Continuing our momentum, Yang notified me that there was two intersections ahead. One that went right 5 meters and a T 15 meters away.

Yang was a heavier-duty model of the robots out there and far more deadly. Given this, we were going to bullrush whatever was on the right.

The robot pivoted and readied itself to attack. I heard several warcries and I stayed in the intersection while aiming down the hallway. There were four orcs charging Yang. He easily pushed them back so I turned my complete attention to the hall. As I thought, orcs poured out each side of the T. More than ten. I unloaded the SMG.

One went down and I transitioned to the next, dropping the magazine and reloading when it locked back. I held the trigger down as it was readied.

Just as they past the intersection before me, Yang cut into the middle of the remaining six orcs. Hot arcs of blood splattered across the roof on thermals. I dropped the last magazine, switched to my sidearm and focused centermass on the orc pushing on me. Its mace swung sideways at me. I dropped low, rushed forward and racked my claws across its stomach. Another orc was behind it and seemed surprised that I appeared beside its friend.

It stabbed at me with a sword, but I marry-go-rounded around its friend.

The orc stabbed its kin. Its blade pierced through the other’s midsection and I finished it off with two to the temple. Shocked from its miscalculation, the orc was pulled onto its kin’s dead body as it crumbled with its sword. I too executed that one, in its confusion.

Yang had finished off the rest, which left me to collect my magazines… I wondered if there was an auto-collect function… A quick check showed there actually was! It was a spicy little button next to the magazine selection.

A quick check of the end of the offshoot granted us another chest. It held a scroll. I pocketed it with the idea to hand over to Renel later.

We returned back to the main tunnel where I ran into Duke Reverie’s group. The men seemed to be in high spirits. Not the Duke and Viscount though.

“Find any chests?” He asked

“Do I have the answer?” I asked.

The viscount stepped forward. “Of course! You have to –”

“No,” Duke Reverie silenced him with a wave of his hand. “We’re cooperating as two separate parties. And I would rather not lose Apostle Mercy’s fighting power.

The last part was aimed at his advisor who looked indignantly at me. Regardless, I’m glad he noticed my efforts. I gave him a sincere smile and nodded before Yang and I went into a jog to catch up with the rest of our group.

. The Duke had his men dismantle the orcs. I originally wanted to double back with the robots to collect the stones. Since he’d taken the initiative to follow behind and get them for me, I’d let him. I had a… Distrust for the man the entire way here, but so far, he’d only just been a massive ass. Not a backstabber - so far. Like he said, he wanted my fighting prowess or whatever.

Putting that aside, it took less than 3 minutes to catch up. The gunfire was light and the few monster positions we passed showed that more of the monsters had been cut down than shot.

We rejoined the group just as they finished cleaning up another small grouping. Total time spent so far had just passed the 20 minute mark. This continued on, with less and less resistance as we cleared the last of the offshoots. We secured the next crossing where I noticed that the tunnels further on seem to deviate. This time, there were large windows. We could see into the next tunnel as it curved down.

It was active with orcs and goblins. There was even a large monster that looked like a troll. The tunnels seem to change into more large rooms at their center as well.

“That’s new.” Hembree said next to me as he pulled off his earmuffs.

The robots fell back to collect the stones while the wyverns floated on the other end of the crossing to guard.

“Is it?” I asked.

He nodded. “Before, all of this was underground with no windows or… this openness. I would think this suggests that the dungeons have the ability to evolve if certain parameters are met after a break.”

“Or, hear me out,” I said and pointed to where the large encampment was. “It’s just some fucked up poser-god messing with the dungeon. It is a double dungeon.”

“Yeah… Just be careful.” He said.

By the time the Duke’s group arrived, the robots had finished collecting the stones on this end. The men handed over my stones as well which brought my bank up to 5,650. Given my current stockpile of points, I felt it was time to re-kit.

Starting with my primary, smart munitions were expensive to use. I hadn’t thought about that when I switched. Smart munitions were at least five times the price as base munitions. Fortunately, I don’t have to use it. While It was nice and alleviated the headache of having to mutually aim, it would have to get vaulted for now. I purchased a Xi Long tuned Copperhead. While Nokota did make a decent rifle based on the AK-47, it suffered the same issue as it’s predecessor – it wasn’t a tuned rifle. It took up the niche the AK did, while also somehow running into the same issue as any mass-produced weapon. Thus, a Xi Long Copperhead was modified with a better muzzle brake, better piston system, a more aggressive grip, and smooth trigger action.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

All while coming in cheaper than attempting to purchase Arasaka or Militech weapon, by at least several hundred after the tuning. Overall, a better deal. To complement this new load out, I purchased a basic Malorian Overture along with 10 fast loaders

Finishing off, I purchased 10 fragmentation grenades and accompanying equipment to hold this all. Everyone watched me as boxes spawned in and I rearranged my loadout. I attached the rifle to my sling and loaded the grenades and mags into their own pouches before slotting the overture into its new holster on my thigh.

“Alright, I’m ready,” I said to no one in particular.

This time, it would be a joint attack.

Originally, this dungeon had been similar to a mine infested with monsters. Now it was turning into an actual structure. It kinda reminded me of the ruins in those films. Indiana Jones 16 I believe. I wasn’t into movies as much as my sisters were.

With 3,000 left, I was itching for more points. I needed to upgrade my cyberware to be a more appropriate level to what I most likely be doing. More armor would be needed as well. Weighing the two, I would like to lean more into armor to avoid becoming a cyber psycho. Using advanced armor with options to hold external equipment rather than getting the cyberware equivalent would be around the same price.

But it would go a lot way to making sure I don’t go off the deep end.

Pushing all that aside, we all moved on. Setting our group on the inside of the tunnel per the duke’s request, They were going to charge forward while we would use our ranged weapons to attack every corner of the large room.

During the time we rested, the monsters had consolidated into that large room in the middle of this section. Abandoning their poorly made barricades. They were aware we were coming and thus preparing. Hell, both our groups had been observing each other on our approach.

Woo- ffk!

“Ahh!” A man screamed

“Archers!” Another called out.

As soon as the call sounded, more arrows flew through the windows. I go low and turned to see that the only people hit were a few on the outer edge. They were angled upward and –

One of the wyverns was slammed into the wall as several arrows hit it. It was okay, but I had them float low to me.

Renel cast her spell to repel projectiles. Looked like a golden net. Every arrow that hit it immediately was flung back.

“Move!” The Duke ordered as both groups pushed the last 75 meters.

I was kinda glad the monsters grouped themselves up that much. There were a lot of barricades. In fact, I kinda felt like this was dumb. If they had stuck to their original positions, along with the constant threat of being sniped, our progress would have been significantly hampered. Stalled even.

We burst past the threshold into the room where a line of crude-shield wielding orcs awaited. I only gave a single call out “Hold back!” at the top of my lungs, which was echoed by the rest of the Badger before it filtered over to the Duke’s team. I pulled the pin on a grenade and lobed it as far as I could into the orcs’ side followed by two me into other parts.

The people next to me were confused for a moment until explosions rang out. Bits of orc flew in every direction. Both parties were startled until I rushed in without my robots. The adventurers were quick on their feet, following after me as I opened fire. We moved into the room and immediately began to clear right.. It took a few more seconds but the Duke’s group pushed forward like they planned.

Now, back to what I mentioned before. Monster. Troll. Maybe.

Well, it was definitely something like a troll. It was double the height of an orc and looked like an old chubby green man enlarged. It let out a dithering “Aoooohh!” while it stood in the middle of the large room. It looked lost and drugged. I ignored it momentarily as it just observed with a slightly agape mouth.

There had to have been at least a hundred orcs scattered about this room. It was nearly 50 meters deep and equally tall. Stone pillars held up the ceiling and I took cover behind one of them as I began using controlled bursts on the archers that began to filter in to help their kin.

3

“Rah Ruh OiU Haeeee!” An orc in a tattered robe screamed.

I only noticed it because I was picking off archers on the opposite side when it popped out towards the back. I fired a few rounds towards it but it slipped back into hiding.

The ugly gonk in the middle of the room roared and charged toward my position.

“Shit!” I cursed and bolted further into the room, signaling to all my robots to spread out.

The troll threw itself against the wall where I had been, its meaty hands grabbing at the spot I had been before it saw me running away.

“Noooooo! Human!!! I eat!!” It screamed and began to wiggle its way after me despite it’s body not fitting between the pillars and wall.

Which, turned out, didn’t matter. The pillars gave way - against their will - as the troll squeezed past it. I unloaded the rest of my magazine in its general direction. It roared in pain. I was slammed against the wall as an Orc tackled me. I felt the air leave me as we fell to the floor.

The monster let out a wicked laugh as it tried to choke me. I stabbed it in its eyes with my claws, pulled the overture, and unloaded until it went limp. Disgusted as blood dripped down over me, I rolled the body off just in time to see the troll bringing a fat hand down.

I scrambled to the side before I fired 2 rounds into the monsters neck. It screamed and grabbed at its throat as blood trickled from the wound.

As a gift, I threw two fragmentation grenades at its chest. I then turned, reloaded my copperhead and found half the room had been cleared already by my group.

Oddly enough, the duke's group seemed to be getting pushed back.

The grenades went off. The large monster let out high pitch roar as it tried to pull away from its current spot. It revealed half its face missing, but where I shot it had healed. Only dirty trail of blood was left.

"Trolls are weak to heat!" Sormone called out.

I didn't wait. I had incendiary rounds loaded. A single pull and the gun barked to life. The burning rounds cut through the air.

It screamed as the rounds bit into its skin. The troll staggered back as it clawed at its chest and face, peeling skin away as it presumably tried to stop the burning. My rifle locked back.

Letting go of it, I pulled another grenade and tossed it in between the monsters thighs were it laid against the wall. Then I tossed another one behind me between the pillars.

I reloaded as the first one detonated. The troll began to sound more like a tortured prisoner now than a monster. "MAKE IT STOOOP!"

The second grenade went off. The goblin from before flew out from behind the pillar, ragdolling end over end before splattering on the floor near me. My robots were pushing on the orcs fighting the Duke’s men.

Situation in hand, I turned back to the troll who… Looked so pitiful. Half his face missing, scorch marks up and down his chest, and his private area was just a mess of blackened meat. He whimpered and twitched… At this point, this wasn’t a fight for this monster. It really was torture.

That realization made me feel guilty.

I wasn’t here for some righteous cause such as getting revenge for humanity. I was here to reap their stones, clear the quest from Avery, and be on my merry way with more loot. Yeah, monster bad. But humans also bad too. I was always away of the duality of life and death. Night City proved it every minute It was why I never liked leaving the house after the incident.

I sighed “Damn… I’ll make it quick, okay?” I said the words softly as I walked up the monster. Yeah, that had been a bad idea. Not because it attacked me, but because this monster – the troll – really was suffering. I could see it in his eyes.

“I can unload this rifle into your head,” I held the rifle firmly, then pulled out two grenades. “Our we can make this quick. Open your mouth if you want it quick.”

The troll opened its mouth after a few seconds. I pulled both the pins and shoved them into the monster’s mouth and moved away quickly. Five seconds later, its head exploded.

“Holy shit…” Renel approached me a few minutes later after they finished their side. “That’s fucked up.”

“How?” I asked we both looked at the troll.

She gestured to all of it with one hand. “Aside from whatever you used on its head, none of it was a critical hit… It looks like you were just playing with it… Are you a sadist?”