Corvayne stepped through the exit arch of the Dungeon into the huge vault in the undersea ruins. He could feel the magic he had spent taking hold, the sensation somewhat like scraping old paint away in his brain. He wasn't sure when he had scraped paint off a house, but it was what came to mind as he felt a new level of clarity. He snapped his fingers and pulled out a little pad of paper.

[[Understanding: 10]]

[[Growth: 5]]

[[Unity: 5]]

[[Love: 1]]

[[Tower: 1]]

He tossed it back into his ring and confirmed that they had come out in the same spot. The dark forms of slain adventurers around the gateway confirmed it.

Nyxion strode next to Corvayne, then motioned subtly behind him. "You think we'll get a reward?"

Corvayne smirked. "Greedy."

He felt an elbow. Nyx was looking back at Bell. "Practical. You probably can get a chunk of land." There was a raised eyebrow. Or more.

That wasn't why he did it. "That wasn't why I did it." Nyxion and one of Spears' blue psudopods made the universal sex sign. Corvayne sighed at them. "Nor that."

Lady Blood Claw was looking all around while speaking, eyes faintly glowing orange in the dark from some enchantment. "You make friends too easily Corvayne." Her skin also glowed faintly pink for a half second, which he was pretty sure was intense happiness, but clamped down on both her [[Unity]] link and her skin. She got him at least. It was hard to say no to Bell now that he knew her.

Bearer dusted her hands. "We are pretty much scott-free. Just blaze a trail back up the way we came, or heck we can probably get up to that hole you made out to the surface."

Bell handed Hylal over to Brines, to whom the bird girl chirped. "Thank you, Mr. Mount!" which was punctuated by a hearty sneeze from Brines. The princess then checked her gear and nodded, ignoring that Brines was once again itching.

Bell then cleared her throat and pointed her chin up, sounding more then a little annoyed. "While I may not be as exceptional as you all, I have working ears! There will be a reward, even if I have to sell all my baubles to pay you."

Bearer gave Brines a nudge. "See? They are so rich they can pay the horses."

Corvayne didn't want to comment that they pulled enough material out of the Source that they could probably all retire as-is. Or perhaps not, he might be alive a lot longer then a hundred years. He was musing on the price of bread in gold coins when a bright light in the darkness ahead took his attention. In a motion his spear was ready, and he heard the click of Spear's rifle as well. However, the glimmering shape resolved itself to be the UFO that had lead them to the dungeon in the first place.

Bearer-of-Burdens looked to the rest of the group. "Do you think it's like a metal slime and gives us a lot of EXP?"

Corvayne saw his shadow hands slither out and start pointing at it, emphasizing as if it was important.

"Oh. I get it." Corvayne bowed. "Thank you UFO, we saved her thanks to you."

[[Understanding]] somehow gave him the impression the UFO was annoyed, which was backed up by the giant spinning crystal disk slamming into the ground once, then sort of tilting a different direction. Corvayne got the it was tipping with... urgency.

His shadow arms snapped soundlessly then pointed the direction the disc was now moving. The thought crossed his mind. Maybe... the disk had not been trying to guide him to the girl. This dungeon was doing something that spewed thousands and thousands of monsters out of it an hour. Was it trying to stop the thing from spewing an endless wall of flesh into the oceans?

Lady Blood Claw looked at it. "Do we trust it?"

"It lead us to the Spider, and we saved Bell's daughter. So I'm going to say yes." Corvayne rushed after it, boots not even close to keeping up with the instant accelleration or how it could turn 90 degrees at full speed. Still, the tomb was only so big, and it couldn't fit past the exit it was lighting up, something like a arch carved into the wall at the top of a short stairway.

Bell called out behind him. "Corvayne, I command you to slow down! Corvayne!"

He slowed a little, but just enough to see her light as she huffed her way up the stairs. He called back "Just catch up when you can!" then dashed ahead, eyes adjusting to the gloom as he pushed past a half open door into what looked like a ruined control room, arranged around a curved window looking into another massive chamber. There was a pillar of silver light bathing everything in a sort of stark black and white glow, lighting rows of what looked like old boxy computer terminals. Some of the rows of desks had shards of broken equipment, and there were signs of damage. The room itself was something like a city block in size, but the chamber it viewed out into was titanic.

"What were they trying to do?" He muttered as he stepped up to the window. Looking out, Corvayne couldn't tell if the silver line was a reactor core of some sort, or a portal, or a drill. He didn't sense danger from it, so it likely wasn't cooking him to stand in the room gawking at it, but there was a sort of tension here that made him slow down. The silver line for a moment flickered, then with a click righted itself into a solid line.

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

Something was failing. He stepped up to the window, and could see there was apparatus all arranged around the domed shaped mega chamber, large enough that he guessed it was a few miles across. It seemed to have several projectors on the ceiling, but only one was bathing the bottom of the chamber in the light.... his eyes widened. At the bottom of the huge room, the shimmering light was hitting a diamond. Given the size of the chamber, it was a small mountain. Something like the mirror of the moon above. He didn't really think he was that greedy, but he felt himself fixating on the titanic jewel. He could see something in it, some sort of pattern that was just on the edge of figuring out.

He heard Spears humm to herself, as if she was thinking.

He forced himself to keep looking at the chamber. There were other windows, and while most of them were dark he could see that they were generally spread around the chamber like a ring. The light in the center of the room faltered again, and he could spot one control room one was lit up. There was a crashing sound behind him, and he saw the UFO had pushed Bell and Lady Blood Claw through the tunnel. It made a beeline for him and Corvayne had to duck as the glittering disk smashed through the window and zipped over to the lit window, drawing glowing circles in the air.

"You two okay?"

Lady Blood Claw snarled, skin red. "That damn disco ball nearly crushed us!" She was mad, but had enough awareness to help Bell stand.

The princess said in Cascadian. "Thank you." Then looked about. "I've seen this before! There was a picture of it at the palace! This might hold the answer as to why the imperial powers are weakening!"

Lady Blood Claw drew her sword. "I'm more worried as to why that UFO is having a seizure over there."

Corvayne was thinking about it. "Because if there's a light on, someone's there, doing something to this place."

Spears suddenly tapped his shoulder. "Whatever we do, we gotta keep that beam on! I think I know what this place is!"

Corvayne felt her using [[Unity]] to urge him forward, and he ran, using [Flow-Like-Water] to blast through a broken door. The beam flickered again. Corvayne's shadow hands seemed to understand why Spears was so nervous as they reached ahead and ripped the next door off it's hinge, a feat he didn't think they had in them. Lady Blood Claw was somehow keeping up, and he could hear Bell yelling at him.

He reached the lit room and saw a huge woman with purple skin and silver hair in the process of slashing through a terminal, spraying computer parts across the room. She stopped destroying things to start laughing.

"You are too late! You can't stop it anymore! The master's work is done!"

Corvayne held a hand up. "What work? I don't know what your doing here." He suspected letting whatever was under the beam of light out, but perhaps she's do what they did in the books and tell him everything he needed to know.

"Our perfect guardian will stop anyone from touching the black circle! The Magus's will be done! She will be your undoing!" She started laughing, then turned and ran out a door that Corvayne guessed lead back into the dungeon. He considered chasing, but turned instead to the remaining computers. Maybe he could fix it? He felt a pull on his back.

"Corvayne we need to run! NOW!" Spears was yelling in his ear. It was rare to hear her upset. Even when she was wounded, she was calm.

"What is it?" Corvayne could see the UFO was now spinning near one of the segments he had already run through, and his compass was now urging him to follow, as were his shadow hands pointing and gesturing and waving around in a panic.

"It's Diamonds!"

Corvayne started running, but had to look back at Spears. "It's a giant gem, yes."

"No, Diamonds-In-Passing!"

"Oh she's buried under that huge rock? If we fight her, can I grab her curse and wake her up?"

Spears watery face blushed. "Stop thinking about coping a feel! She's not buried under that rock! She IS that rock!"

He thought about the diamond's shape. The lines he had seen in that mountain... the form of arms curled around a diamond body.

Corvayne nearly ran face first into Lady Blood Claw, but didn't wait for her to say anything, just picked her up and slung her over his shoulder.

"Corvayne!? What are you doing!? PUT ME DOWN. NOW!"

"That mountain is going to come alive in a moment and start doing weaponskills at us."

She stopped struggling a moment. "Corvayne... What are you doing!? RUN FASTER!"

He grabbed Bell too. "Nyxion! RUN!" He kicked his friend's shield ball hard enough to get it rolling down the side hall, the would-be royal yelling as he was flung in a direction Corvayne was pretty sure were stairs up.

He looked back and saw Bearer gave Brines a push into the room, but she slowed down to turn to the silver light bathing the control room, which had started to flicker for longer periods of darkness.

Brines saw her slow and stopped himself, looking between her, the pillar of light that was starting to fail, and Corvayne.

Bearer held up a finger. "I'll take the rear. It will buy you some time. If something weird happens, meet where we came to the planet in a month so I can get my stuff back." Bearer didn't seem worried, but she also started taking off her clothes.

Bell was struggling. "What are you doing! Corvayne! Stop looking at her! Also stop her! I did NOT give you permission to make a last stand! I didn't give YOU permission to touch my rear either!"

Lady Blood Claw shouted back. "Tell Bell whatever she said, if you drop either of us we're dead!"

He slowed down as Bearer bundled her clothes in her bag and tossed it to him, requiring him to catch and ring it mid air. He tried not to look at her.

"Brines, take care of the bird girl. Corvayne, take care of Brines."

"Bearer, it's not like you to make a last stand..."

"Just run. I'll take care of -" There was a hissing static. "Or whatever you guys call her." She looked back and met his eyes. He noticed her head spun the entire way around without her shoulders moving, then she kept spinning it until it was facing forward.

Brines was ahead of him down the tunnel they picked, with Nyxion already bashing his way through a pair of monsters as they entered what looked like a dead garden. The formed the same formation as before, minus their rearguard. A third creature took a bolt of lightning from Brines and Hylal combining fire, neither slowing. Brines face looked determined, moreso then usual.

Corvayne let his compass and the UFO both lead the way through a city made of what looked like fountains to a metal pillar with an empty room in it. Corvayne didn't need to be told it was an elevator or teleporter. He just waited until everyone was in then hit the topmost button the moment Brines made it.

As the elevator surged up, something like shrill bells started going off in his head.

[[[[EMERGENCY QUEST AUTO ACCEPTED: DIMENTIONAL INVADER DETECTED]]]]

[[[[INVADER HAS ATTEMPTED TO CAPUTRE THE RUINS. DEFEAT ALL ENEMIES 0/1]]]]

Lady Blood Claw turned burning red. “Stop the elevator! Kill it!”

Corvayne put out an arm and stopped her. Bell was trying to stop her daughter, who was straining for the button to turn the elevator around. "Kaaaw! Cmon friends! Let's tear that monster apart with our bare hands! Yay us! Booo them!!"

Nyxion grabbed Lady Blood Claw's other arm. “LBC! Chill!”

"I will NOT chill it NEEDS to die! Abomonation! KILL IT!" Her eyes had turned black and red, even as her skin was steaming. Nyx was gritting his teeth and Corvayne could see steam rising from where he was grabbing her wrist.

Brines shook his head. “She said it varies in how strong the effect is.”

Corvayne didn't feel anything, but he could see Bell was straining to hold her half starved daughter back, and was biting her lip until it was bleeding. Nyx's eyes kept darting to the button as well. Corvayne forced himself to calm down, to take everything he had and bottle it tight inside, to become empty then draw further with [[Unity]]. He didn't stop until everyone was sitting down and the only sound the droning of the elevator and their breathing in sync.

The power was drawing on... something, but Corvayne was sure it would last until they got to the top. Then there was a rumble and the elevator died as they were cast into darkness.