Chapter 47: The Defender & End of Third Story Arc
>7 damage.
Daphne joined DM over by the console.
>8 damage.
“…Your timing was impeccable.”
“The spirits told me to hurry.”
>8 damage.
Daphne pointed at Vera. “Uh, why is she doing that?”
“…Grace, you can stop now.”
>7 damage.
“Oh, I can?”
“…Olivia, how are you?”
“I’m… exhausted.” She collapsed into a chair that DM summoned for her.
“Grummanonth, everything is under control.”
“Ah, truly excellent news. Please make way.”
“…Uh, everyone move away from the center of the room.”
“Why?” asked Daphne.
Grace just jogged out of the way without question. A moment later, Grummanonth appeared there.
“A dragon!?” Daphne screamed.
“…Grummanonth, your presence kind of complicates things.”
“Meh.” The dragon stared at Barney’s remains. “So I take it the elf was able to sneak up on him and target his central nervous system?”
“…Yes. The knife fell from Barney’s hand without injuring Olivia.”
“How wonderful.” Grummanonth turned to face Daphne and lowered his head reverently. “Thank you for your assistance.”
Daphne babbled for a bit before finally acknowledging Grummanonth’s words of gratitude.
“No need to panic, young elf. I am Grummanonth the Moonwalker. May I know the name of the one who helped my friend in his hour of need?”
“Hm?” It took Daphne a moment to realize that Grummanonth was asking for her name. “Oh… I’m Daphne!”
“…I can see where this is going…”
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“You are Daphne the Defender.”
“Daphne the Defender…” she repeated back. “I hope my kin don’t mind…”
“Mind? Nonsense. I will inform them myself.”
“Yourself!?”
“DM, could you open a path to the surface for me? I will escort her home. It’s the least I can do.”
“…Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” DM started making the adjustments.
“Bwahahaha! Come, Daphne the Defender, hop onto my back.”
“Is… Is that really all right?” Daphne asked.
“Are you insane!?” Grace suddenly blurted out. “He’s letting you do it! Take advantage while you can! Gods!”
Daphne had no idea who Grace was but didn’t argue further. She climbed onto Grummanonth’s back as instructed.
“I depart!” Despite his large body, he launched with surprising abruptness, leaving behind only the echoing screams of a terrified elf.
“…Grace, I’ll send you back to the other dungeon for now.”
She positioned herself in the center of the chamber and disappeared as soon as DM entered the command into the console.
DM’s morphling turned to Olivia. “…How are you feeling now?”
“Better… I should be able to return to the Twin Cities. Oh!”
“…Yes?”
“The reason why I came here was to find out what was going on. Could you explain?”
DM gave her a brief summary of the recent events from ever since he departed to accept the Empire’s invitation.
“That…” Olivia trailed off. “I guess I’ll need to tell the Guild Master all about this. What about the girls who were hired by the dragon?”
“…I don’t know. They’re probably on their way back by now.” DM knew, but didn’t want to admit he actually knew. His answer was exactly correct. They were returning to Grummanonth’s dungeon, although he’d probably be back by the time they got there.
Olivia took her leave.
DM decided to catch up on everything he had missed across all his dungeons, now that he had time to play around with the dungeon’s console uninterrupted. It took him a few hours before he noticed something. One of his new dungeons had recently leveled and unlocked a new monster type.
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Daphne navigated Grummanonth west toward her home, EarthGlen. Compared to making the trip on foot, which she had performed too many times recently, the flight took just a few hours. She was a little nervous about what would happen when Grummanonth arrived at the village.
In fact, as soon as he swooped down and landed in the largest clearing near the home of the elves, they were surrounded by several dozen archers, all aiming their bows at Grummanonth. Daphne looked around frantically, unsure what she should do to prevent escalation. She noticed Alenia was even one of the elves targeting Grummanonth, but it was an elder who stepped forward slightly and called out to the dragon.
“Release the hostage and we will not hinder you!”
“BWAHAHAHA!”
The elder took a step back as though pushed by Grummanonth’s outburst.
“I carry no hostages! Only fine warriors!”
The elves murmured to one another while Daphne slid down the side of Grummanonth’s body, returning to the ground.
“This one’s bravery in defense of my friend has earned her my accolades. I dub her Daphne the Defender! I will broker no argument, in the name of Grummanonth the Moonwalker!”
“We… accept your declaration,” the elder responded tentatively.
“I must return to my dungeon, Daphne the Defender. Until we meet again.”
Before Grummanonth could lift off, Alenia hopped over to Daphne, checking her over once for injuries or other problems. “Daphne, uh, the Defender, I’m glad to see you’re unhurt, but didn’t you return to the Twin Cities with your friends from the Guild? Where are they?”
“Huh?” Realization emerged on Daphne’s face. “NOOO!”
“BWAHAHAHA!” Grummanonth lifted off, kicking up a wind in his wake.
“Daphne, dear, it looks like you’re making yet another trip…”
Daphne’s hollers echoed for some time.
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“Grummanonth, I have a hypothetical question for you.”
“Go ahead, DM. I’m happy to chat while I fly back to my dungeon.”
“Suppose one of my dungeons unlocked a second dragon slot shortly before you took Daphne on a several-hour flight. Would that long period of contact with an elf have any impact on them…? Hypothetically?”
“BWAHAHAHA!”