"Tuscetta! Snap out of it!"

Valkner tried screaming over the cracking of stone and chitin, Jigalta at his side still cutting away at any of the mystery bugs that came too close. In his prior life he hadn't ever faced a situation this dire until it completely changed him; comparing the heroes to a worm was more similar than most but the reality that all of them could die right now isn't something he planned on allowing to happen. He didn't survive all this time just to die in the old family stomping ground.

Tuscetta, however, still wasn't coming out of it; the worm hammered into the duo each time she tried to stand upright, forcing both to crumple right back to the stone. A fourth impact, however, finally triggered an aggro swap: the instinctual trigger in low-intelligence creatures to try and defend themselves from something that's annoyed them enough.

The orc spins around and cracks it across the head, sending the beast reeling before screaming at it in her rage.

"Val," Jigalta huffed, swinging her tiny knife through the body of one of the critters as the notifications rolled for a level-up. "If she doesn't wake up, how much longer can we endure this?"

"Not long enough," Valkner cursed. He cast [Heal] again, but this time he used the gap to re-position behind Jigalta just as the next wave of bugs sweeps in.

She threw her knife and kicked another, panic filling her voice. "What do we do then!? Do we leave?"

No... leaving would make this a waste. Losing Tuscetta would set me back far too much in my recovery. Hell, even losing the bolette...

"I have an idea," the demon reluctantly spat. "Petition SOS."

Out of all the possible ideas, petitioning an SOS was the last option no matter who you were. Dungeon owners issuing it were openly offering rewards to passing allies to clear the dungeon of invaders, whilst those diving dungeon were forced to distribute their entire loot over to the rescuers. In this situation, Valkner knew very keenly that they weren't the invaders... which meant that all the loot they acquired would be lost on top of outing Tuscetta's monstrous origins.

Worse still, depending on who it was that came to save them, they'd have a very dire situation and hard time trying to cover why Tuscetta can control a bolette. Especially if it was Bort.

"But if we do that-"

Jigalta stopped, gasping and grabbing one of the bugs out of the air and tossing it astray.

Even the ditzy half-slime understood the problem with it. The longer it took for Tuscetta to wake up, the more that became their sole option... but whilst Valkner delayed and offered Tuscetta a larger window to end her berserk, the more likely a party wipe would occur before the help could even arrive. With his Disguise level, it was solely the risk of losing the bolette and this chance came far too rarely to pass up. Not to mention there were still other issues that'd come up like revealing the half-monstrous origins of Tuscetta since her armor had been torn up enough that it was impossible to hide her as a human now.

Their lives or reputation and progress. That decision should have been easy. Valkner had chosen poorly before and didn't plan to do so again.

"[Heal]," he huffed, casting another spell with a wave of his hands. This time, however, it was to mend Jigalta's wounds. The slime girl turned to face him, seeing the demon's gaze coldly glaring at the worm.

"Master, what's the plan? I can start the vote or-"

"Attack."

The half-slime's eyes filled with confusion but he pointed at the worm. This time, the demon yelled it and felt the slave-master connection thump between them in acknowledgement.

"Attack! I'll be fine!"

Jigalta turned her head to the worm and didn't hesitate; she hurled herself over the approaching mystery bugs and slapped into the back of the large worm. As a half-slime, Jigalta lacked the knowledge on how to fight naturally; she could consume and finish foes off but the human part of her biology refused to let her do something as simple as maul an opponent.

But Valkner knew the method and could force those instincts to surface again. The demon stepped back and crossed his arms, curling up as defensively as he could as the bugs reached him. Sending Jigalta to attack lost him his guard but opened up a crucial strategic victory for them. And mere seconds after executing the plan, two of the bugs rammed into Valkner's arms and sent him tumbling back into the wall. His hands were tucked behind his head and cushioned the impact, but he still felt the wind knocked out of him.

The slime, however, spun and twisted the gelatinous mixture of her body around the worm's body; the acidic hiss of it making contact already sounded painful but that was before tendrils of goo slipped into the cracks and pulled plates of the exoskeleton back. Jigalta could rend and tear it without being exposed to its attacks but she couldn't finish it like a true slime by infiltrating the body of her prey.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Yet that was the important part of the strategy; whilst Valkner took the aggro of the horde, Jigalta critically ruptured the chitin defenses of the Dungeon Worm.

The bolette and Tuscetta didn't hesitate to attack in that instant. The bolette snapped its juvenile jaws around the tail of the worm and pulled it, sending it collapsing to the floor mere seconds before Tuscetta slammed her paired fists against its neck.

Despite the swarm of bugs and his arms blocking his vision, Valkner saw the rage rescind just enough when Tuscetta saw the blue sheen of slime snatching and tearing at the armor. The half-orc let out a yell and grabbed the parsed plates, ignoring the burning of acid working at her gauntlets to push and twist at the natural armor.

Tuscetta tore the worm's head off, sending it sailing away from its body and into the midst of the mystery bugs. She turned and ignored the falling body, focusing on the horde of bugs attacking me instead. Cuts and bruises on the pinned demon as the bugs continued assailing his prone position finally was answered with her pointing her hand at the swarm with a guttural bark.

"Attack!"

The bolette tossed the worm aside and its beady eyes flashed white... and turning its sight anew on the horde. Tuscetta looked at it and snarled.

"Attack! Attack, Blotner!"

The bolette let loose its belch-bark and surged forward, stomping on the rear-flanking mystery bugs and storming into the midst of the group. It was only seconds ahead of its recognized master, tearing and biting one of the bugs across its waist and rending it in half with a mere shake of its head before Tuscetta stomped her foot through one of the bugs back. Whilst her state was fading, it provided enough energy for her to continue assaulting in the wake of a Mystery Bug's natural predator.

All the while, Val felt his vision fading as the attacks continued. Jigalta hadn't come back and was likely still consuming and attacking the worm as ordered but even if she wasn't, it wouldn't be quick enough. His guard lowered inch-by-inch until both of his arms fell from their abuse... and one of the mystery bugs leaped out and cracked him across the face.

----------------------------------------

"Mi... Val... Mister Valen... can you hear me?"

Valkner's eyes shot open and his instinct to defend himself immediately made him cross his arms over his face... but the lack of blows made him realize that he wasn't under attack anymore.

The demon lowered his guard and looked at the warm smile of Veronica, the woman nervously patting his shoulder to help soothe him.

His worries about being discovered, thankfully, hadn't been realized yet. He sat upright, looking at his elvish form and setting his hands on the bandages covering his forearms.

"You healed me but... did you run out of mana?"

The priestess nodded, stepping back so last vestiges of sunlight finally reach him. The sky was a dark purple and in its last moments but the day wasn't over yet. They'd sat him beside the entrance of the dungeon, yet he saw everyone else gathered near the dungeon front. Tuscetta stood beside Jigalta and the bolette at her side, under the scrutinous gaze of the party.

Bort was even there, studying the bolette but not angered at all.

None of them seemed to care that Tuscetta was half-orc but they did seem interested in the bolette.

But Veronica's voice brought Valkner back to his own situation. "Mister Valentine, are you okay? I know I didn't fully heal you, but we still treated your wounds as best we could."

"... I'm fine." He felt like shit but telling lies is what healers hoped for when there was nothing more they could do. His gaze shifted back to the priestess, trying to center and calm his nerves. "But I don't really remember much of what happened. What did Jigalta say?"

"She said that Tuscetta tried to protect you," the girl started, weaving one hand toward him. "We were surprised to hear she was a half-orc but apparently she was able to use a summon scroll and formed a bond with a bolette through magic. When the pair of them still failed, you threw yourself into the fray to protect them both despite your lack of fighting abilities."

That's at least a believable cover story for the bolette. Naturally taming a bolette is difficult but possible, since Dwarves were able to do it through the discovery of Beastmaster and trial and error. But the idea of using magic... anything can be enslaved using magic, especially when a summon scroll is involved. And after use, scrolls go away. Good thinking, you two.

"Yes," the inn-owner grumbled feigningly. "That... sounds familiar. But I see that everyone is gathered around and-"

"You're worried we'll discriminate against Tuscetta, right?"

This is why Valkner hated Flame Eternal Priestesses. "... You're telling me you won't?"

Silence between the two makes him uneasy but eventually it ends with the priestess turning to look at the group.

"What if I told you that half-orcs have served or helped us in the past, Mister Valentine? Could we discriminate against them? Or against someone like Estel?"

Humans with brains were the kind that often surprised him the most, even if they're a priest or not. Most of the humans with them chose to vehemently hate any and all monsters with their territorial desire to constantly grow... yet some learned to live with others. Those often made the best concubines but right now he could only see it as a blessing that could preserve his inn's reputation. If they didn't care, then it meant they likely wouldn't spread the rumors knowing the general reputation associated with half-orcs.

It was the first time Val felt thankful to the races that had stabbed him and his family in the back so long ago by aiding the humans. Hell, it was the first time he felt thankful for humans doing anything besides falling over dead at his feet.

Valkner carefully pushed up from the ground whilst Veronica looked at the group, barely staggering to his feet just as she turned back to face him. The woman smiled and rose beside him, tilting her head toward the scene.

"Come on," she laughed. "The others will be happy to see you on your own two feet. Not to mention you need to still see we're served for the night, right? Big day tomorrow with Darkenth starting. We'll need to get our fill and a good night's rest so we can get the most out of it!"

"... Right."

As she paced off ahead of him, he took up the rear and turned his gaze toward the path leading down to the main road. Unfortunately, he stopped in his tracks and took a deep breath. Ezkalda stood at the roadside with her arms crossed, looking up at him with a worried frown.

"Go on ahead, Veronica. Tell everyone I need to speak someone before I join you."

Time until Darkenth Festival Bonus

1 day, 5 hours