Uno

This cheeky fucker… Was the first thought that appeared in my blanked-out mind. When did he learn to speak?

Scratch that!

How did he manage to take back control over his splintered mind should be the real question. Coherent thoughts weren’t really his forte when I first hooked him up to the mana wires. Due to the aftereffects of my meddling, his mindscape was full of the constant bickering and shouting egos. They were somewhat kept in line with the energy he was drawing from my network, but as time passed and nothing changed any hope for recovery faded into oblivion.

And then I stopped caring entirely.

In the end, I was forced to decide that he was still useful, even considering his current state - and strong enough to serve as a Guardian, defending way to the next floor.

Another question! If he regained his ability to speak, why not talk to me?! I was nothing but good to him!

Hmmm…

Now that I think about it…

I captured him. Then his body and mind were put through the grinder. Afterward, I devoured what was left of his knowledge, and after that the remaining husk was put to use, filling the battle suit. This forced him to cope with madness and despair all on his own...

Yesh…

I kinda fucked him up, eh?

For me, he was an enemy turned servant, but even I wouldn’t want to interact with my torturer if given a chance. No matter how lonely I felt.

Oh well… he still serves and that’s what was important!

Now, once again - what did my Analyze say about him?

The Soul-hive Guardian or Guardian

This being encroaches on the domain of the Gods, combining the dungeon core expertise with the broken soul of a sentient. Such experiments were not unheard of, but none had succeeded before.

As a result of this a strange being was born - losing its status as one of the sentient races, but in the process becoming something more and more importantly something stronger. Broken pieces of Daniel Waltzer's soul were not mended but turned into a hive-like choir focused on serving his dungeon core master.

Not only can the Guardian attack with his provided weapons, but its latent psionic ability has also been awakened. This allows for communication alongside another avenue of attack - a mental scream of anguish that will hurt all but the strongest beings.

Threat level: D++

Quite an ending for a crazed vampire if I say so myself.

There was also another thought gnawing on my brain.

What the hell was that pretentious bullshit he spouted when meeting humans?!

Children of that, children of this… why ever use this tone? More importantly - how did he even know about these things? They were true - the adventurer's reactions were a clear confirmation, but Augur's bullshit always seemed suspiciously open for interpretation.

I had the idea that his new psionic ability could be the source of this sudden and mystical knowledge. What a load of crap. It was something that I was eager to “ask” him, but it seemed like I had to wait for him to respawn as the situation devolved even more.

Why did I think so?

Well...

Dialing back time a few minutes - the earlier battle seemed to turn in Guardian’s favor. No matter how strong were his opponents a large weapon paired with sturdy armor created miracles. Not to mention that with his former identity as Daniel Waltzer, he was introduced to the art of warfare during his teenage years. Or that was what his memories were telling me anyway.

Not all of this knowledge had been forgotten, which he easily proved gliding above ground even while locked in his unwieldy frame.

The relatively stable battlefield turned to shit however when the Bloody Sacrificial Altar effect came into play, turning the elven healer into a raving lunatic.

She unleashed powerful magic and laid bare her deep-seated resentment, a show of madness that quickly forced the rest of the adventuring team out of the chamber. They stared at her teleporting and screaming silhouette moving randomly from place to place while at the same time filling the air with spears made out of light.

It took them only a few moments to pinpoint the source of the “bloodlust” effect and they were currently debating if it was even worth it to stop it.

“Let’s face reality. Not only could we end up as collateral damage due to Eve’s rampage, but also…” Peter stopped for a moment, coming to terms with his own words. “Also I feel like she’s strong enough to beat the boss on her own.” His last sentence came out a bit forced as his prideful eyes not for once left the dancing elf silhouette alone. It was clearly hard for him to leave everything to another person. Or to admit his inadequacy.

“She’s stealing my experience.” Growled Agnes, fingers curled on the handles of her blades. A moment later she relaxed, shaking her head and sighing. A wild glint in her eye - gone.

“I suppose it’s not the right thing to say when one of my friends is being mind-controlled.” She chuckled, hiding her head in tired arms. “I vote for destroying the artifact.”

“Since when was it a voting issue?” Peter smiled darkly. “You’re our leader, you choose. We just follow.” The rest nodded curtly. Even an outsider like Tinna agreed, her daggers ready to strike.

There was however an opposition.

“Wait, wait, wait! Let’s be reasonable! The artifact in question is a property of the Geinard Kingdom! We should send the scholars here to study it! To weaponize its runes! To help our soldiers with beating the Fallen Tribes' armies!” Charles made his opinion known, but this outburst only made it clearer about the distinction between him and the rest of the explorers. “There is no guarantee that the artifact will reappear as the monsters do!”

I harrumphed.

Now that was a really good question - while my boss's minions were pretty much immortal I wasn’t sure how this rule influenced large static items made in my dungeon, or how the sentients called them - the artifacts. I wasn’t counting the weapons of course. These were already proven destructible. But the Altar, the Forge, the Manufacture…

I was curious. Sadly the only way to check it - the only way my tiny crystal brain managed to plan the said experiment anyway - was to test said destruction. Repeatedly. Because of that, the Bloody Sacrificial Altar was as good a target as any - there wasn’t much I was using it for.

“That may be so, but the life of my teammate is worth much more than a mere artifact. Especially one affixed to the floor and thus - immovable.” Agnes answered in a tired tone.

“It doesn’t mean that we can’t study its workings locally!”

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“You’re not wrong…”

“Then--!”

“But we’re still destroying it.” A ferocious smile appeared on her face. “Will the kingdom lend me one of their healers in exchange for this artifact?” She asked slyly.

“M-maybe.” Charles stuttered in response. “I-it could be a great discovery leading towards the reclamation of the corrupted lands! It could make us heroes!”

“Could being the principal word here, right darling?” She shook her head, cutting off his next words. “I know that you want that finder’s money, but let me tell you - the Beast Princess doesn’t leave her own for the wolves!” Agnes green eyes widened and Charles trembled. He breathed in and out, but in the end, chose silence. Something that the rest of the party noticed with a small cheer.

The discussion ended. The Swords of Hope drew their weapons and prepared to enter the battle. It was however too late. Why? Because Eve managed to send one of her beams through the upper part of the room.

And cut off Guardian sanity support.

For a moment the armored monster just stared at the adventurer’s faces, the healer too responding with a simple, focused gaze. The serene silence lasted only for a moment though.

And then a cacophony of words emerged from his helmet.

“Crush!”

“Kill!”

“Swallow the light!” He stared at Eve for a long moment.

“Swallow the darkness!” Then his body jerked in Peter’s direction.

“Bring out the blood of the chosen!”

“Savour it!”

“RIGHT NOW!”

His faceplate swiveled towards the charging Agnes in the end as the crazy words echoed through the room.

“A choir-like soul... I will devour!” He lunged forward, his large arms throwing away the crude weapon in favor of the wide-grabbing motion.

Agnes jumped up while cursing, somehow managing to barely get out of the way. She then used the momentum to bounce away from Guardian's arm and stab one of her swords into the helmet slit. She left the blade inside, choosing to escape his one-track pursuit rather than stay and fight.

A roar echoed right behind her only to get cut short by a beam of light appearing from nowhere. It bounced off the armor, pushing back the black knight and stopping him for a long second.

It was enough for both Charles and Peter to fire off their magics, adding more scratches to already damaged metal armor. Guardian turned towards them like a boss from a computer game - easily driven by the changing aggro.

I shook my head.

It was all a ruse though.

The real deal was Tinna, slowly inching towards the Altar under the effect of her skill. A black mist was washing out everywhere, allowing her to blend in with the surroundings. She thought herself invisible, but in his calm state Guardian should be able to discover her advance and - in turn - prioritize.

Right now however he was no better than a beast.

Thus a minute later she arrived interrupted at her destination. Then, with a steady hand, she dragged both of her daggers across the runes visible on the rocky surface. The magical symbols brightened momentarily only to grow dim and still. The damage was big enough to disable the artifact immediately and Eve soon lost her frenzied behavior, slumping down on the floor.

This made her a target of Guardian attack as he ignored the buzzing flies and delightedly ran towards the unconscious elf.

“The bloodline of light!” He screamed, hunger easily recognizable in his voice.

“You fuckin’ wish, monster!” It was Boulder who stood against the charging monster, kneeling with a shield tilted on one side. Guardian only harrumphed in frustration, preparing to kick the unexpected obstacle aside.

But the half-orc was quicker.

His armored form shot ahead like an arrow. If arrows had large, vertical objects strapped to them.

Normally the tank would get squashed by the mass of the rushing monster, but Boulder, learning from his earlier experience, turned his tower shield surface just enough to nick the approaching enemy. This managed to disturb Guardian's center of stability, forcing him to stumble… and then helplessly fall to the ground. A cloud of dust had arisen and another bellow of rage left the monster’s mouth.

In the meantime, Lone Mountain dragged the elven healer back into the tunnels. They were a bit safer than a chamber where a brutal fight was taking place. If she had just left her there I was fully committed to sending some Ratlings in the hope of getting my hands on another core.

A rare light-affinity one!

Sadly the chance never came as the tall Amazon decided to guard her companion, leaving the rest to her teammates.

I nodded sadly.

Guardian was getting mauled.

If it was his sane, composed self then at least a few of the intruders would get slaughtered. Right now? He growled and spewed curses like he was the one overcome with bloodlust. An animal, not a once noble knight.

The tides had turned and the adventurers changed from prey into hunters.

With peerless cooperation, they made sure that Guardian was trashing helplessly from one side of the room to another. While I wasn’t looking another sword ended up in his healthy eye, thus blinding him completely.

It was a lost cause.

A checkmate.

I watched as they slowly whittled his health down, turning the knight into a ragged, tired beast. It was my duty to witness every second of this fight. After all, Guardian was fighting for me. To keep me safe. To defend the dungeon.

I might’ve turned into a bit of a monster myself, but… he was my servant in the end. No words of betrayal left his mouth until the end. He fell on the floor, his scarred body barely kept alive by willpower alone.

“The children of the gods will burn. This world will burn.” He rasped, blood slowly trickling down his helmet, pooling on the ground. “And the free---”

Agnes was the one to deliver the finishing blow, her blades pinning Guardian's head to the floor, piercing the brain, skull, and metal helmet in one try. She cut him down without hesitation.

“Shut up. The monsters should do their job and die quietly. Don’t spout some rubbish just before you croak.” She spoke rudely to the quickly cooling corpse. After that, she breathed out, leaning on her weapons, suddenly exhausted, and started to observe the battlefield.

Their fight left most of the room in shambles, with scars of weapons and destroyed rocks marring the once-clear walls. More than a few long trenches were left on the ground and even the coppery spiderwebs left on the back now were cut, mangled, and incomplete.

The smears of red human blood and much murkier, more red Guardian’s liquid were splashed around like surroundings like the work of some mad artist.

“Soon. I can feel it.” Princess mumbled, her face flushed and hair more red than blonde now. A clenched fist was slowly released from her beloved weapon.

“A level-up?” Peter appeared from nowhere, his face seemingly tired, but radiating some type of fulfillment.

“Yes. Or rather I feel it’s close. This means that one, two, maybe twenty monsters and I’ll get to level twenty.”

“And push the dread back one more year.” The shadow mage whispered some nonsense.

“Yup.” Agnes gave a sharp nod and immediately left for the tunnel entrance, where their healer was forced to lie on the ground and rest. As soon as she arrived a veritable flood of complaints left her mouth, washing over the startled Eve. The elf didn’t know how to react, her face turning red while she frantically tried to get free. It all ended when Agnes hugged her teammate, both girls happy to be alive and well.

It would be a touching moment if not for the fact that both of these women were responsible for the deaths of my monsters. Thus seeing them like that only evoked a feeling of disgust. It seemed like an old adage about ‘not humanizing your enemy’ was right after all.

In the meantime, Peter turned towards Guardian's corpse and huffed to himself.

“Now, where our prize should be?”

Both Boulder and Charles stood nearby and - without any signal - began to comb the room for anything resembling weapons, armor, or artifacts.

They were slow and methodical with their search, knowing that there should be an item of great worth somewhere in all this mud and blood. It would be worth it.

Riiiight.

Of course, they didn’t find any.

It was true - I wasn’t the brightest core that walked the earth, but still. Do I look that much like an idiot?! I won’t arm my enemies… especially after they defeated one (another one!) of my minions.

I admit though that...

There was this strange, weird feeling that compelled me to award them something for their efforts… but seeing the bleeding form of Guardian sprawled on the ground quickly cured me of such thoughts.

And this seemed to miff the invaders quite a bit.

“It’s not here!” Shouted Charles only to instantly become the center of attention. “What?” He asked, not understanding the meaning behind the people’s gaze.

“It’s not possible, sir.” Answered Peter, while eyeing him suspiciously. “The Dungeon Core will award those strong enough to defeat its guardians with an item of great value. It’s a compulsion they seem to have.” He shook his hands in order to emphasize his words. “There are no exceptions.” He huffed angrily.

“There are.” Eve was already back to her arrogant self. She smiled at the frowning man. “The undead dungeons deep south seemed to grant the items only on the next floor. Near the nexus. The core I mean. Or in one of the deeper chambers.” She shook her head, playing with the small curls of her golden hair. “It may be a similar circumstance.”

“Why would they do that?”

“In the hope of gaining a skilled warrior body of course.” The elf girl smiled grimly.

“So we need to be prepared for a battle?”

“It would be prudent.”

“This dungeon seems to like its undead, that’s true. Well, then - no time like the present.” Mumbled Agnes. “We do a sweep of two first rooms. Maybe three, depending on the layout. But after that, we will stop and retreat to the first floor. No more delving today, people!”