“With the liberation of Epsilon Centauri 1, the pressure on the entire fleet was made almost negligible. It would seem that the remaining two devils were not of the same rank or had different powers than the beheaded demon we found covering in its crystal palace.

The fleet crashed through the remaining monsters and soon had both Epsilon Centauri 2 and Epsilon Centauri 3 under siege.

On Epsilon Centauri 1, our people were dismantling and cataloging the gigantic terraformers that were placed around the planet. It would take some time, but we were hopeful of recreating the machines on Earth.

Again, we were surprised at the level of technology the enemy commanded in some areas but lacked in others. It was summarized that with their understanding of the underlying power of the universe, they didn't need certain things we relied so heavily on, like AI and nanotechnology.

The Magi were secretly studying the connection the Hive Mother had with her subjects. Opening the door for what would become one of the pillars we needed to run an intergalactic empire.”

- Elistar Iscariot, Grand Magister during the second Kingfisher dynasty.

The choice wasn't much of a choice in the end. We were both too curious about what was happening with the dungeon.

As we traversed the rest of level seven, we easily evaded any signs of life. The urgency to reach level ten surged with each passing moment. The memory of our first encounter with the Kobolds and the five spears we managed to keep was enough to deter us from any further confrontations. Two spears for me and three for Mira, as she had claimed dibs.

Entering level eight brought us to what looked like an endless swamp. We were pleasantly surprised to find firm rock under about half a meter of water and islands of floating moss. It was, for the most part, just tiring, but from time to time, a swarm of tadpole-like creatures the size of my fist would swarm our legs, attempting to bite us with their wide, square teeth. Eventually, even that became just another part of the journey.

That is until Mira suddenly disappeared. If I hadn't been watching her at that exact moment, she would have drowned. Somehow, I caught a strap on her backpack before she sunk any further and pulled her up.

In hindsight, I may have panicked because she went airborne for a bit.

Luckily, she seemed too confused and scared by the ordeal to have noticed being held a good two meters off the ground by a tentacle before I dropped her in my arms.

We proceeded with extreme caution, testing the ground with our spears before taking any steps. The incident with Mira had left us shaken, reminding us of the constant danger lurking in the dungeon. No matter how quiet everything was, something would blindside us, and that would be it.

Exhausted and disheveled, we finally reached the portal to level nine.

I questioned my resolve, knowing we would have to retrace our steps on the way back. But a part of me, the part that refused to succumb to self-pity, looked at the doubting voice within and shook its head in disappointment. I straightened my posture, reaffirming my choice to press on, to stop being a pampered little shit.

I had aspirations, after all, and they were to become a pampered gigantic shit with the biggest hat in all the kingdoms.

Looking at a soaked Mira, I gave her a thumbs-up before stepping through.

Level nine was…strange. Pathways of crystal stretched across endless space. Some of them seemed to go into a corkscrew and loops. I wasn't sure how we were supposed to pass those, but for now, the path in front of us was blessedly level and wide enough for ten to walk side by side.

“This isn't making any sense. Dungeons normally follow a pattern or at least get more and more dangerous for each level we go. This…I don't know what to make of this.”

“Oh? Here, I thought everything was just a normal stroll. Damn, I am hungry and tired. Just imagine how short a delve would be for people in regular pants going through the swamp room. The water would be painted red in seconds. Forget about the sudden drops. Being my first day as a Hunter, I don't know how the guild will deal with something like this.”

“We will explain the situation after we have been to the camp on the tenth level. I still say it's strange that none of the adventurers who came out said anything about the change.”

She wasn't wrong. Why didn't they say anything? Had the change happened when we entered? If so, why and how could I put all the blame on Mira…

Plodding along, well, I plodded Mira squelched, and I was desperately trying not to comment on that. It didn't take us long until we came to a split.

The issue was that the walkway we were on became almost transparent at a distance, so we couldn't really see which of the directions led to a dead end.

Mira just took the left one, so I guess we are going to leave. This was starting to feel more like a hike than any dungeon delve I had imagined.

Half an hour later and four left forks later, I stood scratching my head, looking at the loping tracks all around us, tracks that did corkscrews and seemed to end into nothing.

“See, always go left.”

Mira said a few steps ahead of me.

“You know, blindly following any arbitrary rule doesn't always make it right?”

“No, it makes it left. Come on, let's get done with this. I can't feel my bloody feet.”

With that, the ninth level was at an end. It looked so grand, but it was just a short stroll. Damn, dungeon.

Stepping through the portal to the tenth level, I was prepared for many things, but a stockade was not one of them. The sound of distant screaming and fighting was more like what I had hoped for.

Then, a voice came from above.

“About bloody time! How many did they send? We are barely holding on here.”

Looking at the top of the enclosure straight ahead, I could see the green and yellow armored head of a mercenary.

“No idea what you are talking about there. We are Hunters from the guild, and they don't really send us anywhere unless there is a crisis.”

“I would say the two camps on level twenty and thirty being driven back here as being a bloody damn crisis. We are about to lose the hold we have on this dungeon. Fuck!”

“First I hear about it.”

Personally, I didn't really care if the dungeon was lost. It could always be taken back later. Why hadn't the mercenaries already retreated if things were that grim? Things didn't add up again.

“Damn it. Take the right-hand path when you come to me. It will lead you to the gate.”

Was it worth it? By the sound of things, the other two camps had already been lost. Looking at Mira, I already knew her answer. Well, if shit really hits the fan, I can always wrap her in my tentacle and leg it. It would sort of blow my cover, but I didn't really expect it to last much longer anyway.

Following the instructions, it didn't take long until we were inside the camp. I was surprised. The camp was surrounded by logs with a walkway, and both gates were sturdy hard wood with a thick piece of wood keeping it locked and in place. A mix of Hunters and mercenaries manned the walls. I estimated a couple of hundred all in all.

The far corner of the enclosure had some sort of tower construction that had several levels of archers firing at an enemy, which I couldn't see from here.

Then someone atop the gatehouse bellowed, “Repel, don't let them get a foothold!”

From my vantage point, I couldn't see what was trying to get over the wall, but people were thrusting downward with spears and swords like their lives depended on it.

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From the gate where we stood, the same mercenary shouted, “Go see the captain over there.” Pointing at a two-story wooden building at our end of the compound.

Giving him a thumbs up, we moved our tired assess over to the building.

The first thing I noticed was the air was thick with the smell of tobacco. I had always enjoyed the smell. Reminded me of my father's study. The room was dimly lit despite all the windows standing open. The spartan interior was dominated by three mercenaries standing around a table and arguing about something too low for even my enchanted hearing.

That didn't stop them from noticing us as I felt six pairs of eyes boring into me.

The two men and the woman exuded competence, professionalism and authority. They gave off a feeling that immediate violence was only temporarily restrained by their will alone, but should they choose so, they would be the only ones left standing.

“Report!”

Oh, fuck that.

“Errr…Report what?`I'm soaked, tired and beaten half to death, and when we finally make it to camp, it's a shit show?”

Mira looked at me as if I had lost my mind. She should start paying closer attention. I never had one to begin with.

These three were not my superiors, and if they were, they didn't come close to being as intimidating as I had seen my father or even the captain of our house guard. Shit, most of the barons would make these three look like pussycats. Any authority they had over me was what I chose to give them, and as of yet, I hadn't given them shit.

The man who had yelled for us to rapport seemed to go beet red for a moment before I saw him visibly calm himself. I heard a “Useless Blasted Hunters” under his breath.

“What my Lieutenant meant to say was. Who are you, and what can we help you with? If you don't mind being brief, we are in the middle of a situation right now.”

She didn't even scowl while saying it. It was also the moment I knew I had seen her three or four years ago when a mercenary outfit had come to my home. They wanted to negotiate with my aunt about some escort contract for a shipment to the Kingdom of Luishant, our on-and-off favorite place to invade and be invaded by over the last few centuries.

Small world. Now, let's just hope I have changed enough not to be recognized. I hadn't really spent much time with mercenaries other than my aunt introducing them to me in passing. The young, growing Alucard was much too busy trying to see how fast the hounds could kill a wild boar captured for just that reason to pay attention to things like running our lands and becoming a good leader or any sort of leader.

“Miss, I'm Mira, and that gobshit is Alucard, Don't mind him too much. He got his head stuck between his ass cheeks most of the time. We are Team Mira.”

I probably shouldn't have waved when she mentioned my name, but what can you do?

“Well, that explains some of the things, but it leaves us with too many other questions. You can call me Angela. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mira. Did you get word of what was happening here before you started to delve into the dungeon? Was there more gathered, and is the Guild preparing to relive us?”

“No, not that I heard. We did notice that some of the levels had changed on the way down, so we figured we would check the camp before we made any further decisions.”

“Changed?”

Holding up a hand, I said.

“Do you have something to write on? It will be easier.”

They did, and it wasn't some stupid feather but one of the new pens. One thing I was proud of was my penmanship.

Less than fifteen minutes later, while Mira made small talk and the two men left to shout commands at the people fighting on the walls or something, I was gently blowing on the sheets of paper arrayed on the table. I had even given an estimate on how long each level would take for a group of two hundred to traverse while fighting a rearguard action or at regular marching speed.

I had been forced to learn these things, and now I wished I had paid more attention, but my lack of knowledge in my last life was backed by the knowledge of countless others. It was just a bit much for my dumb brain to take in at one time.

After considering stealing the pen for a moment, I put it back and grunted.

It didn't take the Captain long to understand what was on the pieces of paper and probably make better use of them than I could at the moment.

“Good, good. This is excellent. You didn't happen to pass by a couple of Kings Guard and their ward?”

“No, we did see three Kings guards leave the dungeon right before we entered. They didn't exactly stick around.”

I answered as she was going through my notes and making some herself.

“Blasted! We shouldn't have trusted the King's guard to bring word of what happened here. They only care about one thing, their damn mission. I'm half convinced it's the princess's fault for whatever is happening here. Her party went down to prove themselves, as she said when I last saw her at camp three. Then she gets hurried away alone by two of the guards with half the monsters in the dungeon on their heels. Something stinks!”

“Sorry, it's been a long day. I have not had time to do much washing. Try sniffing Mira instead; she normally smells better than me, but I'm not sure the swamp diving helped. Which princess? There were eight of them last checked.”

That actually earned me a snort and a smile.

Never mind that Mira was trying surreptitiously to sniff herself.

“Vivian, it was Her Highness, Princess Vivian. That's it; I'm calling this dungeon unsafe and closed pending an investigation by the Hunters Guild, as it is stated in the contract with the Hunters Guild and, therefore, within my authority. We have already left hundreds of hunters and dozens of mercenaries behind. I'm not losing anymore, damn it. Prepared to evacuate in the next fifteen minutes. You can stay here until then or try to join the wall, but I doubt there is much room. I will have to ask you to act as guides despite the help you have already given.”

With that, she marched out, leaving us alone.

Vivian was actually someone I had played with quite a few times when we visited the Capitol. Well, when I say playing, I mean creating a literal disaster for the nannies and servants. I'm not sure what anyone expected to happen when they placed two brats who were spoiled rotten and didn't take well to the word no together. They basically did it to themselves.

Fond memories. I wonder if Vivian is as big of a raging bitch now as she was a few years ago.

Spotting a decent-looking chair, I promptly marked it as mine by sprawling in it after dropping my backpack.

Scavenging two good-sized loaves topped with meat, cheese and dried fruit, I handed one to Mira.

“Thanks…You feeling well?”

“Sure, why?”

She wiggled the loaf of bread at me.

“Right, I figured yours is full of swamp water. Since we seem to be staying for a shorter time than I thought, I got plenty. Don't get me wrong, if we weren't heading out of the dungeon, you would be starving now.”

“Sure Alucard, sure.”

Stupid woman with stupid ideas.

Sadly, all good things must come to an end, and I had just started closing my eyes for a little nap when someone new came barging in and told us to hurry.

Grumbling under my breath, I walked outside to see the Hunters had gathered into a group close to the portal while the mercenaries were still holding the wall.

One of the Lieutenants came jogging over to us and said,

“We will rely on you to lead the way out. Please come to the front of the column.”

He was much nicer than the other prick, so I didn't mind.

Standing in front of all the bedraggled-looking Hunters, I could see defeat in their eyes. They had taken a pounding and been found wanting. The dungeon had won, and that was a hard pill to swallow for some of them.

“Listen up! Eyes front and shut it. This here is Mira. You will follow her and do as she says until we exit this dungeon, or you will die. If any of you start arguing and moaning during this trek, I will personally gut you for endangering the rest of us. I know this sucks balls, being beaten, but I promise you the guild will be back, and when we do, we will crush this dungeon. Now line up and get ready on Mira signal.”

Of course, there had to be that one asshole that pushed himself to the front just to start shit. I would call him arrogant, but it would be a bit hypocritical.

“The fuck you think you are telling us what to do, boy. I bet you don't even need to shave more than once a week.”

I took a moment to look at the bastard. Late twenties early thirties. Scarred face and hands, obviously a veteran by his scuffed-up leather and chain armor.

The clue here would be smooth and quick. Don't give away my actions until it is too late.

Taking the three steps that separated us at a speed that bordered on what a human would be capable of, I slid a throwing spike into my hand, distracting his eyes as my left arm came up and grabbed him by the back of his hair.

Forcing him to stand at the tip of his toes as he grabbed onto my left forearm to try to relieve the sudden pain. I had one of my spikes pointing at his left eye.

“With everything else that has changed in the dungeon, doesn't it occur to you that the first levels have changed too? Mira and I just came through those levels, so we know what to expect. You and everyone else here don't, and despite my advice, Mira thinks your worthless asses are worth saving instead of us just leaving you all to die. So here is what we are going to do. You follow what she says, or you and I will wait here until everyone has left through the portal. Then I'm going to throw you at the monster hoard to give the mercenaries time to get clear. Understood? Now, pick fast because every moment means a life worth more than yours is fighting on your behalf.”

The minute shaking of his head may been an indication of acceptance, but I wanted everyone to hear his answer, so I moved the spike back a bit and firmed my knuckles around it as if to punch down.

“I'll listen, I'll listen. I'll follow the girl, damn it, you blasted maniac.”

“Glad we understand each other. Now, don't make me hunt you down later.”

I whispered in his ear as I let him go.

More than one set of eyes was looking at me with apprehension. Good thing the Captain had sent word that they were ready too; by the looks of it, we would be high-tailing it out of here.

Activating her glow stone, Mira shouted,

“Come on, Hunters, let's get moving!”

We had agreed I would stay with the rearguard while she led the vanguard with a group of four mercenaries.

Admittedly, she wasn't happy about it at first, but she understood the reasoning.

What a strange day, I thought while watching the procession walk past at double speed, disappearing through the portal leading to level nine.