had been left behind. The kingdom teachers had acted rapidly after hearing Princess Zoerina''s circumstances and foresaw the princess suddenly being captured just as Styx mentioned. They brought her into the core of their force and hurried back to where the kingdom''s forces were stronger and Styx''s weaker. Therina was currently coordinating the group from Lagoon Porter City and the dungeon. Even if Styx told her to mobilize everyone and the monsters, it was already toote. The teachers and guards of the kingdom''s side weren''t weak by any means, and a rushed and careless attack would allow them to potentially overturn the situation. They wanted to protect the students and was the main reason theypromised in the first ce. Once that vow was broken, not even Styx was confident to be victorious with the present forces. Chapter 155: Inside the "Temple" Chapter 155: Inside the "Temple" Styx was currently doing an inspection of both The Void and Heaven''s temples. The Void''s emissaries, construction team, and several priestesses had suddenly appeared a while ago with all the materials to construct the temple. It had caught Styx by surprise, but he had adapted quite quickly and a location within the eastern caverns of the dungeon had been assigned to them. Naturally, Styx approached this one with the angelmander Urs and Beatrice by his side. Everest was also hiding within subspace and he could feel her gaze never leaving his body for more than a second. It was an odd stare that only ced Styx within itself. Should anything or anyone get too close to him, it would momentarily split away from him to assess the danger before returning again. Urs had reluctantly parted with her armor and had been forced to wear an open back pure white dress by Styx. He enjoyed eyeing her bodysciviously, resulting in the battle angel looking away in embarrassment. Beatrice was almost at the full term of her pregnancy, the baby had been kicking periodically whilst her breasts had swollen and filled with milk. It was due to herte term pregnancy that she had be less and less active in her usual tasks, so Styx had brought her out to walk with his avatar. The happiness she felt just being by his side overflowed through their connection and filled his soul with warmth. She giggled and smiled warmly whenever he rubbed her stomach, which contained her greatest desire in the world. The temple was a grand construction with bs of dark stone that appeared almost tinted green under the reflection of the moonlight from the cavern roof. Styx had installed a pseudo moon array on the ceiling under the bequest of The Void''s envoy, Ygralea, that kept this zone within the dungeon under a perpetual night. Styx had also begun modifying the nts and general area to suit, with flowers that were phosphorescent and would release stunning luminescent gumdrops of light that floated through the forest like will-o''-the-wisps. Green underworld mes burned from stone firepit pedestals while exquisite tinted ss windows depicting all kinds of gods lined the building. A ck star high on a giant circr window above was the main centrepiece though, with all the gods below it. Inside was a polished te tiled floor with a grand and open main hall. A plethora of artifacts and art pieces that contained divine power were ced on disy, whilst the inner chambers were used for people to worship and receive the blessings of various gods under the umbre of The Void. The Void had clearly used a type of spatial array within the temple to make the interior significantlyrger than the exterior, but Styx felt the living array he begun using in new homes was much better. "I want this one," Styx said whilst picking up a bejewelled goblet with a powerful divine aura to it. "Lord Styx, the god whose power fills this vessel must agree to that first," Ygralea entered the main hall dressed in an elegent ck and violet robe with a deep v-cut that extended all the way down to the naval. Several other priestesses in simr robes skirted by her sides, all of which giving weing smiles to Styx whilst uniformly ignoring the angel Urs. "The cost?" "You would have to ask them. It would depend on how much they value the divine artifact. It is one of their advertisement in the mortal ne, which costs quite significantly to create." "A shame, then. If said god is ever willing to part with it for free, let me know." Styx did want it, but not so much he was willing to trade with valuable knowledge or service for it. "So what had Lord Styxe here for today? Perhaps you wish to explore faith, and receive one of our god''s boon?" Ygralea smiled slyly and slid her body up against Styx, pressing her buttocks against his crotch whilst an arm hooked around his neck, her hair and antlers glimmering like emerald under the light. "Perhaps you have finallye to take my maidenhood?" Everest emitted arge amount of killing intent towards the envoy, but several divine consciousnesses sparked and suppressed it before it could reach the two, resulting in a very disgruntled spider Monster Lord. She hissed back at the divine consciousnesses defiantly, but didn''t dare attack them. Styx couldn''t restrain himself under such an enticement and wrapped one arm around the Ygralea''s slender waist whilst the other pinched her chin and forced her to gaze directly in his eyes. "You seem so experienced, do you still have your maidenhood?" "Of course. Us Priestesses of the Void value our maidenhood very deeply. Once we give it to someone, we will never care for another in our lives." The other priestesses all nodded their head in agreement whilst Urs furrowed her brow. Beatrice also interjected. "And yet you offer it so easily." "The Void thinks very highly of Lord Styx. We are all prepared to offer our hearts and bodies to sate his lust should it be required." "Since when were the Priestesses of the Void so loose?" Urs stated, blushing slightly at her own words which she secretly med Styx for having a negative influence on her. "Our souls will always belong to The Void, but our heart and body is free to give to whomever we choose." Styx partially nodded his head in understanding whilst his mana tendrils extended from his body and begun wrapping themselves around Ygralea. "You will offer yourself just like that. I had honestly expected more resistance." "So, would you like to take me. You can take the others at the same time, you know. But perhaps we should go somewhere a little more private. This is the main hall, and we already have quite a few believers who visit to pray... Nnnnn~~" The antlered beauty suddenly moaned as Styx''s mana tendrils wriggled their way into her manawork. She did not offer up any resistance and allowed her body to weaklyy in Styx''s embrace. "The main purpose was just to inspect things. Your believers havee from Lagoon Porter City and none of them have a piece of myself inside of them. I hadn''t had the chance to see your construction yet. It is also a good chance to inspect and work on your mana channels. That is the desire of The Void towards me, right?" "And haahhh how do you like it inside?" The way Ygralea phrased it, it was unclear whether she was indicating towards the temple or herself. "I have never known you to be so free spirited? Where is the Monster Lord you are in charge of aiding, Peacock?" "He is back in his territory If he is gone too long the monsters start fighting for mmmmm territory. I will returnter but... ahhh~~ Lord Styx, if you keep this up I will never be able to let you go~" Styx dug through her mana channels with his tendril without resistance, filling her body and expanding her mana channels. It truly brought her a deep connection and fulfilling feeling towards Styx, who was ''inside'' of her, but his main goal was her core region. It was difficult to trust someone whose allegiance resided elsewhere, but it would be different if he could form a bond with them. This was true for both the envoys of The Void, and Heaven''s angels. What annoyed Styx, was that there seemed to be an imprable barrier around her mind that prevented all his attempts to prate deeper. He wasn''t sure if Ygralea was doing it actively or even knew about it, but he couldn''t ce a piece of himself within her. Styx lowered his head and stole the beautiful antlered woman''s lips, extending his tongue into her mouth and mixing their saliva together. Ygralea closed her eyes and moaned, whilst Styx snuck one of his hands through the low v cut of her dress and grasped her breast. Her boobs weren''t thergest out of those currently present, but they were firm and springy under Styx''s grip. He felt her nipple harden and rub against his hand as he massaged the beauty''s chest. The other priestesses watched this without batting an eyelid whilst Urs and Beatrice had varying reactions. Urs had covered her crimson face with her hands, pretending to not know what was happening, whilst Beatrice smiled wryly and shook her head. Urs''srge halo above her head was rotating though, indicating she wasmunicating with heaven or another angel. Beatrice saw her mana being very active within her body, but neither her or Styx knew what it was doing. "Enough!" A loud and anger filled voice echoed through the hall. Loreley stormed into the main hall filled with wrath. Her ck feathered wings were extended wide out beside her, as if to make her presence even more known. Styx saw her through his dungeon senses and knew immediately who Urs was contacting. "When did the Priestesses of the Void turn into such whores, giving away your bodies like cheap artifacts?" This prompted Styx to separate his lips from Ygralea''s, the seemingly weak woman then breaking free from Styx''s embrace with no effort at all before facing the invading fallen angel. "Oh my, Loreley, what are you doing here? Urs I can understand, as she is apanying Lord Styx, but what prompted you toe to another temple on your own volition?" "Answer my question, you loose woman! You should be ashamed of yourself!" Styx stood to the side and watched the two start arguing with Urs and Beatrice by his side. Urs was still avoiding looking at him, whilst Beatricetched herself onto his arm tenderly. Styx nced at Urs, who was looking away from him, and adopted a mischievous grin. He slipped his free hand through the open back of her dress and pulled her into his embrace. The angel''s entire body tightened as his hand firmly held onto her bare skin, but she still held her voice. "Our bodies are but expendable in the face of our faith, what does it matter? Is that truly what you are angry about?" "Shameless! Both our bodies and souls belong to a higher force. You have degenerated!" "I recall there was a certain fallen angel who abandoned that has been showing some dangerous signs towards a certain dungeon lord, you two even-" "Shut up!" Loreley cut off Ygralea and even pulled out arge spear from a space ring. The divine consciousnesses within the temple also showed themselves, but none of them interfered. Instead, it seemed they were merely enjoying the show. Off to the side, Styx ran his fingers up and down Urs''s side under her dress, prompting her voice to titter lightly and body to quiver. Eventually finding it not enough, he unhesitatingly slid his hand downwards and pushed it into her underwear, grabbing her buttocks. "Perhaps you wish to face me now?" Styx whispered into Loreley''s ear with a hot breath. He kneaded her tender buttock under his grip, his pinky bing dangerously close to pushing deeper between her buttocks. The angel seemed to turn to stone and her entire body turned weak in his hand. She felt his mana tendrils wrapping around her body and slowly pushing deeper and deeper inside of her. One the other side, Beatrice had alreadypletely epted his mana tendrils and looked at the other two with a knowing gaze. She knew exactly how this angel was feeling right now, and how dangerously close to the precipice of degeneration she was. Urs was a battle angel, and had been oblivious to matters of the heart for her eon long life. Angels lived for a very long time, but it was very hard for them to bear offspring, so matters of life and love were a distant part of most of their lives. Styx had been working on Urs''s heart for a long time, slowly conditioning her body to ept him. Ygralea and Loreley were currently unaware of Styx''s secret moves, instead focusing on one another. "Are you sure you''re not just angry I was a step ahead of you, again?" Ygralea mocked with an innocent smile on her face, prompting Loreley to finally attack. Loreley thrust her spear at the antlered girls heart, but she used her bare hands to catch the spear and redirect the strike into the ground. The fallen angel was just as skilled though, and followed the momentum to flip the spear to attack with the butt. The other priestesses made some room as the battle between the two became more and more viscous. The divine consciousnesses exerted their power to protect the artwork and divine artifacts. They were divine artifacts merely because they held a god''s divine power, not because they were indestructible. Styx whispered into Urs''s ear once again, almost like a spell. "Wrap your arm around my neck." Seemingly instinctively, the angel did as he said and used it to support herself. This also forced her to look at him, her face bright red and wide eyed. Seeing her innocence, Styx couldn''t help but take things further. He used his fingers to crawl his hand deeper inside her underwear. She opened her mouth slightly, as if about to say something, when Styx wrapped his middle finger under her crotch and pressed it against her vaginal slit. "Ep!" Urs subconsiously yelped at the touch. It was an awkward reach, but Styx pressed his finger between her vaginal lips and felt that she had already moistened herself with heavenly nectar. He circled around the tight hole leading to her inner cloister before gently applying pressure and sliding it inside. Urs''s manawork was already filled with Styx, bringing an undeniable and instinctive close connection with him, while his finger also pushed inside of her body. She panted and weakly held onto his body as he stirred up the inside of her vagina with his finger. "You! What are you doing!?" Utterly enraged, Loreley had heard Urs''s involuntary yelp and looked over, only to see Styx enjoying himself and fingering her heavenly sister whilst she was busy fighting The Void''s envoy. Ygralea also noticed it and had aplex expression, as if she had done the work but someone else reaped the rewards. Beatrice tacitly release Styx and stepped back as Urs flew over at breakneck speed and tackled Styx. Urs squatted on the ground and wrapped herself in her white wings to hide as she felt just how wet her crotch was. Loreley pinned Styx to the ground with her hands and legs whilst sitting on him, ignoring the bulge she felt pressing between her buttocks. "You despicable and shameless Dungeon! I told you not to touch my sisters, and what are you doing!?" Styx met her furious gaze with an impish one of his own. "Well, a certain fallen angel had left me wanting, I couldn''t control myself." "Do you think that is an excuse?!" "Oh, of course not." "Then why say it!?" "I am impulsive." Loreley was so angry her chest was heaving up and down, mesmerising Styx and drawing his gaze. This only further enraged the fallen angel though, but she had no idea what to do as her mind was in a mess. With her hands grasping his wrists in an iron grip, Styx spread his arms further apart and caused the fallen angel''s face and torse to lower towards him. "It''s been quite some time, why don''t we finally seal the deal between us," Styx''s mana tendrils tenderly wrapped around Loreley, but her skin had turned into an imprable fortress towards them. "You did agree to take the ce for your sisters, right? You don''t intend for Ygralea to be first again, right?" Loreley didn''t say anything in return, she picked Styx up and ced him over her shoulder before storming towards the temple''s exit. "We are leaving!" She shouted whilst carrying Styx away, not allowing for any protest. Urs was currently too ashamed to move whilst Beatrice followed from a distance silently. Ygralea snorted in annoyance, only solidifying the fallen angel''s mindset, and returned to the inner cloister of the temple with the other Priestesses of the Void. Chapter 156: The Falling of a Fallen Angel (1) Chapter 156: The Falling of a Fallen Angel (1) Loreley carried Styx all the way back to her residence inside the town within the dungeon. The dungeon residents saw their Lord Styx being carried over the fallen angel''s shoulder, but none of them acted. They merely watched with interest, some confused or shy, as the two of them entered an indistinct apartment, a set of wind chimes dingling on the second story entry porch as the door mmed shut behind them. "And what now?" Styx teasingly asked as Loreley threw him on a double bed that was covered in her scent. The fallen angel looked down at him defiantly, her rage still boiling within herself as she stated, "Take me!" Standing there, fully clothed whilst stating that, Styx smiled at her innocence. She didn''t know where to go from here, and clearly held no experience in the matter. Standing up from the bed, Styx moved closer to the fallen angel, whole angry and arrogant demeanour rapidly melted into one of nervousness and guilt. Styx didn''t mention her loyalty to Heaven, but he knew how difficult that inner turmoil must be for her. Any mention of it may cause her to change her mind about the current situation as well. "Rx," Styx cajoled her while caressing her cheek. He moved his hand and untied the cords tying her clothes to her body. She moved her hands nervously, briefly touching Styx''s arms and chest while following his lead. He removed the several pieces of armor she was wearing, followed by a beige tunic and long skirt. Her wings curled and tried to wrap around her body to hide herself as Styx pressed his hands through the soft feathers and removed her bra and underwear, a ckce set that Styx deeply admired and approved of. With her wings covering her body in embarrassment, Styx quickly stripped himself and pressed his naked body against her wing-wrapped body. "Why don''t you let me in?" He asked whilst quite fascinated by the angel''s strange way of cocooning themselves when they are too deeply embarrassed. The two sets of ck feathered wings opened briefly before snapping shut again, this time with Styx on the inside. Loreley''s body quivered as Styx slowly wrapped his hands around her bare body and pulled her against him. The first thing Styx felt were her arms, which she had ced in front of her body defensively. Under his enticement, the gradually opened up and wrapped around Styx''s body, their bare torso''s finally pressing against one another. Loreley breathed heavily as Styxpressed her breasts against his chest. They weren''t overlyrge, but they were ample and Styx enjoyed them all the same. "We can''t hide in this cocoon forever, you know," Styx whispered before cing his lips over Loreley''s and deeply kissing her. The fallen angel tittered lightly and let his tongue into her mouth, briefly saying, "Just a little longer." Styx ran his fingers across her back and scratched at her skin with his nails. Loreley merely copied Styx and did the same, but was careful enough not to cause any damage. She was not just at thete Fourth Step, but stronger than most other Fourth Step existences, whilst Styx''s avatar had only reached the mid Second Step in durability and strength. He ran his hands down and grasped her buttocks, pilling her pelvis tight against his as he rubbed his shaft between their bodies. Styx picked up the supple angel and lowered her to lie on her back on the bed. She seemingly reluctantly released her grasp on Styx and opened her wins as she gazed into his eyes with her vividly violet irises. Styx lowered himself before the end of the bed and pushed open her legs, revealing her bare slit that didn''t have so much as a hair on it. He tender pink lips were exposed clearly before his eyes, the faint glisten of nectar visible inside. Loreley barely suppressed an involuntary moan as Styx tenderly prodded her clit with a finger, rubbing circles around it and stimting her body as he positioned his head in between her thighs. "That That''s a bit too dirty Do you have no shame?" "This is a part of sex, my beautiful fallen angel." He rubbed his finger around her moist vaginal cave entrance, teasing just the tip of the finger to enter, before pushing her thighs apart with his hands and kissing her lower lips Loreley seemed pleased with Styx''s lip service, both verbal and physical, as a guilty smile tugged at the corner of her lips. Styx pressed his thumbs against the sides of her vagina and spread it open, revealing the inner pink flower in its entirety. He stuck his tongue out and poked the tip against her narrow cave entrance. "Eep!" Loreley yelped in surprise as tingles spread all the way up her spine. Styx was unrelenting as he licked her inner folds,pping up her juices that were only reced by moreing out of her seeping lower eye. He moved up and down, licking her bean like protruding clitoris whilst spreading around a concoction of her juices mixed with his saliva. Loreley grabbed the bed and scrunched up the sheets in her fists. She didn''t know what to hold onto as her mind was ravaged with pleasure. "Mmmmph~" ''Is this sex?'' She silently asked in her mind whilst moaning under her breath. Styx retracted his head and pulled up the fallen angel who was still drooling out of her lower mouth. She sat on the end of the bed and looked up as Styx kissed her. "It tastes funny." "I bet," Styx chuckled and picked her up, eliciting a short cry of surprise. Loreley spread her wings wide open for bnce and wrapped are arms around his neck and legs around his waist. Styx turned around and pressed her back against the bedroom wall. "This is" Loreley began to say, but trailed off as she lowered slightly and her vagina rested on top of the tip of Styx''s erect shaft. "This is where the real deed happens. But, I will ensure it feels so good you will never forget it." Loreley shyly whispered under her breath, "...I don''t think I would forget either way." "What?" "N-nothing, just do it." Styx slowly lowered his arms, his hands holding onto her ass with his fingers holding her vaginal cheeks apart. The head of his penis pushed open her vaginal folds and pressed against the tight and narrow entrance. He felt it squeezing against the head of his phallus which her vagina slowly devoured under the pressure of her body weight and gravity. At the same time, he inserted his mana tendrils into her body and filled her entire manawork with himself. "Nnyaaannnghhh," The foreign angel mewled under the double stimulus, her entire body turning weak and leaning her weight on Styx. Half sheathed within the fallen angel, Styx felt her vaginal walls convulsing around his rod. He gripped onto her ass even tighter as he plunged his thick meat all the way inside her. Loreley dug her nails into his back, drawing blood, as she deeply moaned. Her vaginal lips were spread wide open around the base of his shaft and strongly clung to it. She was so warm and tight inside Styx just wanted to stay and sleep in this position. Heaven wasn''t in the sky, it was inside Loreley. He lowered his hips and retracted his phallus before driving it all the way inside of her. The head of his penis hammered against the entrance to her womb and even squeezed its way in slightly. "Haah~~ Haaaah~ Bed~ Haahhh~" "What? Mmmm" "The bed, go to the be- Mmmmmph~~" Loreley tightly clung to Styx with her arms and legs whilst he was fully inside of her and walked them to the bed. He plonked the both on them on the bed with him on top of her, causing her vagina to contract violently and strangle his rod as she had a partial climax. Styx grabbed her hands and held them above her head as he kissed her. He invaded her mouth with his tongue, pressing it against hers and tangling together as they exchanged saliva. Being on the bottom, it was mainly Loreley drinking his saliva though. His sweaty body pressed against hers and he pistoned his hips into hers. Her legs were up in the air and wrapped around his buttocks as he plunged himself in and out of her. Her vaginapletely devoured his penis with every unrelenting thust. Loreley was getting close to climaxing again as Styx also felt the rising urge to ejacte. His mana tendrils rampaged through her manawork knocking against her mind where a simr barrier to the one in Ygralea''s mind existed. No matter how hard he pressed or knocked on it, it refused to budge, Chapter 157: The Falling of a Fallen Angel (2) Chapter 157: The Falling of a Fallen Angel (2) "Be mine, Loreley," Styx whispered seductively into her ear before kissing her passionately again. "This is just This is for Heaven," She responded with gritted teeth, trying to hold down her own building climax defiantly. "Who are you kidding?" "" "You want this far more than you care to admit. And I want you to remain by my side for the rest of our existence." Styx felt Loreley''s heartbeat increasing as her emotions fell into turmoil. He pressed his point further whilst pressing his mana tendrils against the final barrier in her mind. "Is it such a bad thing?" "That" Styx felt her mind barrier breaking, but just as it did, a thread of divine consciousness of a being more powerful than anything he had ever felt looked out. ''Fuck,'' Styx almost had a heart attack. The strand seemed to nce at him and was calcting. ''Don''t cause any trouble, just give me this one, I vow to not take any of the others,'' Styx sent the message with his mana tendril. He was unsure if the message got across, but the divine consciousness strand seemed to agree and departed, leaving Loreley''s mind wide open to him. Nervous of any traps left behind, but still flying in like a night bug to amp, he entered deep within the fallen angel''s mind, splitting off a piece of himself and bonding with her. "Oooohhhhhaaa~~~!!" This deeper connection was the final tipping point for Loreley whose vaginal wall convulsed violently around his shaft, her entire body shivering in pleasure and moaning without restraint. Her legs mps around Styx and pulled him tight against her body whilst her wings also wrapped them in a cocoon again. She not only almost crushed his hands with her own, but almost caused a simr fate to his phallus inside her canal. Styx, unable to bear it anymore, also ejacted and painted the inside of her womb with his seed. [ Insemination begun. Please select seed to imnt: 3x Miners Burden (1) 1h incubation 2x Dark Cupid Burden (2) 1h incubation 1x Cloudbender Burden (3) 2h incubation 1x Stormbeast Burden (4) 2h incubation 1x Rain Maiden Burden (5) 4h incubation 1x Dark Night Frostbearer Burden (10) 12h incubation 1x Fallen Queen Burden (12) 24h incubation 1x Unholy Assassin Burden (14) 24h incubation 2x Fallen Queen Burden (17) 27h incubation 1x Shadow Stalker Burden (20) 32h incubation 1x Four-Winged Night Fae Burden (22) 33h incubation 1x Unholy Winter Beast Burden (27) 41h incubation 2x Four-Winged Night Fae Burden (34) 48h incubation 1x Fallen Angel Guard Burden (38) 52h incubation 1x Living Brimstone Golem Burden (45) 81h incubation 2x Fallen Angel Guard Burden (55) 75h incubation 1x Faceless Burden (59) 120h incubation 1x Fallen Empress Burden (67) 205h incubation 1x Unholy Winter Beastking Burden (71) 425h incubation 1x ck Lightning Garuda Burden (75) 512h incubation 2x Fallen Empress Burden (79) 280h incubation 1x Dark Divinity Dancer Burden (84) 1257h incubation ] Styx was happy at all the options, but he still didn''t know what her level was, so he asked her by whispering into her mind. "What level are you?" "" [ 1x Fallen Empress selected Incubation 205:14:12 ] It was only now that she realized Styx had spoken directly into her mind and her eyes opened wide in shock. She found that her connection with Heaven had somehow been reced with a connection with Styx. "You are mine." Styx said as hey atop her body. Loreley''s mind was inplete chaos. Her halo was still there, cleaning and cycling her mana, but her connection to Heaven had beenpletely cut off. She felt like she had sinned so gravely she had been emunicated, but was somehow still alive. Little did she know it was entirely Styx''s fault, not her own. With nothing to lean on, her connection with Styx began to break down her previous inhibitions of hermitment to the dungeon. As for matters of who would rece her as Heaven''s envoy for Dragon, or what she was to do from now on, all these thoughts were too frightening for her to consider. Lost, she clung to the closest thing for her to rely on, Styx. Still wrapped in their ck-wing cocoon, Loreley''s body shook slightly as she hugged Styx. His phallus had turned soft and unplugged her lower mouth, causing some of his seed to seep out and dribble ufortably down her asscrack and onto the bed. ~~~~~ Eight and a half dayster, Loreley had fully be a dungeon wife. She still longed for her former sisters, but she could tell that they treated her differently. This made her even more adamant to protect them from Styx, treating herself as a sinner and sacrificialmb. Little did she know Styx didn''t dare do to other angels what he did to her, but that didn''t stop him from trying to have sex with them, much to Loreley''s frequent outbursts of anger. She had also been doing her best to prevent Styx from having sex with Ygralea, but even she admitted that it was only a matter of time before he soiled her too. Loreley was currentlyying atop a birthing table with no lower half, her vaginal entrance convulsing as the monster in her womb wanted to break free. She did not fear any damage to her body as she knew Styx would ensure any damage was fully healed. She knew how the other women learned to control their mana to heal and with Styx''s boon, was determined to master this esoteric ability herself. "Rx," Beatrice calmed spoke as Therina massage the fallen angel''s shoulders. "This will be over soon, but the first time is always nerve wracking." Styx stood to the side while Loreley nodded pensively. "Get ready. Take deep breathes and synchronise pushing alongside your breathing." "You are the experts," She nervously spoke, trying to not be insulting. "Aargh!!" Even for a Fourth Step fallen angel, her first birth was incredibly painful. She bit down on the rag and her forehead was covered in sweat as the monster inside her seemed to w its way out. Her vaginal entrance pushed open to a seemingly dangerous degree as the first thing that appeared was a small head. Styx stepped over and held Loreley''s hand, wincing under her powerful grip, whilst she slowly pushed the monster out. A copious amount of breeding fluids lubricated her vaginal entrance and spilled out as the infant monster was finally pushed out. It appeared to be like a human baby, but it had tattoos of ck wings on its back and its biology was undoubtedly that of a monster. Therina passed the young monster to Loreley after wiping all the fluids off of it and handed it to Loreley to hold. The fallen angel was affectionate with infant monster as if it were her own daughter. Loreley even felt like she had awakened a motherly part of her that she never knew she had. Styx picked the still weak fallen angel up in a princess carry and kissed her on the lips before saying, "Wee to the family." ~~~~~ Off to Styx''s side was the former demon''s camp Fourth Step subus Ithrea, who desperately clung to his arm as her pointed tail tried to wriggle its way into his pants. "Sweetheart, please, our baby needs more sustenance~" Her long ck hair gave off a tantalising scent whilst her pink slit irises were filled with longing. Everything about her was designed to entice men, or these days, just Styx. "Garbage! Ithrea, we have already had sex twice today, and don''t pretend you weren''t having yourself be ravaged by one of the breeder for several hours beforehand." "It''s not enough. If you could just fill me up likest time." "And how many times are you going to ask for that." "Just one more time." Styx ignored the subus who was more sex addicted than he was and focused on Loreley. "My newest wife, how are you finding things now." "Hmm, the constant mana sight before reaching the Fifth Step is very nice, and it our bond seems to have improved my mana control, so that''s also nice. The ability to control my own manawork is the greatest boon the women of the dungeon can have though." "I''m d you are pleased and there is no more moping around. To celebrate, why don''t we go see Urs together?" "You keep your hands off my sister!" Loreley''s wings shot wide open as she eximed in outrage. Styx smiled wryly and ced his hands up in mock surrender, at which point Ithrea took advantage of that moment and grabbed his hand before sucking on his fingersciviously to try and entice him. Maybe it worked. Chapter 158: Adopt a Succubus Chapter 158: Adopt a Subus The demons'' attack on Lagoon Porter City hadn''t ended with the war. They had infested the westernnds all the way from the border up to where they halted at Styx''s territory. They still spilled around his territory to travel further into the heart of the Maple Dragon Kingdom, but their numbers were greatly reduced and posed no threat to the local lords. Hilda, the former barmaid and now dungeon wife, was Styx''s current proxy for managing the Lagoon Porter City. She had originally been born with a very low potential, and hit Max Level early on in life, doomed to never reach the Second Step and forever be under others. She still had her beauty though, which secured her a job as a barmaid at the time. Under Styx''s direct nourishment, she was currently at , her beauty even more prominent now that she had reached the Second Step. She wore an exquisite orange kimono with violet flowers decorating it, the bust was slightly loose and revealed her deep valleys though. Her hair was pinned up with a stunning pair of eastern cherrywood turtledove hair sticks, the ck locks of hair curling and hanging down her back. What was most prominent were the two cherry short horns that emerged from her forehead just below her hairline though. Hilda stood atop the city wall puffing on her tobo pipe and looked at several plumes of smoke rising over the horizon with a frown. By her side was the Fourth Step subus former demonmander, Ithrea, and the local adventurer and mercenary guilds guild leaders. "Those demons still haven''t given up, huh?" Ithrea giggled and rubbed her body up against her sister dungeon wife erotically. "Demons don''t know the meaning of quitting, They may bide their time, will keep invading and attacking until either they die, or the enemy dies." "It sounds like a failed civilization." "All races thrive off war. The wildfire in a forest gives way to new life, such is how the cycle works," Ithrea grabbed Hilda''s tits and tried to nibble on her ear, only to get swatted away by thetter. "This is mainly from the lesser breeds though. If they don''t fight and die, the overpopte themselves. The weak die while the strong thrive, this is the ultimate rule of this world." "Hmph, just a bunch of animals who can''t control themselves," The mercenary''s guild guild leader snorted to express his displeasure. Hilda nced at him sideways and asked, "Why aren''t the mercenaries and adventurers protecting these small towns? Were the rewards offered not enough?" The adventurer''s guild guild leader avoided making eye contact with the city governess andined. "It''s not about the coin. We don''t have enough adventurers to meet all the requests. After the war against the demons, arge number of them migrated from the city to safends, mainly men. The female adventurers have been very active, given that they can continuously break through Max Level bottlenecks and other benefits." "So we need more benefits to have the men remain?" "Yes and no. A considerable amount of them have remained for various reasons, but they are slowly migrating away. It is like a bucket with a hole in the bottom." "How about the subi brothels? I hear they have been popr." Ithrea giggle and floated as if lying down on a cushion of air, "My dear subi have been extremely happy as ofte. They love the men ever so dearly. Speaking of old sticks, you also have a sibi''s scent, dear guild leader." The middle-aged mercenary guild''s guild leader coughed and looked away, "The subi have been doing very good work for people''s morale. I never though I would be requesting this, but is it possible to bring in more?" "I can''t go back to the demon realm anymore, I would be considered a traitor by the higher rank demons. We just need to have the subi breed." "Isn''t that what we are doing?" "They are too restrained in epting men''s seed. It needs to be from one male ideally. The more men she drains, the more polluted the mix bes. It is fine if it is to just sustain the subus, but offspring is not possible." "I can''t allow the subus to harm the life force of men, is there a solution?" "They can either drain it slowly over a period of a month, or use sweetheart''s breeding chambers." "You just want more of dear husband''s seed, you greedy whore." "Hehe, I won''t deny that~" Hilda considered it before stating her intent. "I will have advertisements published in the guilds and town halls to facilitate this. Help subi breed and produce offspring. They are to service the men and have them form bonds with Lord Styx''snds. As long as the benefits are great enough, even more adventurers and mercenaries will flow in, rather than slowly dwindling. Ithrea" "Yes~~?" "I need you to choose which subi will leave the brothels to breed. We can''t shut down the entire business for this nor take those who have low self control, so choose those who best fit to dieting." "Okay~~" "Lady Hilda," The adventurer''s guild guild leader asked, "Why can''t Lord Styx send out his forces to protect these towns. There are so many monsters under his control, surely it should be easy." "Dear husband holds no interest over those who are not his subjects. He left me in control of the city management to take care of these kinds of decisions so he can focus on other developments. Several monster and dungeon guards already patrol outside the city, but they are not responsible for babysitting these small viges. He would not care if they all die, but I do. They are fellow humans in the end." "Do you even count as human anymore? There are rumors" The mercenary''s guild''s guild leader nced at the short cherry horns on her forehead that were clearly not glued on. "Ah, evolved. More and more women have managed to achieve it, there is even a list of possible evolutions being written I believe. Technically, I am not human any longer, but my feelings haven''t changed, only my strength has." 5 yearsHilda smiled in reminiscence, raising her finger and twirling the smoke from her pipe around it. She wriggled that finger around and the smoke rapidly f$10illed the surroundings and gave birth to various illusions. ~~~~~ *** Adopt a Subus! This is a notice to all men, adopt your very own subus for a month and receive bountiful benefits. You may not know, but subi are full of love and care towards the male species, but there isn''t enough of them. To promote the coordination andpanionship between the two species, some of the most prominent subi are seeking fit and willing bachelors to be their lovers. She will give you all her love and live with you. Your maid, your wife, your lover, she will fill all roles. Quest: Impregnate a Subus Requirements: Lots of vitality, no rank restrictions Reward: 2 Gold, mana rich food during quest, free personal subus for a month *** Styx saw the advertisement posted at every adventurer and mercenary''s guild inside the city and didn''t know whether tough or cry. He knew Hilda was very capable, but the turn about for this ''quest'' caused a storm through the entire city. The subus had very rapidly became extremely famous for their skills and service, and this notice was dangling a giant carrot before the men. Word spread beyond the city and people also came from afar at the opportunity. The two gold was a very generous reward. Preferential treatment receiving of mana rich food was a boon too, considering Styx currently only really produced enough for the dungeon residents because there were simply too many people in Lagoon Porter City. It was known that Styx''s mana rich food variants also had a positive improvement on one''s potential, making it a highly sought after product Adventurer''s from young to old crowded the guilds to vie for this position, resulting in first a basic examination of the candidates, and finally apetition between them. Within training fields and arenas, the subi candidates for bing these men''s temporary partner lined the stands. "Darling, fight hard for me and take me home~" "Hehe, I will reward you tonight for all your effort~" "Darling, I want you to fill~ me~ up~ with your seed~" The stunningly beautiful subi blew kisses and enticed the men to work harder, resulting in all of their blood boiling. They fought tooth and nail toe out on top, with the most outstanding contestants having their own pick from the demonesses. The subi evenpeted amongst themselves with words and sexual enticement to secure who they felt was the best "candidate" to impregnate them. Once a match was made, those subus would shower their partners in kisses and affection before they rushed off to secure some of their rewards from the guild offices before running home in honeymoon-like moods. Styx watched all this fondly, Hilda currently lying in his embrace and practically purring. Her pipe had been ced to the side as she nuzzled her face against his chest. She knew what he was like, and had taken the initiative to push his hands into her kimono, holding one hand against her breasts whilst the other was squeezed in between her thighs and pressing up against her womanhood. "Dear, thank you for saving me in this life. I love you," Hilda tenderly said. "I love you too." Liveliness of the city returning as more and more events were held since the demon army attack, something Styx was highly pleased to see. Chapter 159: The Decrypt Underworld Chapter 159: The Decrypt Underworld "I don''t want to!" Aurained and wrapped her limbs and tail around Styx in a vice-like bind. Styxy on the ground, unable to move as he waspletely restrained under the irresistible strength of the Monster Lord. "Aura, I need you to go with the expedition team." "Make that spider go!" "You are better suited. Your strength is offensive, whilst hers is mostly reactive. Also, her threads are full of mana, which would greatly cripple her strength." "" "You have also been working on consuming mana, right? This will be the greatest strength against those husk like monsters." Styx tried to wriggle in her grasp, but his efforts were in vain. Aura had previously been upied watching all of Styx''s production lines, which had expanded again. Raw materials entered on full T3 Conveyer Belts and were pulled off by T3 Item Pickers. The T3 versions of these mana devices were the same design as the previous T2 counterparts, but had been further optimized, bing more efficient and less prone to error as the technology matured. The new facilities were creating logistics products. Arge section of it created train track lines, whilst another created support beams. Another more specialized facility would produce the variousponents and assemble carriages. As Styx expanded more, he needed to increase his logistics capabilities. He opted to follow the original method of the human civilisation and introduce trains. Giant bored out tunnels would be lined with these train tracks and have loading and unloading facilities at each stop. Each tunnel could support a maximum of four trains at once, but only two could be loaded or unloaded at once. There was no engine or drivingpartment though. Styx also didn''t want to manually control them either, so it was all built into the train tracks. The train tracks were in fact possibly Styx''s greatest invention yet. The reason being was that it was first the power source for the train, they had an interconnected mana line which would travel through them, with the stations and other mana generating nodes. This wouldn''t allow the train to move overly fast until the entire tunnels could be filled with ambient mana and take over as the main driving power, but it was enough to make the system functional. On a deeper level within the tracks was a feat of mana engineering that left Styx feeling highly narcissistic. The Hornheim magic system was one based on logic more so than those like the demon''s magic system that was much more intention based. Styx used it to create a logic system for automatically controlling the trains. One station or logistics point would request items, and it would first search for an empty train, or "queue" the request. That train would then be directed by thiswork of magic circles to pick up cargo where it is avable and deliver it to the requested point. They worked as a signalling system for the trains, while also controlling the track changing systems. This was important because Styx''s dungeon was primarily underground, and trying to maintain above ground tracks would be much harder. Monsters or the now wandering demon tribes were also less likely to attack his trains or rted infrastructure while they were underground. The knowledge he had gained from the fallen world had helped fuel a lot of his progresion. The train carriages had space expansion and several other skills "grown" in them. Styx was convinced there was a treasure trove of knowledge still lurking inside there, he just had to find it. Heaven had attached a lot of importance to it too and assigned two Fifth Step angels, whilst The Void had caught wind too and send a peak Fifth Step ranker of unknown origin to Styx to join the expedition team. Styx needed at least one Monster Lord of his own there, and Dragon technically wasn''t his, so he didn''t want to have him step in as a proxy if possible. ~~~~~ Eventually, Aura released Styx and joined the expedition party. She already belonged to Styx, and would do anything he asked of her. She was simply expressing her frustrations. This expedition party didn''t rece the former, but served a different purpose. The four Fifth Step existences formed the core force and were supported by another ten Fourth Step members of Heaven and The Void. Urs was one of them, and she constantly avoided making eye contact with Styx. Loreley would have joined them too, but there was still tension between her and the other members of Heaven. Thetter stood beside Styx and looked at the ground in guilt, barely resisting the urge to cocoon herself in her wings. Styx wanted to grab her in his arms, but he knew doing this before the emissaries of Heaven would only increase her guilt. This was mainly because the deeper into the fallen world they travelled, the more powerful the enemies became. Any person or monster below the Fourth Step would only serve as food to the mana deprived husks. The Third Step and below dungeon residents were instead in charge of further exploring the outskirts and uncovering any information or knowledge there. The dungeon wives, ir and Kale were leading this group this time, and it was a rtively low danger mission ording to Styx''s calctions. "Do you understand your roles?" Styx asked the group members, the leading Fifth Step leaders in particr. "Of course," One of the 6-winged angels, Adam, nodded his head. "We are to delve deeper into the fallen city to investigate the past and recover any lost knowledge." "Excellent, a copy of that knowledge will be provided to each party to take back to your force. Any questions?" "The Void wants a copy of the previously spoils," Illidiath, The Void''s fifth step emissary that was on the cusp of godhood furrowed her brow, unhappy that their force had been left out previously. "Bring back enough knowledge for me and I can duplicate some of my knowledge." "Snort, we want it all, little dungeon." Illidiath truly had an overbearing presence, even more so than Dragon from what Styx could tell. The woman was extremely beautiful, with long violet hair and arge bust that her clothes tightly clung to. Fifth Step existences rarely used armor, considering their bodies were not only stronger than the overwhelming majority of metals on the mortal ne, but they could heal from any non soul based damage almost immediately, one of the benefits of having an almost pure mana body. Styx looked at her with a gaze of lust andmented, "Of course, but what will you give in return?" She felt his gaze running up and down her body licentiously and looked at him in disdain, "I''m already and don''t have to worry about any Max Level bottlenecks, your desire for my body is never going to be fulfilled." Styx seemed to be petrified as he also just realised that his greatest enticement towards people was useless on this Fifth Step woman. ~~~~~ Aura and the others in the deep expedition team reached the giant abyssal hole within the city. It seemed bottomless, but that was just because only the smallest sparks of light could escape its depths. Styx had lent them some flying monsters at thete Second Step. They were weak and worthless forbat here, but they allowed the group to fly without the usage of mana. "This ce is giving me the creeps," Illidiath furrowed her brows and looked into the depths of the hole from the back of her mount. "I can''t even contact heaven and have them use their abilities to analyse anything here." "We will be descending now," Aura parroted Styx''s words as they group of elites slowly flew down into the hole. Aura scrunched her nose as inside was filled with the stench of ash and decay. Styx was surprised as the presence of mould meant there was still some life left over. ''Perhaps it isn''tpletely dead, but they managed to survive deeper inside by concentrating their resources.'' Styx mused to himself as it was undeniable this civilisation''s usage of mana was unparalleled. As the group went deeper, lights began to show themselves. Along the walls of the chasm, purple iridescent flowers grew on the walls, but most of them were wilted and dead. These were the source of the scent of rot and mould. Eventually, the tunnel down ended and opened into an entire world. A giant silvery river travelled across thendscape with the asional murky soul floating down it. More purple flowers popted the shores of this river and asionally spread through the craggydscape, shedding a light purple glow. There were some old constructions and pantheons, but they had all fallen into disrepair and had copsed in at least one location. Spectres wandered across thend, searching for any soul matter or mana to eat. The would suck out the vitality of these flowers just to maintain their existence. Back in the dungeon, Styx''s brows shot up in shock as he recognised this location. "Isn''t this the fabled river of souls!? Does such a thing really exist? Or was it manmade?" "What is a river of souls?" Beatrice hugged him from behind and rested her hand on his shoulder. "What is a river of souls?" "A concept of the underworld and reincarnation. When one dies, their soul passes through this river of souls where it is cleaned of all memories and worldly sins before being reborn as a new infant." "So why would it exist in this fallen world, especially somewhere people can simply walk into?" "It is unnatural. I think it may have been manufactured to fulfil that purpose, separating those souls from the standard reincarnation cycle." "Why would they do that?" "I don''t know, but I intend to find out." "Do those husks go there when they die?" "No, their souls would be too twisted and tattered. There is nothing left within their bodies except hunger for mana. When they die, their souls are probably extinguished too. The souls the appear to asionally pass by a quite eroded by constant reincarnation cycles, it mustn''t be perfect. But.." "But?" "Why are there so little souls? Such a river should be constantly filled with souls seeking reincarnation." Chapter 160: Lifeless City Chapter 160: Lifeless City The nearby spectres detected Aura and the others as soon as theynded on the ground. A dozen or so turned to face them and opened their mouths in silent roars which escaped the ear but caused the soul to quiver. As the spectres were non physical, physical attacks couldn''t hurt them. The group also needed to preserve their mana and anyrge usage of it would attract who knows what. Tobat this, Aura pulled out a pair of soulium wed gloves and slipped them on her hand. Soulium was the only metal Styx had contact with which could directly cut the soul, thus allowing Aura to fight without expending any mana. "What an interesting material," Adammented before pulling out and unusually long double-edged long sword. "This is imbued with holy power and can touch the soul too. It also has the holy property of dealing additional damage to undead." Illidiath snorted and directly used a slight amount of mana to empower her hands as she was the only one without such a weapon. The Fourth Step supports stood back and offered a supportive role, even if it was unnecessary. In this mission, they were more baggage carriers and taking care of any standard husk mobs so the Fifth Step existences could preserve their strength as much as possible. The spectres flew close to the ground, releasing their silent howls and trying to suck the life force and mana away from the party. Aura''s ws shed first, the wolf girl running on all fours and pouncing on the first spectre. Her body phased right through it whilst her ws tore it to shreds. It barely even made a move before it dissipated into the air, leaving a small pile of spectral dust on the ground that the Fourth Step angels and void residents carefully collected into small jars. Uponnding, Aura''s muscles tensed before she cannonballed herself at the next nearest spectre, tearing that one to shreds just as easily. The angels weilded an extra long long sword and spear with poise and precision, casually shredding the spectres apart as well. "Hmm? They aren''t undead? Our weapons should purify them," Adam casually remarked while looking at his sword. "Styx said they are probably underworld workers, or once were, and are not the type of undead that are weak to the holy attribute," Aura spoke with her head turned to face the angels. "Ridiculous." Illidiath held a specter with her bare hand effortlessly. It scratched and tried to damage her body, but its attacks proved futile. She merely grabbed it with her other hand and forcefully ripped it apart before discarding the evaporation spectral fragments and moved onto the next one. ~~~~~ The group travelled deeper and deeper into this pseudo underworld, eventually reaching what appeared to be a city. Nobody knew exactly what it was though, as the giant ck granite brick wall surrounded the city and prevented anything from being seen inside. "Do we break through?" Adam asked, drawing his hand back before hitting the wall with all his strength. *ng* The six-winged angel winced as his sword bounced off the wall without doing so much as a scratch. "...What in God is this?" Aura got close to the wall and gave it a sniff. "Inedible" She said with some regret before losing all interest in it. Styx was surprised as there was apparently nothing Aura couldn''t consume. She was the embodiment of gluttony and even had a sin series skill to reflect it. She could consume entire worlds, or at least sub dimensions, if she wanted to. Yet, she couldn''t eat this wall. "It must not be a mortal material. It appears to separate the inside and outside. The river of souls passes by here, so there may still be souls residing within it. See if you can find a door, or climb the wall and enter that way." Illidiath reinforced her finger and dug at the morter with her fingernail. She was by far the strongest here in pure brute stength, but even she only managed to scrape a small amount of morter out. Styx had the Fourth Step helpers immediately bottle up this dust, but the Fifth Step woman quickly lost interest and ignored the dungeon lord''s request to scrape out a little more. It was almost eerily quite by the wall, the spectres not moving anywhere near it for unknown reasons. Aura ryed Styx''s words and the group wandered under the faint glow of violet flowers, some even growing on the ground at the bottom of the wall, in hopes of locating an entrance. Sadly, the group ran an entire circle around the wall, which covered and area that was easily three timesrger than Lagoon Porter City, yet they found no entry or exit. Whatever was inside of the wall, was designed to stay inside, and likewise outside. "Very well, we will go over," Adam casuallymented and the group grabbed onto the cracks in the wall as they pulled themselves up. Aura and Illidiath were the best at this, the two incredibly powerful and dexterous. Only the smallest divot in the wall was required for them to grasp onto with their finger and pull themselves up. They moved rapidly and scaled what was at least several kilometers before they reached the top. Styx watched through Aura''s gaze and was astounded by what he saw. Unlike outside the wall, inside was brightly lit and full of life. Unknown trees and flowers grew everywhere, while lush grass covered ovals andwns. Buildings that Styx found very familiar built the town, while normal humans went about their days. "Great Lord Abyssal, what is this?" Illidiath was stunned as she gazed down at the tiny humans far below them. The city inside the wall was vibrant and teeming with vitality, an utter stark contrast to outside of the wall, or the rest of the world which had turned into ruin and ash. "Styx says we should go in and investigate. He said," Aura tilted her head in confusion as she repeated his words. "He said that this looks just like his old world. He wants to know why there are humans here, and how they are still alive." ~~~~~ "There are no cars" Styx didn''t realize it at first, and it wasn''t something that immediately leapt out as unusual. It wasn''t unordinary for cars to not exist, especially in a fantasy world. However, the entire city, from main core business district to outer suburbs, had bitumen road infrastructure throughout. Despite this, they were void of cars or any other form of transportation. Aura and the others wandered down the pavement on a residential street in the outer suburbs and were filled with a sense of incongruity. The gardens were full of rose bushes, tulips and other kinds of flowers, whilstwns were neatly mowed as if they were under constant maintenance. They could feel, however, that at least 90 percent of the homes werepletely empty. There was no life in the gardens andwns either. Even the dirt in the gardenbeds was devoid of even the simplest micro-bacterial life that is crucial to breaking down nt and other matter to generate nutrients in the soil. There were some residents that peeked from behind curtains in windows, both out of curiosity and some fear. Seeing people with wings was not something ordinary to these people after all. Aura and the other Fifth Step existences could all naturally see mana, and this ce was practically lifeless in that mana sight. The people who were hiding had little to no mana inside of them, some not even having 10 mana points. Down the road was a man with wavy brown hair and a straw hat watering his nts with a watering can, but the nts were fake and the watering can was empty. "Sirs anddies, how do you do?" He grinned widely and waved as Aura and the others reached his house. Illidiath looked at him emotionlessly before nodding her head and casually remarking, "Fine." "Perhaps you are hungry, would you like toe inside for a bite?" The thought of food made Aura''s stomach rumble, which then caused the man to look at her with confusion. Under Styx''s guidance, everyone walked through the gate to his property and entered the house. Inside, the sense of incongruity didn''t leave the group. The old man served them empty tes pretending it was food. "Here, here, eat up." They weren''t entirely empty, there was a single mote of mana on each te, equivalent of a single mana point. None here were interested in this and casually ced the tes to the side. "Excuse me sir," Adam said politely, "we would like to ask a few questions." The man''s eyes rapidly moved from the people to the tes before hesitatingly asking, "Do you not want it?" Adam didn''t even look at the te whilst the others also expressed their disdain towards it. Not even Aura was interested in eating it. Each of them had tens of thousands of mana points and a single mana point was worth less to them than a single grain of rice was to a rich man. Even the Fourth Step assistants were disinclined to touch it. "Hahaha.. HAHAHAHHAA!!" Rather than being offended, the man''s eyes rapidly turned bloodshot as heughed in hysteria. "I knew it, I KNEW IT! You have mana, don''t you! I have never seen your kind before, there is no way you don''t have mana!" Inside his body, they could see that he had 21 mana points worth of mana, a ten points less than before he served their "meals". "I was so kind to you, spare me some of it!!" He lunged at the group only to be pinned to the ground by the t of Adam''s sword that seemed to appear out of nowhere. "Y-You have an illegal weapon!! Are you crazy!?" "Sir, I would like to ask you some questions." "Y-yes. But please, spare me some of your mana!" The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!