Chuck watched the ashes of the bug faded away. Completely deleted from the System here - he hadn’t allowed a backup of his life to be formed, and there was no other world Ash’var had been tied to. For his greed and folly, he no longer existed in any form.
With a sigh, the magic hand and vines faded away, and he shrunk down to his normal size. Brushing off his robes, he then turned his head to the side to see the other figure now present.
Dent. Sitting on a chair and eating his way through a bucket of popcorn.
“How long have you been sitting there?” Chuck’s eyes narrowed.
“Long enough.” Dent grinned. “What do I have to do to get you to talk to me like that?”
The Architect rolled his eyes. “Don’t. I am pretty close to passing out right now. Two acquisitions in one day is taxing enough. Anything more than frank business talk might just fracture me in two.” He sat down, his own chair appearing beneath him.
“Can’t even enjoy the sweet taste of victory? Or some popcorn with the greatest swordsman in the world?”
Chuck leaned back and closed his eyes, a smile forming on his face. “Let me tend to my flock first, then maybe. How is everyone doing?”
“Reasonably well, considering. Lucius is with Norah and Humphrey right now. Everyone else is gathered at the meeting hall in Julipa for debriefing and any after care required. Seems as though they were put to sleep with the ritual pretty promptly after being taken… so there shouldn’t be too much lingering trauma.”
A grunt was the only given response at first, as a soft breeze rolled across the starter island. “Everyone else is gathered there?”
“Ahh.” Dent put his popcorn bucket down and brushed his hands off. “Aside from Theo and Edward.”
“Dare I ask?”
“Just the usual. Theo is eating away his insanity, will probably collapse and sleep soon. Edward is encouraging him. To eat, that is - not sleep. Currently working their way through the Order of the Sun encampment in the fourth area.”
Chuck sighed, but his smile remained. They had managed to pull it off. It was a risk to allow Theo to be captured, but as the most powerful Player it was the only way he could tether a connection to the alien spacecraft. It was a little different than taking over another world, but similar enough that he just needed a way to get his fingers wrapped around it. Where Theo had been between vanishing from the combat world and appearing back in his bedroom could be answered tomorrow - although he didn't seem any worse for whatever transpired.
With all the other Outsiders on the ship, it had made it even easier to pinpoint where the elusive vehicle had been traveling. If the bug had been smarter… well, not worth worrying about that just yet.
Dent shuffled in his chair. “He mentioned a beacon. Is that true?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh. That’s… fun.”
Chuck shrugged. They had discovered immortality in this System, which made them both a target as well as a tough nut to crack. A conventional boots-on-ground assault on Sanctuary could never work. He could just make everyone in the world max level, full stats, and any overpowered ability he could dream up - and they’d all respawn still.
It meant they’d be attacked in other ways; he was sure. Setting out into the universe had unlocked so many possibilities, but had also made his job ten times more complicated.
“We have time…” he eventually concluded. “Let’s just enjoy the rest of the day and not let any worries cloud us until tomorrow.”
“Got a request from the goblin village. They want to turn this into a holiday, celebrating the defeat of the bug.”
“Sure,” he replied, standing up from his chair. Thinking over the history of Sanctuary, he liked the humor in that. “To killing bugs, then.”
----------------------------------------
Sally withdrew her blade from the stomach of the lizardman, before fading away so that one of her zombies took the brunt of the swing from the second. Slashing forward, she stabbed them in the extended arm, cut across their chest, before she drew the blade back and then pushed it into their stomach.
[Eat Brains.]
Up to thirty-four daggers now. Now that they were looking out for them, it was surprising how many were just lying around. Often in the pockets of Monsters, but they weren’t really using them after she carved their skulls out.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Wol!”
She turned to look at Cross, who had a mouthful of scaled meat in his mouth.
“That’s a new one, goofball. What does that mean, I wonder?”
“W-wol!!”
Sally sighed and looked around the rest of the gloomy dungeon. “I’ve fed you three lizard-people and all I get is a ‘wol’? We’ve run out of Monsters now.”
“There is still a boss to come,” Claude interjected, looking as tired as ever. “Or at least, this doesn’t feel like quite enough of a challenge.”
“Eh, that kind of becomes the norm once I’m powered up. Get me to 100 daggers and hope the System grants a couple of defensive skills and we’ll be mowing through these weaker dungeons with zero issue.”
The healer didn’t seem too convinced, so she turned her attention back to the goblin. He was still looking up at her expectantly. How strange that this was Pippy, the one they thought killed everyone and turned them into these dungeons. He had helped them solve a few, and also led them to freeing Kristov - which didn’t seem like an evil thing to do…
Ignoring the bard’s rhyming curse, at least.
So what was his goal? She didn’t think her Party was secretly the bad guys, as they had been affable enough and willing to spare Cross. Wouldn’t make sense for them to follow her along and destroy the dungeons - risking their own lives - if he had created them. So perhaps at some point in history somebody had gotten a hold on the wrong end of the stick.
Only way of finding out would be to get Cross talking again.
While Poppy finished off the last of the lizards, she pressed at her earring.
A fuzzy shape flickered before the cat gradually formed.
“Ah, hello, Sally. How goes things?”
“Missed you, Arch. So much has happened in the last few hours, right?”
“Yes, I… I mean no - like what?” Archie shuffled uncomfortably.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “You don’t have to tell me the details, okay? But at least let me know if the B plot has concluded or not?”
He pulled a face and tried to avoid her burning glare. “Fine. Matters have been resolved.”
“Neat!” She clicked her fingers. “So, exposition dump for the main plot here. Cross has Pippy’s soul in him, and there are two Monsters that represent Life and Death that might have created the Dungeons. We met Death, and she agreed to destroy the Dungeons so that we can save the world.”
The cat nodded slowly, his emerald eyes going between the goblin and Sally. “That is certainly… a pickle. How does destroying the Dungeons help you save the world?”
Sally blinked at him slowly. “It might not bring people back, but it is making things safer for those already here.” He just meant in terms of her gaining power for their acquisition, but she had to use her poker face.
[Poppy: Oh, Archieeee!!]
The knight clattered over, immediately putting her hand straight through his incorporeal head to stroke him.
“Poppy is happy to see you,” she translated, given that the cat couldn’t see their Party Chat.
“Tell her, the feeling is mutual.”
[Poppy: I can hear you, silly~]
Sally sighed and found somewhere to sit. Amber tones had started to grace the entrance to this shallow dungeon, as the sun hit dusk and was just as tired from living through the day as she was. “Stay with us until the morn, Arch?”
The cat hummed to himself. “I will check that I am not required for anything back home, and if not, then I shall.”
[Poppy: yayyy!]
Cross waddled over toward Sally, before flopping over on his front beside her. He stayed in that prone position, his yellow eyes glaring at the wall she was leaning up against. Other than drooling a little, he didn’t seem to care to move or say anything further.
“Sometimes,” she began, “I feel like saying ‘oh, what has my life become?’. But then I remember I’ve had a lot worse and weirder than this.”
Claude leaned against the wall and rubbed at his face. “It’s hard to imagine, really. I don’t see how you have the energy for it after so much.”
Sally shrugged. “Just broken in the right ways. The part of me that was supposed to be a Monster helps with the mental strain, and I probably have that side to thank for my relentless energy. Oh, that reminds me.”
[Sally: Asleep yet, punk?]
[Theo: Yes! Wide asleeeep.]
[Theo: edWard sayS Hi]
[Theo: He didn’t actually… but you know how he is.]
[Sally: Is he meant to be taking care of you?]
[Theo: oh HE IS~]
[Theo: He took me to the zoo…]
[Sally: You’re eating all the animals again?]
[Theo: …]
[Theo: too smart for your own good SALLY MIDDLENAME DANGER.]
[Sally: If you’re not in bed within the hour, I’m coming home to kick your ass.]
[Theo: understood. Just finishing my fight with three grizzlies, then I will. Promise.]
[Theo: can you guessss what I’m fighting them with?]
[Sally: …your bear hands?]
[Theo: NO - A GIANT WARHAMMER!!]
She closed down the Chat and rubbed at her eyes. Not her circus for a change, but still emotionally exhausting. Maybe she would hold off on messaging the whole Outsiders group until the morning, when she had more energy. If they had just finished up whatever nonsense had been troubling them, then they’d be tired anyway - she assumed.
Funny how it had been solved as soon as the vampire went home. She smiled. That was her pup - she couldn’t wait to get home and find out what he had done. Looking over at the group, it seemed as though their energy was spent for the day as well.
“No Boss?” she asked.
Claude shook his head. “Seems I was wrong - however, I can’t see that the chest has spawned yet.”
“Screw the chest.” She grunted as she stood to her feet. “Let’s find somewhere to set up camp.”
They agreed to the plan and gathered up their things to leave the dungeon. The fresh air was comforting, even if it did tire her out further. She stood at the entrance and smiled at them as they each left, the last of the pack a very morose looking Kristov.
“Against my better judgement, what’s up?” Out of the group of them, the bard was the one she’d hardly interacted with, due to his need to rhyme everything.
He exhaled through his nose and looked at her with tired eyes. “I never desired to need to talk this way - it’s often difficult to think what to say.”
Sally furrowed her brow. “You mean you actually have to come up with the couplet to be able to speak? It’s not some magic that does it for you?”
He nodded.
“Oh, bud. I’m not sure if that’s better or worse. How do we get rid of your curse? Like, we'll make that a priority."
“While many of our problems are solved with a slash or hack, my curse comes from something stolen that I can’t give back.”
“Ah.” She ran her tongue across her sharp teeth. “A riddle.”
As the fading sunlight bloomed in her crimson eyes, she grinned and readied to take a good stab at what the answer might be.