I don't know how long I was out for, but as I start to come to I can hear the sounds of combat, the sounds of things in the room crashing. My eyes are still blurry and out of focus as I try to push the corpse off of me, but a deafening roar rang out filling me with a sense of dread that leaves me unable to move as I instinctively curl into the fetal position with my eyes shut tight.
After another loud crash, the room grows eerily quiet. I then hear a familiar voice, and the sense of dread leaves my body and I am finally able to push off the corpse of Dalian's king and stagger to my feet. The pain in the back of my head is still rather intense, so I can't help holding the back of my head while the room comes into focus.
“Hold it down! Don't give it a chance to get back up!” Dyson yells as my vision clears enough for me to see Angela, Desiree, Speedy, and Byson all piled up on the dragon trying to hold it still after it appears to have broken free of its bindings.
In addition to the corpses of the royal family of Dalian, there are many corpses of different types of animals and monsters around the room. If I had to guess the animals belong to Ceres's dungeon, but some of the monsters I recognize as my own. A few of the animals and monsters are still alive, so Ceres must be as well, but I don't see her or Duke Bozhidar anywhere.
“We are still alive, so I guess that means we won... But where is Duke Bozhidar, and where is Ceres?” -I say still scanning the room.-
Dyson: “Tell some of your monsters to help hold down this dragon, and Ceres went down over there somewhere.” -He says while motioning to an overturned table.- “As for Duke Bozhidar, he escaped.”
I direct the monsters standing around the room to assist with the dragon, and say. “Escaped? How is that possible?”
Dyson: “He teleported, he came prepared, I don't know how, but he was far stronger than he should have been. Even if he avoided the reset, he shouldn't have been that strong...”
I then check behind the fallen table for Ceres. I find her in a crumpled and charred mess on the floor, and not that she needs to as a dungeon core, but I can tell she is still breathing by rising and fall of her chest.
If she were human she would already be dead. Over half of her body is charred beyond recognition going all the way down to the bone on the majority of her right hand and arm. There is very little I can do with my current magical capabilities, but I still rush to her side and begin casting the strongest healing spell I can.
“Never mind that for now! Quick, Ceres needs help!” -I call out already exhausting my magic without even making a noticeable difference to Ceres.-
Between all of Dyson's group and my monsters, they are holding the dragon in place so Dyson joins me in the casting of a healing spell on Ceres. Unlike my spell, his healing spell seems to be doing some good. The missing muscle and flesh reform over the exposed bones in her arm and some of the burns disappear completely, but when Dyson ends his spell there are still massive burns covering half her body.
Dyson: “It isn't pretty, but she at least out of danger. I need to conserve the rest of my magic in case Duke Bozhidar decided to have another go at us.”
I check on Ceres again and as Dyson said, she appears to be out of danger, but she is still unconscious as I ask Dyson. “What exactly happened...?”
Dyson: “For one I'm going to have to think about adopting your method of dungeon monitoring... We were in your dungeon so Duke Bozhidar targeted you first, but Ceres then summoned her animals, so he realized her dungeon was connected as well and he freed the dragon to take care of Ceres. If it wasn't for the quick action of your monsters that you have in your dungeon core room, pulling some of your monsters here, I don't know if we would have won.”
“But you said he still managed to flee?”
Dyson: “Yes. Judging by the strength he showed, I'm confident I could still take him on a one-on-one fight, and he seemed to realize it as well, because after your monsters didn't quit coming after knocking you out, his dragon didn't give him as much of an advantage as he thought it would, so he abandoned it fled with a teleport spell similar to mine. Which is something I wasn't aware he had even before the reset.”
“The dragon isn't as important to him as you thought it was, so why go through all the extra work of recapturing it, instead of killing it?”
Dyson: “I would think you would be the first to not want to kill a sentient creature without weighing all your options, but I on the other hand just think it would be a waste. When I said it was a rare type of dragon it was by no means an exaggeration. I would go as far as to say it was one of a kind.”
“What do you mean?”
Dyson: “It's of a species of dragon that has existed far before dungeons, so its existence is equal to that of Akil, but since this one was still an egg when I acquired it and presented it to Duke Bozhidar, when it hatched it became bound to his dungeon. As young as it is, I'm not saying you will get as much XP from it as you did Akil, but if you were to keep it alive in your dungeon, I would say it would be a good start.”
“Wouldn't that just be putting my dungeon at unnecessary risk? I mean I get that it is a rare species, but with it being bound to Duke Bozhidar, I can't see this going well. Besides the fact that it is sentient only makes it worse. Even if Duke Bozhidar unbound it from his dungeon that doesn't mean its alliance would change, and keeping a sentient creature locked up for an indefinite amount of time might be crueler than giving it a quick death.”
Dyson: “I'm sure with the way Duke Bozhidar spoke, he has already unbound the dragon from his dungeon, or at least he will unbind it shortly. As for it being sentient, it is still quite young and you have always had a way of bringing people around to your way of thinking. Given enough time I'm confident you can do the same with this dragon.”
“When exactly did we switch roles...?”
I pick up Ceres off of the floor and move her to a couch against one of the walls. It is a little scorched, but it is better than leaving her on the floor. Besides, it appears most of the items in the room have received at least some damage from the attack while I was unconscious.
After taking care of Ceres I move over to Dyson's group and my monsters. The dragon has seemed to stop struggling, but they are still holding it tightly just in case. Byson is wrapped around the dragon's head with his arm tightly wrapped around its muzzle to keep it from biting or belching fire.
That leaves one of the dragon's eyes completely covered, but the other one locks on me as I approach. I'm sure it heard the conversation I just had with Dyson, and by its reaction before I was knocked out, I'm sure it understood what was said, so I start by saying.
“I don't know if Duke Bozhidar unbound you from his dungeon or not, but even if he did you might think he is still coming back for you. And perhaps maybe he will, but if you want to stay alive until that time, I suggest you calm down until then.”
Nobody loosens their grip on the dragon, but it seems to relax a bit and it quits fighting against being held. As it does Dyson steps up beside me and says.
Dyson: “Two-Twelve's monsters are still going to hold you in place for now, but I'm going to have my people step back now. If you try anything, we will not hesitate to kill you this time. Unlike some of the others of your species, I take it that Duke Bozhidar taught you how to speak the human tongue?”
Byson, Speedy, Desiree, and Angela then slowly let go of the dragon while Dyson places his hand on his sword. After Byson steps out of the way the dragon shakes its head around a few times, and works its maw, but makes no signs to attack instead speaks with a rough, but a somehow light childlike voice.
Dragon: “Of course I can speak, I'm not an idiot! And you're wrong about my Master. He will not unbind me from his dungeon, and when my Master returns for me, I will make sure he lets me feast on your corpses!”
Dyson: “You heard him as well as I did, he abandoned you. If he cared about you he could have taken you with him when he fled, but leaving you behind should be all the proof you need. Either that or he is a coward, and that still doesn't help your chances of him coming back for you.”
The dragon appears to be getting angry and it takes a deep breath, but Dyson's grip tightens on his sword. The dragon doesn't spew flames, but it raises its voice, and as it speaks small flames escape its mouth.
Dragon: “Master is no coward! He has killed over 120 dungeons in this last month alone! And the Great Dyson has only killed what? 40 in your entire lifetime!”
Dyson: “So he was working with the failed dungeon cores, and took out all the other traitors after the failed dungeon cores died? I don't see how else he could have killed that many in such a short time, especially without [Menu] sending out an alert. I guess we should be thanking him for dealing with all the other traitors for us, so now we only have to deal with one instead of many.”
The dragon roars and angrily spews fire over our heads, and even though fear rushes through my body and I instinctively duck, Dyson doesn't move. He just stands there with a smirk on his face as he continues talking.
Dyson: “If he killed all the others, I take it that means he is the one holding Laura captive as well?”
The dragon regains its composure as it says. “Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you!”
Dyson: “If he didn't even tell you that, I guess you are just another pawn to him.”
The dragon looks angry again but doesn't say anything this time. Dyson presses it with a few more questions, but it refuses to answer anything else about Duke Bozhidar.
Dyson: “We could torture the information out of you, but I doubt it would do any good because, by the look on your face, I would say he didn't trust you with that information to begin with.” -He then turns to me to say. “I guess we are done with it for now. I will let you keep working on her for the next few weeks, I take it you can move her somewhere in your dungeon that she can't escape from?”
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“Well she isn't struggling now, but between those two minotaurs and an ogre, they seemed to be able to hold her still along with your group, so as long as I put her towards the end of my dungeon. I think I have enough monsters to keep her from going any deeper or escaping.”
Dyson: “She may be relatively easy to handle, but her strength will grow exponentially as she gets older. If she doesn't come around by then, and there comes to be a time where she is getting to strong for your dungeon we can decide on what to do with her when that time comes.”
I turn to the dragon and say. “Alright, I am going to transfer you to another part of my dungeon. These two minotaur and the ogre will be the only ones in the room with you, but if you attack them there will be plenty more monsters sent into the room and it won't be to subdue you. Do you understand?”
The dragon nods its head and I transfer it down to the room I took Denova to when I showed her the supplies I salvaged from the attack on Tobes. I then move back to check on Ceres. I don't know if resting is a good way to put it, but her situation is unchanged as she lays unconscious on the couch.
Dyson steps up to the couch with me as well and says. “It will still be a while before she wakes up on her own, so the discussion on what to do about Duke Bozhidar can wait until then. Meanwhile, maybe we should discuss the matter about your end of our bargain regarding the XP for rebuilding Tobes?”
“Is that important right now...?”
Dyson: “To be honest, I think we are in much better shape than we thought we were in an hour ago. Duke Bozhidar killed all the other traitors leaving us with only one target, and one location in which Laura could be at. Also by killing all the other traitors before they had a chance to regain any measure of power, his strength is still less than mine. So, about that new lady of mine?”
“Duke Bozhidar blocked your blade with his bare hands... Now I admit I missed most of the fight, but if he is weaker than you, by the looks of things, I would say it is only by a small sum, and now that he is fled back to his dungeon he has thousands of monsters to aid in his defense putting him at the clear advantage.”
Dyson: “I get the feeling you are avoiding the question, but yes. As long as he remains in his dungeon he more than likely holds the advantage, and with gaining enough strength to be close to me he must have an ample supply of XP, which is something we currently lack. If we want to bring him down, our best bet is to halt his army's advance. Whittle down their numbers until we exhaust his XP while boosting ours or manage to draw him out of his dungeon.”
“He has been filling Dalian's army with his monsters for years, and even though his actual dungeon doesn't spread out too far, he has more monsters outside of his dungeon than any 5 normal dungeons have inside theirs.”
Dyson: “Not to mention the Royal Family of Dalian have been killed, which I would figure he will use to his advantage. I was seen taking them, so he will lay the blame on me and rile the humans up to act out his bidding as well.”
“Exactly! So how is the woman I am supposed to summon for you a priority?”
Dyson: “You wanted to put a stop to Dalian's expansion, and now we have an excuse, not only that but we also have well over 100 fewer enemies to deal with, and you have the start of a new source of XP for your dungeon. Now, we can't discuss what to do next until Ceres wakes up, so about the woman...?”
I sigh and say.”I haven't summoned one yet... If you are in that much of a hurry I do have an idea for the dragon-like woman.”
Dyson: “After today, I think I'm all dragon-ed out...”
“Well the one I was planning on working towards was the dryad-esque one, but I needed some supplies that I was unable to get until Speedy's arrival, so that is why I haven't started yet.”
Dyson: “What exactly is it you need?”
“Well I have a list, but it has items from all four corners of the map. I was going to have Speedy start working on it after she takes me to Emeraldline and we finish setting up the portal for Elexia, but now...?”
Dyson: “Well, about that... The complication regarding Speedy is far worse than I originally thought. I brought her and Byson along in case you still have a use for them, but not only is she slower, but she also can't transport more than a heavy pack, so taking you anywhere would be impossible.”
“That does put quite a damper on our plans. I guess I can just give her the list and let her acquire the items I need.”
Dyson: “The reason we didn't send her on ahead was because we still might have arrived before her. Now 5 days on foot from my dungeon to yours is no small feat, but if the items you require are as far spread as you claim. It could take her weeks if not months to acquire them all.”
“The only other option is to give you the list and have you gather the items yourself.”
Desiree steps forward and asks. “If Master acquires these items, the woman will match our specifications?”
“I'll do what I can, but it wouldn't hurt to get enough ingredients in case I have to make several attempts.” -I say while pulling out the list and handing it to Desiree.-
Desiree looks over the list, making several troubled facial expressions along the way. She then says. “Do you know how hard some of this will be to acquire?”
“It can't be any harder than trying to summon a person to match your ridiculous specifications... Now that we have taken care of that, can we get back to what is important?”
Dyson looks over the list in Desiree's hands for a few moments before she puts it away, he then says. “It does appear you are at least taking this seriously, so I guess we can hold out a few more weeks before adding another to our group. Now, if Duke Bozhidar was going to return with a bunch of his monsters I believe he would have done so by now, so we should wake up Ceres and decide our next course of action.”
I cast another healing spell on Ceres, draining my magic again, but even though it seems to do more good than the spell I cast earlier, it is still not enough to wake her up.
“That's all I can do...”
Dyson: “I can't afford to waste any magic either, just in case Duke Bozhidar tries something, so we are going to have to use a healing potion.”
“Do you have any? Because the cost of summoning a healing potion is far too high. It would almost be just as expensive to summon a monster capable of casting a healing spell.”
Dyson: “Of course, I have one. There is always the chance you enter an area where your ability to use magic has been cut off, so carrying a few healing potions should be second nature.” -He says while pulling a highly decorative metal flask from a pouch on his belt.- “The hard part is getting Ceres to swallow it while unconscious. For now, just sit her up.”
After sitting Ceres up on the couch, Dyson instructs me to tilt her head back a little and he then hands me the flask after removing the cap. Speedy and Byson are moving around the room picking up the furniture, but Angela, Desiree, and Dyson are staring at me rather intently, and when I place the flask to Ceres's mouth they all three seem rather disappointed.
Dyson: “Not the way I would have done it, but I guess that works. Pinch her nose so that she has to swallow it.” -He says while I pour the contents of the flask into Ceres's mouth.-
After a few gulps, Ceres begins to choke and cough as she brings the back of her hand to her mouth and slowly begins to open her eyes. The burns on Ceres's flesh start to heal, but unlike an actual healing spell the tissue is scarred.
If it wasn't for the fact that Ceres was a dungeon core the scarring would be permanent, but since she is, even if she didn't receive any more healing the scars would eventually disappear.
Ceres: “What is this vile liquid you are pouring down the throat of a poor unconscious woman?” -She says between coughs. She then winces in pain and notices the shape she is still in. She casts a healing spell on herself, but it doesn't seem to do much more than the ones I cast on her, and before long she stops casting and lays her head back while breathing harshly.- “Was that some kind of potion, because I don't think it worked...”
Dyson: “Well you are awake, so obviously it did.”
Ceres looks around the room and then asks me. “Help me to my side of the room, I have something stored in my dungeon that might help.”
I help Ceres from the couch and with one arm around my shoulder, I carry her to her side of the room. She opens her [Menu], and being that I'm still holding her up I can see her access her dungeon inventory.
Ceres withdraws a handful of small runic magic stones and exhausts the magic in them in an instant. The burns on her body begin to heal, but even with all the runic magic stones, the scarring from the potion remains along with some burns still on her shoulder and arm.
The only thing holding the majority of her clothing on was the fact it was burnt into her flesh, but now that she is mostly healed, there is nothing left to hold what is left of it in place, leaving her quite exposed. She remedies that next, by using [Menu] to equip herself in new clothes while letting go of me to stand on her own.
Ceres: “Given the situation, I can forgive you for looking at me in such a state of undress, but if I hear of you spreading rumors about my body. I'll have to kill you.”
“This isn't the first time I have seen you without clothing...”
Ceres: “You're not the one I'm talking to.” -She says while turning to face Dyson.-
Dyson: “Kill me?” -He scoffs.- “I'd like to see you try. Besides, I like my women a little less well-done, and you're hardly anything to brag about.”
Ceres: “My body is that of a Goddess, a model of perfection!”
Dyson: “Apparently not all Goddesses are created equally.”
Ceres starts to say something else, but I cut in and say. “Alright! We have more important things to be dealing with right now...”
Ceres looks surprised as she says. “It isn't over?”
“No... Duke Bozhidar escaped, and we need to discuss what we are going to do next.”
Ceres: “Did he take that dragon with him?” -She says after looking around the room and noticing the dragon's corpse isn't here.-
“No, we managed, and by we I mean Dyson and his group managed to recapture it. When I woke up the battle was already over, and we moved the dragon to another area of my dungeon where it won't be able to escape.”
Ceres: “Good, because I would like a little payback!”
“You can't blame it. It is just a child, and it was trying to protect its dungeon core.”
Ceres: “I most certainly can! It's an offspring of one of the original dragons. Their only allegiance should be to their own kind, and to my siblings and I.”
Dyson: “You may have forgotten, but you're just one of us now and think of it this way, we might need the XP it will provide by being a captive in Two-Twelve's dungeon.”
Ceres: “And if I promise not to kill it?”
“It's still just a child...”
Dyson: “You're one to talk. You were wanting to kill it not even 20 minutes ago.”
“That was before I spoke with it, and I'm still not entirely sold on the idea that keeping it locked up is more humane than giving it a quick end, but I can't deny the fact that it already gave us critical information, even if it was accidentally.”
Ceres: “What do you mean?”
We then catch Ceres up on the information we learned while she was unconscious and discuss what our next plan of action should be including what Dyson and I already discussed.
Ceres: “Not that I wouldn't like Dyson to sneak into Duke Bozhidar's dungeon and bring this to a swift end. I do believe that will pose too much of a risk. If we were to lose Dyson now, we would have no way to defend against Duke Bozhidar after that.”
“If it is going to come to a war, we should inform King Aaron what we learned. All of the kingdoms armies are weak right now, but to try to push back along the entire border of Dalian, we are going to need numbers, and once King Aaron learns that Duke Bozhidar likely has Laura, I'm sure he'll want to help.”
Dyson: “Archbishop Hayden might be of some help as well. I know you don't agree with his methods, but the reset hit him hard. He only kept one city of humans alive in Lodia while spreading his undead across the rest of the kingdom. He has had to sacrifice thousands of undead by breaking them down just to maintain his consumption rate. With Lodia being so close to Dalian we might be able to convince him to help for the sake of allowing his undead to spread into Dalian to gathering XP.”
Ceres: “Not unless we can convince him to change the way he operates. He would only use that XP to push his plague lands further into Exeter and Calhoun. At least with Duke Bozhidar he leaves the humans and ground alive after he expands his territory...”
“Queen Millie is already stretched pretty thin, but we should bring in Livinston's King, and Clement's Queen in as well. They didn't want to ask for our help, but if we are going to push back on Dalian on our own we at least need their permission to send people though their lands.”
Ceres: “I think we should consider bringing all of the kings and queens back again. Not only will it prove that the Dungeon Core Elders are trying to work with humans, but also that we will do what it takes to rein in one of our own that has gone too far.”
“If we do, I suggest we make the meeting voluntary this time. If we keep kidnapping the royalty every time we want to speak with them they never will learn to trust us.”
Dyson: “I have to make some rounds gathering the items on the list Two-Twelve provided to me, so I will speak with them all, and try to make them understand the importance of what we are trying to do.”
Ceres: “In the meantime, I need to focus on summoning as many monsters as possible, so I can get past these simple beasts, and begin summoning something that may become useful.”
“I'll try to touch base with some of our allied dungeon cores, and see if they will be able to provide any assistance.”
Dyson: “You two are the last two I should have to warn about battening down the hatches on your dungeons now that we know Duke Bozhidar can teleport, but you should warn the others as well.”
“I also wanted to discuss the creation of new dungeon cores, but maybe we should put that on hold until we get a better handle on the situation with Duke Bozhidar.”
Ceres:” What we need is numbers, and if we were to create a few more dungeon cores we could, in turn, have them help bolster our numbers, but on the other hand we might want to hold becoming a dungeon core as a bargaining tool.”
Dyson: “In any case, keep working on that dragon as well, see if you can get it to give up any more information, and if you have any problems with it let me know.”
We wrap up the meeting, and after Dyson leaves I get Byson and Speedy situated with a place to stay. We then take Ceres around town having everyone we know that can cast healing magic to heal her as best as they can. By the time we are through, Ceres is back to normal.
Afterward, we clean up the mess made in the room we spent all the time trying to set up, but we aren't quite sure what to do with the remains of the Royal Family of Dalian... We could just let the dungeon do away with the bodies, but that doesn't seem right.
We can't send them home either, because that will only feed into whatever story Duke Bozhidar plans on spreading to the people of Dalian. Until we decide I store the bodies in the dungeon's inventory so they at least don't rot.
By the end of the day, I already received a message from Dyson saying he has already acquired the first item on the list... I wish I had his optimism about our current situation, but I can only see things getting much worse soon.