So good news: Leviathan has left.
Bad News: as far as I can tell he was winning so this makes no sense for him.
Worst news: Levi was sick. What was she sick with? I don't know, but I get the feeling that it has something to do with Leviathan. So I called a meeting with the various brains of my proverbial operation. Lithilas had to leave less he spawn a mana dead zone, Thing had retreated away from my dungeon thanks to the bag of holding but we all generally agreed that he would have to go back eventually.
"You have all been called here because the master believes that we are the most knowledgeable about magic and war within his domain." Archie was speaking on my behalf, the Fire Frost Fiend was still hours away from revival but this was an emergency.
"Commander Charles, Professor Barnabus, Apprentice Grim, Tidecaller allow me to first introduce the newcomers." Archie gestured to each of the individuals in question so as to cut down confusion for the newcomers. "First, Re-introducing the boss of the Fourth Floor, Leonaidas." The girls finished fixing up his armour so my fourth floor boss was able to project the dignified image of a mighty warrior general. "He has recently had opportunity to study a large amount of lore of magic and different dungeons, so it is hoped that he can provide some valuable insight on our situation. This is Merlin, a Nyarl, one of the monsters spawned by the Hel Cores." The Creature that I still wasn't sure about what he was or where he had come from nodded his head. "He has been claimed as kin by the God of Lost and Forbidden Knowledge so he may be able to come up with solutions we can't." Barnabus looked like he was going to act but Grim pulled him back down before he did anything too rash. "Apas has sadly gone into labour, for this reason both she and Saphee won't be able to attend the meeting. With this there are several matters that must be discussed in short order. To begin with, Levi."
"The working theory is that Leviathan has attacked them through their remaining soul link." Grim piped up as he held up a diagram showing what happened. "With access to one of the Demonic gods we theorise that Leviathan could have flooded the link between him and Levi with his corrupting influence."
"That wouldn't have been severed when Leviathan died?" Archie asked on my behalf.
"Yes. As the ground work to re-establish it would've begun when he was brought back into this world."
Fantastic.
"But what is it doing to her?" Archie asked on my behalf.
"Each of the Demon Lords have power associated with their respective 'Circle' Asmodeus is Lust, Fenrir Gluttony, Pluto Greed." Grim stated waving his hand along to pass on the facts.
And Lucifer is Treachery.
"Is Levi going to betray us then?" Archie's grip on his staff tightened.
"More accurately her connection to the dungeon is going to be forcibly severed. I am more concerned that she is actively being torn apart on a spiritual level." Grim stated as he held his chin in his hands. "Well, if Levi's connection to you is broken then she'll fall into Lucifer's hands. At the very least we won't have to worry about her being turned against us, unless Leviathan cancels all but one of her contracts her soul is going to be ripped apart anyway." That doesn't make me feel better. "What we require is a way to cleanse the foreign influence from her body, preferably with a water god opposed to Lucifer." Grim stated holding his chin. Great. I felt someone poking at the back of my mind. Oceanus?
"Oceanus seems to be contacting us with an idea, however speaking to him will remove the master from the negotiation table. Thus we shall wait until all matters have been discussed." The others nodded, and that was as good a time as any to touch upon the next subject.
"Leviathan's speed during his retreat makes no sense, especially without his contracted monsters." Despite metal's tendency to sink, it was possible to build a buoyant vessel with it. The issue here laid in the fact that it was too heavy, even magical metal like Mythril. The issue here laid in propulsion then, which was the sea monster's job before I smush them together to form Levi.
"We should also assume that Leviathan has picked up some more new tricks while he was in Cocytus." Charles followed up as well.
"From the other cores that he ate?" Archie asked cocking a brow.
"Or from Lucifer's other dungeons, or from interacting with our own mad genius here. The trick you pulled with the bag of holding would make using his ships much easier and those bags are pretty common." Leviathan's ships have to constantly be in the same formation so that they don't break off the tunnels connecting them together. They might not have to if it can copy my bag of holding idea with Thing. "The most important thing we need to know right now is what Leviathan is doing." And thus the Tidecaller coughed, not from her mana poisoning disease that flares up whenever she's out of the dungeon, but to get people's attention.
"We've scry Leviathan." The Tidecaller stated as she produced a magical illusion. Even though she made it sound so fancy, in reality they just used water to create a upgraded telescope. "The conclusion is not good."
Grim Told me before, that building more floors builds on the potential complexity of the earlier ones, that right now my dungeon could be thought of as 'five times five' then Leviathan had the potential for 'One hundred times One hundred.' No it was even more than a hundred because he had at least one breach under his belt. Leviathan had sunk his own ships beneath the water and trapped them inside of a massive ice field. Leviathan doesn't need to raid settlements for ships any more, he can grow his own floors like a normal dungeon now. We could see one of the ships being rapidly broken down, the space inside rapidly expanding like a tumour as the ship in question was replaced by a much larger and bigger ship. A boat is big enough to carry a person, a ship is big enough to carry a boat, Leviathan's new floors were to his old floors as ships are to boats. If I had to think of a reason for the massive increase in size, the guts of a rail gun had I seen starting to form was a pretty good indication.
"Leviathan is currently working on becoming a significantly greater threat than what he was before." The Tide Caller concluded. First he had dealt with his previous weakness to fire, now he was increasing his bulk and had started to arm himself for long range battle, even worst than that the system itself has patched my previous strategy to deal with him. Lovely. "Before the Master goes to contact Oceanus are there any other matters that require discussion?" The various people shook their heads in the negative. Fantastic. I tugged on the thread of Oceanus's messaging and in lieu of having my consciousness dragged off for a conversation I instead got one of my own Schema's brought up.
[F Rank Schema Water Egg-The Egg of a water type creature, can take up to 5 years to hatch but can be accelerated with evolution or an incubator]
I thought about it a minute, so Oceanus wants me to create a scenario in which he can introduce a new monster to my dungeon to either Kill Leviathan again or save Levi? And what was if the shorter time than my base egg? 'It won't take as long because there's less potential to sort through than a base egg?' Maybe.
"The Master and myself will be busy for a few moments while we work. We ask that you leave the floor so that we can complete work on the creation process." Charles nodded and left with the others.
Right then, Archie I need you to set something up for me. It was cruel to utilise a Demi-human for this, but I had no problem using the remains of a high ranking monster to do what I needed to. The strongest and most suitable I could create right now was the Croc, a D-rank if memory serves, so with Giant Slayer that's... 4096 points. I created the Water Egg and looked at the evolution requirements.
[0/10000]
I can work with that. I created the Croc's bones first, then the block of limestone around it, and an egg holder to go on top. I had Archie form the connection between the egg and the block, and with that done I proceeded with the reanimation and suffocation cycle. And it wasn't long until a new message appeared.
[Your Egg has maxed out its requirements for evolution and now you have been left with a choice on whether you want to have it evolve into] This sounded promising. [You can have the egg immediately become a fully grown adult of a low ranking with it's potential for further growth crippled, or you can have it hatch as the infantile version of a high ranking monster]
Sounds intriguing, but I don't know how useful a infant is going to be.
[Notice: Thanks to the Inter-mediation of Oceanus one of the Higher Ranking Gods of Water, Mizuchi, has offered to claim your egg as his kin]
Mizuchi? Isn't he one of the gods that was working with Leviathan that we snatched the Domain of? Even with Oceanus working to convince him why would he want to help us?
"Mizuchi, also known as the river god, is said to be the god of Prosperity and Disaster." Leonaidas piped up, putting the knowledge he picked up from his spying to good use. "He originates from the dark continent, supposedly from a rather massive river that people built their settlements near. Part of the river can be harvested to grow crops." Hence Prosperity. "The other part though tends to lead to flooding." Hence Disaster.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
So the god's two faced and that's why he would agree to help us? But how does any of that help us?
"The Region that he's native to is known for it's purifying rites, removing unwanted elements from something else." Leonaidas replied helpfully.
Purifying? I thought back to that annoying holy fire blessing they shoved into the first floor. Whatever, if it'll turn Levi back to normal I have no problem with it, we still have to worry about... severing... hey Leonaidas. Do you think we can separate Leviathan from Levi the same way he's trying to separate her from us?
"Probably, if we could gain control over the..." Leonaidas looked down at the water Egg. "Oh." Well that settles it.
[You have chosen to hatch this monster into an infantile form Please keep in mind that until this creature has become an 'adult' it won't reach it's full rank]
That's fine, as long as they can do what we need them to that'll work. The Egg was briefly consumed by the cocoon of evolution and from it emerged what at first glance looked like two serpents, however in reality they were one serpentine body with a head attached to either side.
[F/B Rank Monster Ryu-A powerful dragon who lives inside of rivers who has been claimed as Kin by the God of Fortune and Disaster Mizuchi, able to easily manipulate and remove different foreign energies]
I directly entered the two headed creature's body and had Archie carry us into the portal that led to the third floor. I was concerned about Treyni too, but it seems that unlike Levi whose souls originated as contracts to Leviathan Treyni had properly eaten and disposed of the souls of Leviathan's boss monsters. Her discomfort seemed to come as overflow from Levi, her roots were in her water after all. I entered Levi's body with a chill, an active feeling of malice crawling up my spine, I panned around and felt the corruption from Leviathan. Felt it, gathered it together, sent it back where it belonged through the links. The... essence of treachery I guess? Built up from both sides until finally the link with Leviathan snapped. Afterwards I separated myself from the little guy.
Guess I should give him a name eh? Hmm... Koi, you are Koi!
The Little two headed snake yawned as he received the name I gave him.
Levi are you okay?
"I'm better now." Levi stated as she let out a sigh. Right.
Lemme know if Leviathan tries anything else.
"I can do that." Levi stated as she breathed out a sigh.
In the mean time I'm going to make a minor alteration to the floor Levi. I repeated the feat of lining the root leading into Levi's body with the third gen bags of holding before deconnecting Levi's half into her body. There, now you can leave if I need you to Levi.
"What happened while I was out?" I returned to the first floor as I entered the Chat Room. Let's see if my idea works out.
[Dungeon Keeper: Graves I have something for you~!]
[Ouroboros: Oh look at that I have to go make a boss for my 63rd floor now]
[Dungeon Keeper: Save it]
The 3rd Gen Bags of holding work off of sympathetic magic, I think that's what it called? Anyway the point is that for the link to work They have to be cut from the same magical cloth, which thankfully I can make now that I've thoroughly dissected the Third Gen bag. I make a tube out of the cloth, big enough for most of the monsters in the tunnel to go through, and I cut it in half before putting one half into my inventory.
[You have gifted Ouroboros a Sub Space Tunnel half]
[Ouroboros: What am I supposed to do with this?]
[Dungeon Keeper: Pick a floor and install it] And after a few moments...
[You have crossed over with the Dungeon Ouroboros]
Success!
[Ouroboros: Why do I listen to you?]
[Dungeon Keeper: Because now we can manufacture a infinite number of monsters to send through you into the enemy dungeons as soon as you land on them and punch a hole inside of them, and I know exactly who I wanna start with]
[Ouroboros: The Wolf's Den?]
[Dungeon Keeper: Leviathan! That butt pain is breathing down my Neck and I don't want to have to deal with what ever crazy junk that he's brewing in there while at the same time having to liberate the other dungeons from Lucifer, now I'm gonna get the other cores rallied and you're gonna get ready to leave on my mark]
The work I had gotten done was time consuming, and with a swirl of mana my Fire Frost Fiend body came back into existence.
"Alright everyone! Time to get your butts together! We're all going on a raid!" In a few short moments many strange creatures had been gathered before my sub space tunnel that was connecting me and Graves together. "With the generous aid of Dungeon City Lithilas I and the Dungeon of Ouroboros have created a passage connecting us together, with the intention that you all will use it. The plan is simple, we will continuously manufacture reinforcements and send them through this passage way into our ally and from there, we will drown the enemy dungeons in a tide of bodies!" The various monsters assembled before me all proceeded to cheer, most of them being C to B rank probably had that effect. "Now y'all should be familiar with my own boss Leonaidas by now correct?" Leonaidas walked in, backed by dozens of his bounded poltergeists floating in behind him. "Now Leo's job is to provide the magical energy to maintain this connection. But you don't need to worry, you'll have lots of bosses from Graves Dungeon to help you out. He's already told me that he has 62 of them up to his high standards already."
So I let them flood through the tunnel as Graves flew off to conduct his end of the plan. As for me? Well I wonder if Charles wants in on this action?
----------------------------------------
At times I understand that the Keeper is a step above in his own way. He's figured out a way to generate enough mana to sustain fifty single floor dungeons, from what he understood one of them had even been given permission by Hel to breach back into the mortal plane so his mana regeneration would soon go up even more. That is nothing in comparison to what he'll get once all these things have managed to reverse their breaches. But first he has to get to the icy bastard, cause Leviathan has catapults and he isn't afraid to toss things at me. Well two can play that game, cause I have boulders and I'm not afraid to drop them. I spat several boulders out of my draconic mouth at the bloody pirate, from this height they were falling at terminal velocity while I was two high up for Leviathan's own ice boulders to hit me. But how do I get closer? Suddenly I could feel it, someone else had just entered my body through the sub space tunnel, not a monster though, a delver. Suddenly I felt my jaws being forced open as a figure walked across the floor of my mouth.
"Ice? What a reasonable building material. Unlike the other ones fire should work quite well here." Suddenly I felt the storm that I had been riding on shift. The ice and snow just dropped as I felt my body drop, and in place of the storm I saw several spears of flame form before being shot down and skewering the monsters that were dragging the ship below, and more hitting the ship directly resulting in a series of explosions. "That should incapacitate that bastard. Now to go sink the ship!"
You must be one of Keeper's people. Didn't he mention something about a mage who had dedicated himself to smashing Leviathan?
"Alright folks let's head inside!"
Great, another wack-job.
The closer we got the more accurate this Charles got with his strikes, picking off the anti air defences and blowing off increasingly larger chunks of the ship in the process. To my surprise this Charles didn't enter the ship first, instead he allowed others like the Wendigo Troll and the Genmu to enter first, and I got a reasonable idea as to why soon after. Lucifer's blessing for Leviathan has frozen the entire floor solid, anything that enters and isn't prepared to deal with the blistering freezing cold is going to get frozen instantly, leaving us with only handful of monsters able to deal with this.
"Unfortunately, not made out of ice, more metal." The bane of his very existence it would seem. He could melt it after long enough in theory, with enough magical energy. "Ah well." Charles just put his hands together and let out a loud crack as he got to work. "I've got time to kill." He was really enjoying making the bloody ship suffer it would seem.
Charles continued to convert the kinetic energy from the raging blizzard into pure heat, not fire. It wasn't hot enough to make the air catch fire just warm up the other side, which theoretically wasn't that difficult considering the 'freeze the nuts off of a brass monkey' temperatures but he was trying to work against the power of a god. What I'm saying here is he might need help.
OI! Which one of you knows how to cast fire magic!?
The monsters looked between one another before turning their attention to Solarius, and then the Taraboon pushed her forward out of my mouth. The Snake bird woman froze instantly, well reptiles shouldn't do well in the cold. Which one of you can use ice to defrost her?
The Genmu mosied over and used his snake tail to shake all of the ice off of the monster in question.
"Th-Thanks!" Solarius replied while she was shivering.
"Not a problem milady!" The Snake head replied bowing.
"Pervert." The Turtle head sounded off and the snake's eyes visibly twitched. The Two heads proceeded to try and wrestle and kill each other. Then Solarius was frozen again.
"Puny snake!" The undead Troll complained while he picked up Solarius around her waist and pointed her down the tunnel, the ice fell away, Solarius's cheeks flushed, and then she proceeded to belch fire. "Oh yeah now that's what I'm talking about!" Steam proceeded to rapidly pick up as all the ice from the environment rapidly melted away and was turned into steam before flooding the dungeon.
One of you with an affinity for water, trap all the steam inside of the Floor!
The extremely pale looking shark swished her hands around and all the steam was fixed in place, refusing to leave the ship that wasn't air tight or sealed or anything of the like. Then from the steam the group heard the sound of slow clapping.
"Well done." A figure emerged from the steam. He was rough cut, his shirt wide open revealing chest hair, his hair messy and uneven, his cheeks sallow and his limbs skinny like he hadn't gotten enough food, he failed to fill out the large over coat that draped his body like he had taken it off of someone else and his cutlass hung on his belt unsheathed. Overall, he seemed to check every box possible for 'Pirate' that you could possibly imagine. "I don't get the opportunity to show off my Avatar too much, while you're here tell me what you think about it?"
Several of the core possessed monsters froze up, as if realising who was addressing them had triggered traumatic memories.
"Leviathan." Both of Charles hands lit up with balls of fire as she shot them both forward. This was followed up by lightning, wind, jets of water, fire, all passing harmlessly through the Pirate's body without a care in the world.
"Now now, I just wanted to congratulate all of you for a job well done. Afterall you've belched some other deity's blessing all over my floor, not to mention destroyed my ice ship." The more Leviathan spoke the more irritated he sounded, so it was probably only appropriate that he gave a sarcastic reward in return, a key appeared between his hands. "One down, 99 left to go~!"
The pirate threw the key at the group's feet and then dissolved away into mana as he turned around and re-entered the fog. On the other side they were greeted by a door, this door in turn had a hundred Key Holes in it. Dungeons had a lot of hard rules to them, among them being 'you may not block the path to your core' you can put up doors, and you can give those doors key holes, so long as you also give it keys. 100 keys, one for every floor. Charles looked down at the key in his hand, then at the door unamused. The Pyromancer tossed the Key aside and proceeded to fire the door, then let it freeze again, then fired it again.
"So are we going to sit here and let him have his temper tantrum or are we going to go look for the rest of these keys?" The Troll asked looking around at his would be group of companions.