Agnox floated near his mistress, Morthrus Ky'Kegthellen. He was in charge of the scouting attack onto the human’s safe zone. Right now, he was waiting for her to notice him to give a report. Agnox expected a delicious reward. He was only a Level 11 Imp, but he was the strongest of the Imps. The only Beginner race of his kind in the Dungeon.
Morthrus was currently applying a stick of red lipstick to her lips. She prided herself on not only her looks, but her entire self. Her family of Devils were typically more cunning than her. The brutish tactics she employed right from the moment they were released was more than proof of that. She puckered up and gave a kiss to her reflection before finishing. “Agnox. Speak.”
It was a simple two words, but they were powerful. Agnox was forced to speak, luckily he wanted to anyway.
“We count over a thousand humans. Average is Level 8. Highest Level we saw was 13. Classes range from Non-Combative to Support to Combat classes. We estimate at least 50% are combative, with a maximum of 60% to err on the side of any forces not within the compound. The entire space between us and them is void of enemy structures. Of the Imps that attacked we lost-”
“I don’t care about the losses of the Imps.” She cut off Aagnox abruptly. “Any important targets? What about General Payne, the owner of the Hearth Crystal. Did we locate him?”
“Yes Mistress, we located him. A human level 12. His class is a hybrid class of Support and Combat. A Leadership Class. What it is exactly, we have no idea. He had a team of experts surrounding him. We focused on them to get the most details, where we located the Level 13. A Combat class as well. She wielded one of the guns from the ever popular Kaonux Clan.”
Morthrus stood up with a sigh. “Stop talking, I don’t care about the report anymore, you over-spoke.” Agnox shivered with excitement and fear.
“You did an acceptable job, little Imp.” She reached for her whip. The perfect weapon for one of her prestige. Being in charge of the Dungeon invasion for her clan was a privilege she worked years for. The black leather had a slightly red hue to it. The end was barbed with the teeth of a very deadly monster from her home planet. Known for their ability to inflict disease just by spitting on one’s skin, the teeth ensured a painful death.
She whipped the weapon at Agnox, ensuring she didn’t hit him with the barbed end. He did an acceptable job after all.
Agnox fell to the ground in pain. He expected this, but was thankful she didn’t hit him with the barbs. He would have died in less than an hour. He refused to make his pain too audible. Otherwise Morthrus would continue the reward. A single hit was all he received.
She put a foot on his body, pinning him down. “Prepare for the full force. We attack in 9 days. These humans will be easy pickings. Not even worth myself joining. Send in Pitruddix, I want him to lead the attack. You are dismissed.”
Agnox nodded, and without further chance of punishment left once she removed her foot.
The Dungeon was a series of cave tunnels. An ebbing wave of heat flowed through from the Dungeon Core to simulate their home environment. “I hate how cold this planet is. Their record high is barely over 100! They have ice here! ICE! Why does the clan want to mess with this place?” Agnox thought to himself.
He knew better than to voice his opinions for fear of punishment. “If it was up to me, we would wipe them out, claim a Hearth Crystal or two then leave. Instead we are prepared to be here for years!”
He grumbled in silence as he slowly flew down the tunnel. “To think I am reduced to pretending to be in love with that bitch just so I don’t die. If her father knew half the things she did, he would kill her without question.”
Agnox, while only Level 11, knew what it means to be a member of the Infernal Clan Ky’. He used to be a higher level, but since his last master died, he was forced to start over. He winced at the memory of the beheading.
Their Clan focused on acquiring resources, not claiming more land. Half the planets or even space systems that get awoken are not worth their time. Too drastic a change in environments. Then add them having to fight for resources from other clans or the original planet's inhabitants.
It wouldn’t be that bad, if he wasn’t tied to Morthrus. Any other true clan family member he would have accepted without a second thought. The only reason he was here was because his previous master was a traitor, and he was reduced to the status of a newly born Imp.
The family only was interested in him due to his knowledge and past of leading mindless Infernal monsters. Imps were born without personality. Chaotic creatures that can follow simple orders from their masters or stronger Imps.
At Level 10, when they upgraded their race, they become more intelligent. Agnox shivered at the memory of being reduced back to level 1. He enjoyed his previous master, he wasn’t stingy like Morthrus. She sucked up any additional experience he gathered ever since he acquired Level 10.
“Damned contract. Couldn’t settle for a decent deal. Had to take everything from me, and then some.”
Agnox flew into an open cave. Lines of cages filled with various monsters from their planet started growling or clawing through the bars at his entrance.
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Ignoring the beasts, Agnox went to a door and knocked. “Yo, Our Mistress requests your presence. I highly suggest you don’t keep her waiting. She put on lipstick today.”
When she put on makeup, that meant she was impatient for her end of day ritual. One of her toys would be broken tonight. Agnox shivered at the thought of being forced to clean that up. “She has really grown more agitated being cooped up in this dungeon, the hag.”
The door opened to a human looking Infernal. His red skin was covered with smoky gray armor and black leathers. He had no weapon on him, but Agnox knew he had a hammer nearby. Two of his arms were crossed across his chest, seemingly annoyed.
“I hear you pipsqueak. I wouldn’t want to keep the failure child waiting. What kind of mood was she in when you left?”
“Considering I only received one lash without any barbs, I’d say a good one for once. You are going to be in charge of the next attack in a few days.”
Pitruddix smiled. “Yes! I can finally release more of my beasties. I was sad to hear the big one died just a few days before the Dungeon opened up. You know how much it cost to send her out early? Over 100,000 Currency! Benevolent fate my ass, that System is a price gouging Boolix.”
“Don’t speak ill of the Boolix clan. If you recall, they are our allies right now.”
“Exactly, right now.” Pitruddix retorted with a chuckle. “It’s all fine. I’ll go see the missus. Do me a favor, and watch over the pups please. They are growing restless since smelling fresh air.”
“Hey, I’m not your Imp. Get your own. I plan on scouting around more. Anything to not be in this blasted Dungeon any longer.” Agnox said with a huff.
“Fine, stop by the core and harvest today’s mana cores then. There should be two or three by now. Blasted planet has fuck all for mana. Just to keep the place running is draining almost all of our resources with no positive gain.”
Agnox nodded. “Fine, I can do that. Be sure to not piss her off. I would rather not return to a mess.”
Pitruddix nodded, and left. Agnox flew toward the Dungeon Core that was safely in the back of the Dungeon. He passed the only other two Ky clan members who guarded the chamber before it. Neither of them moved or said anything. The twin guards were illigitment children, born out of proper ceremony rights. However, the Ky blood ran through them.
Agnox liked them. They were the only two who were willing to stand up to Morthrus when she said something stupid. The twins had only two jobs: Keep Morthrus alive, and keep the Dungeon Core safe.
Agnox landed and looked around at the other Infernals working the area. The large Dungeon Core gave off a yellow light. It’s size was nothing to scoff at. It floated just a foot off the ground. It stretched over twenty feet into the air, and not even Pitruddix could wrap his arms half-way around the thing. “The crazy meat head.” Agnox commented to himself at the mental image of Pitruddix hugging the core.
Growing just below the yellow core were small crystals. The color of each was a faint orange. Showing they were just slightly stronger than the lowest ranked mana cores. Agnox walked over and looked them over.
“These two will do.” He said pointing to the two largest. “Mine them and feed one to the core. Place the other in storage. Our Mistress wants a supply for herself.”
Several of the humanoid Infernals started to get to work. Each of them were low ranked Infernals either enslaved or indebted to the Ky clan. A few were official members as workers, or some other important role that the Dungeon needed.
One of which was a mage that oversaw the operations. “Agnox! Good to see you, my favorite Imp. How was the scouting, anything interesting?”
The man was the only Infernal with no horns. His racial evolution shifted in an odd direction due to his class choice. Being a Summoner tied to one of the Old Gods had it’s benefits and detriments.
“Temis.” Agnox said with a nod of his head. “We did. Level 13 is the highest. I expect us to wipe them out swiftly. Pitruddix is level 19 himself. Give us a couple weeks and all the humans will be either enslaved or dead.”
“Bah, you know I don’t care for that. Any other Dungeons? You know what I really want.”
Agnox shook his head. Temis’s summon only grew stronger by devouring other Dungeon Cores. A powerful, but highly difficult beast to feed. “Not that I saw. I’m going out scouting today. Nine days till we go on a full attack. I expect you to be a part of it as well. So prepare your...friend.”
He chose his words carefully. Temis was not a mentally stable man.
“Yes of course. I live to serve, and serve to live after all.” The unhinged tone in his voice made Agnox shiver with discomfort.
“Right...well I am off. I just needed to check the mana cores. See you around Temis. If I find a Dungeon, I will let you know.”
Agnox soon was back outside with a small team of Imps. Morthrus’s previous orders of scouting still applied. A small loophole he would take full effort to exploit. She never terminated the orders. “Time to find some humans. Maybe I can snag another level.”