“You live in the pyramid?” Diana asked. Then she remembered the trade rules and hastily added “We live in one of the marked buildings.”

“Don't tell the monster where we live,” Hector said from a distance, apparently able to hear Diana’s side of the conversation. Diana motioned to shush him, she was doing something important. She felt like the bug was looking for the concept of ‘monster’ in her head.

“I am not a monster. I live in the pyramid. Don’t care where you live. Will you help me go home?” Hunter of Prey said.

“We don’t know yet. We don’t trust you yet. We will need to discuss it among ourselves. Why do we need your help to go to the pyramid?

“Know a secret way, otherwise too dangerous. Many Brutes on the way.” The bug pointed to the body of the bipedal monster.

“Wait here and don't try to move or the explosive runes will trigger” Diana said.

The bug vibrated its armor plates again, which Diana read as irritation. Maybe. “Prisoner again. Will wait.”. Yeah it was irritation.

Diana and Frank backed up slowly, not letting Hunter of Prey out of their sight. They went to where Hector and Mia were waiting and relayed the bugs' side of the conversation.

“You can’t trust that fucking monster it is playing with your mind!” Hector almost shouted the moment Diana stopped talking. “We should smash it and collapse this whole place then find our own way to the pyramid. Like we planned!”

“I don’t know man, it doesn’t seem like a monster,” Frank said uncertainly.

“What the actual fuck Frank. You trust that thing?” Hector got into Frank’s face. In the past the rogue would back down but this time, to Diana’s surprise, he stood his ground.

“I’m not saying that. He obviously has his own agenda. The way he talks and thinks is alien and creeps me out” Frank shivered “That's not a reason to kill him though. He’s a sentien and i refuse to do that without reason.”

“He? Sentient? Open your eyes! It's a damn centipede that's larger than both of us together! It’s a danger that's what it is. Mia i know i'm right, support me on this” Hector turned to Mia.

Diana still held her tongue content with the others stating their positions first. Mia was put on the spot and hesitated for a moment before she said.

“I agree with Hector. I don’t trust him, even if it's not a monster it doesn't mean it's a friend.”

“Anyway, why are you the only ones that can hear it? I hear only a buzz in my head when its that things turn to speak” Hector asked turning to Diana.

“I think it’s because me and Frank saw the most of the signs. At first we couldn’t read them too but the more we saw the closer to understanding we got.” Diana took a breath, ”This High Speech gives me a similar feeling to reading those marks. He said it is the language of everything, it has to be magical”

“Why would giant centipedes need to invent a language to talk to … well everything?” Frank asked.

“Maybe they didn’t invent it, maybe they discovered it.” Diana shrugged.” Unimportant right now. What we need to decide it weather we work with Hunter of Prey or not”

“The thing even has a name now?!” Hector exploded. “You skipped that detail previously.”

“Calm down man, this is fucking serious we need to think clearly.” Frank said, annoyance obvious in his tone.

“I’m the one whos thinking clearly here. You and Diana are talking pure insanity” Frank winced at those words, but Hector didn’t seem to notice that in his anger. “Those bugs have been trying to kill us for weeks now and you want to work with them suddenly!” Hector started going in circles to walk off some of his anger and fear.

“The conditions changed.” Diana said simply. “We can now communicate and trade with him. That changes everything. His goals are the same as ours, and if he's telling the truth we might not be able to get to the pyramid without him”

“That’s Hector’s point exactly, i think” Mia interjected. “He could be lying and leading us into a trap”

“Look around. He was a prisoner here, enemy of my enemy and all that” Frank made a gesture at all the columns around them. “ You forgot already that this is a prison? Or a fucking lab, it doesn’t matter. Something took normal bugs with the right amount of legs and far less teeth, like our Bargain Bug over there and turned them into Abominations.”

The anger flushed Hector’s cheeks a deep shade of crimson “That's bullshit and you know it. Even if he was a prisoner here it doesn’t mean he won’t lead us into a trap. He might want to dissect or eat us for all we know”

Diana decided that they talked long enough and it was time to throw in her own thoughts.

“We can check if he’s telling the truth. We can scout the way above ground and see if it is blocked with Brutes.” She said.

“Even two would be too much for us.” Frank said. Diana was not so sure, after all they knew how to fight their regeneration now but she kept silent.

“How do you propose we do that?” Mia asked, shifting from foot to foot.

“We go towards the pyramid right now and if Hunter was telling the truth we go back to our hideout to rest, and decide on our next steps.” She knew the additional time would work in her favor. Either the bug would betray them in some way, which would be better if he did that before he knew the location of their hideout, or the others would familiarize themselves with him long enough to get over the first knee-jerk lets-squash-the-bug reaction. Or so she hoped.

“Yeah? And what should we do with the bug while we scout” Hector asked, still fuming.

“We take him with us.”Frank said, but took a step back at the glare Hector threw his way” What? He won’t alert the Abominations since they would kill him or drag him back here and we can’t really leave him here to do who knows what.”

“Hector, look, it might be so we need Hunter's help to get to the pyramid.” Diana tried a conciliatory tone “How about it would be your job to watch him, if he betrays us you will be right there to kill him.”

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Hector still fumed but to Diana’s relief nodded. “We will discuss this again when we go back to our hideout. If he’s alive”

“Everybody in agreement?” Diana looked at her companions, the men both nodded, if a bit reluctantly in Hectors case but Mia still seemed unsure. Diana pretended not to notice “Good, then lets talk to him and see where we go from there.”

“One more thing,” Mia said. Diana cursed inwardly. “We should destroy this place. We can’t really leave this … this monster factory behind”

“Agreed.” Hector said and cast Diana a glance daring to defy him. Not that she intended to, this place could burn to the ground for all she cared, maybe they would even get some extra experience from it.

“Fine but follow my lead when we talk with the b… Hunter.” She winced at the stumble, she needed to humanize Hunter.

Thinking Diana felt that Hunter of Prey was probably their only way forward. He seemed too smart to tell a lie they could verify so easily. They would probably need his secret passage to get to the pyramid. And Diana really wanted to get to that pyramid, the whole place thummed with power, even at a distance and she wanted a bit of that for herself.

The whole group approached the centipede.

“We talked. We don’t trust you. We will verify if you tell the truth about the Brutes. Then we will talk more. Is that acceptable?” Diana asked.

“Lack of trust is acceptable. I don’t trust you either. So we leave now?” Hunter asked.

“Yes” Diana deactivated the Explosive runes. Diana started towards the exit, Hector took a breath to say something but she silenced him with a look.

“Then I want to propose a Trade. Destroy this chamber and in exchange I will sell you information” Sneaky little bastard. Looked like traders were the same everywhere. He waited until he was sure they would leave the place alone before offering to buy its destruction. No point in paying for something you’re going to get anyway, huh? Two could play that game, time to see how much she could squeeze out of the centipede.

“I don’t agree to the trade yet. Information sounds too nebulous. Why do you want to blow this place up? What about the Chtonarix trapped here? What information exactly ?” She asked.

“To deny resources to the enemy. There are no Chtonarix here. Not any more. I would know. Basic information about Chtonarix biology, society and behavior.” Hunter of Pray sent.

Diana was mildly interested in those, they would learn them in time or not need them at all. “That is a bad offer. Destroying this place is a big ask compared to what you are offering. Can you offer something else?” Diana was reluctant to ask directly for what she wanted as that would let the bug have a better negotiating position.

Hunter clicked a couple of times at a fast pace “So humans bicker about price too. Good.” Diana got a feeling of respect sent over “ I offer information about the pyramid and its runes. I reserve the right to not answer all questions.”

Diana was really glad the centipede couldn’t really read her expression as she couldn't keep the predatory grin off of her face. Trying to keep her emotions from leaking over the mental link she said. “I agree.”

To the others she said “ Made a deal with Hunter of Prey to destroy this place, he says there are no more of his kin here, just monsters.”

Turned out Diana and Frank got an eye for demolition work while blocking the entrances some time before. Diana prepared demolition charges out of Explosive Runes that Frank placed in spots he deemed as vulnerable along the columns, some of them rather high.

“We really should get a Demolition skill sometime soon” he quipped.

Diana smiled at him even though the joke wasn’t all that good. “Yeah we really should.” When she was passing another charge to him she touched his hand for longer than was necessary.

“Be careful up there” she nodded towards the columns.

Frank looked a bit surprised but responded with his usual “Always am.” before he rushed back up.

Once the prep work was done they left the chamber. Diana touched the doorframe and in an uncharacteristic gesture looked behind. The impossibly high columns were full of cages, and they were about to destroy it all. Maybe Hunter was lying and there were other Chtonarix in there.

“Good riddance.” She said to herself as she exited the chamber.

The party, plus one extra Chtonarix, was retracing their own steps. The way upwards was significantly easier than going down was. The growths on the walls became thinner, and there were less and less fleshy webs in their way. Diana noted that in some places the webs grew back together in the time they were in the main chamber and they had to cut them again. It was eerily reminiscent of how the bipedal Brute below regenerated.

Once one of the Explosive Runes winked out of her consciousness she decided it was time.

“I'm at the limit of my range to blow up the cave.” She stopped and informed the others..

“Let's hope we’re far enough.” Frank said.

“Blow it, nothing else to do” Hector added and Mia just nodded. Hunter of Prey curled up in a ball so Diana guessed that was his way of getting ready.

Diana raised her staff, and felt the arcane energy rushing through it and going down the dark tunnels. For a moment nothing happened. Then, a low rumble reverberated through the passageway. The party exchanged uneasy glances. The vibrations intensified, causing loose pebbles to cascade from the ceiling. Hector raised his shield and pulled Mia closer to himself.

As the Explosive Runes released her reserved mana she cast a Barrier spell. If they squeezed together they would all fit in, even Hunter of Prey

"Get over here!" Diana shouted, her voice barely audible over the roar of the collapse.

The ground beneath their feet quivered, and dust billowed from the cracks in the stonework. The party staggered, attempting to maintain their balance as the tremors intensified. Stones bounces off of Diana’s shield and she could feel her mana drain as more and more fell off from the ceiling.

Just as fast as they arrived the tremors were gone. THe corridor looked like it was about too collapse and the only thing holding it together was the fleshy growth still sticking to the wall. The growth itself also seemed hurt, there was a lot of tears in the fibers and blood was starting to seep from the walls and pool at their feet.

"Well, that was one way to redecorate the place. It just wasn’t hellish enough." Frank quipped.

Diana gagged from the smell, it was like she was breathing itchor there was so much of it in the air.

“You almost collapsed the place on top of us” Hector accused Diana.

“Oh hush Hector we all agreed to the plan and it worked. We just won’t do it again.” Mia said in a conciliatory voice “Right guys.”

“Right.” Diana agreed, if they needed to they could revisit the subject in the future. “For now lets get out of here before this place collapses completely.

As if in a response to her words a distant crash sounded. Hunter of Prey was already on his way upwards.

They climbed all the levels they had to go down and as the amount of meat covering the walls lessened the smell became more bearable. Diana breathed deeper.

“Can’t wait till we're outside,” She said wistfully.

“I didn’t think i’d ever miss the gray sky of this place” Frank responded tiredly. “Shame it’s not back home yet.”

“Mhm we still have a little scouting to do” Hector interjected. “We will see if we have a lying bug among us.” Diana noticed the look the warrior gave to Hunter of Prey, it certainly was not friendly.

Oh well all she had to do was keep Hector from killing him long enough to get all the information she could. While they scouted for some extra powerful monsters, still tired and covered in blood from the previous fight.

“Another day at the office, huh Diana?” Frank joked with a crooked smile.