Alright boys, gather the villagers. We have an announcement to make.
Thanks to the many, many villagers freely wandering about my territory on a daily basis, it only took a few days for me to gather the amount of mana necessary to complete the evolutions of my designated monsters. I had to give kudos to myself for being so economical with my decisions. Even with all the combat oriented changes I made to the monsters, I had so much left over to distribute to the ‘civilian’ population of my monsters.
Combat oriented? I thought to myself playfully. But last time, most of the evolutions were done to non-combatants!
Very true! Besides the bombardier bats, and the one mimic crab that I took a focus in, I only ever focused on the random civilian population. The mimic crabs, and the guppies, more specifically. However! We’re gearing up for war! And that requires soldiers!
And now, I have humans under my control.
Five of which are volunteers! Mr. and Mrs. Vernant, and well as the three Dungeon Rat adventurer kids! Thanks to their voluntary nature, I felt no hesitation in allowing them to evolve. While I nudged their directions somewhat, I more or less freely allowed them to choose the direction they wanted to go in.
But fun fact, only two of the kids were able to accept evolutions! The youngest, Clyde, just outright couldn’t evolve. Unfortunate, and while I’d love to find out why, I have more pressing concerns. He’ll just have to sulk with the rest of the non-combatants back in the nurseries.
Owyn stands atop the front gate of my castle, holding my core in both hands. Mycroft stands below him, obviously outside the walls, looking in. To his left, the two evolved Dungeon Rat kids, Tyler, the oldest, and Arianna, the middle kid. Tyler, being the tallest, and also the shyest, took in a direction I quite liked. He grew taller, with pointed ears and dark gray skin. Very dark elf-esque, I liked it. Arianna liked his pointed ears and copied them, but she remained the same height and build she always was. She just opted for a simple muscle enhancement. And specially requested stone gauntlets that were heavy enough that she had to be superhumanly strong to use them effectively.
To Owyn’s right stood Mr. and Mrs. Vernant, and their son Grant Mr. Vernant put most of his points into aesthetics it seems, probably to appease his wife. He stood taller than before, without compromising the ratios of his physique. His previously giant sword now just looked like a normal sword in his hands. Or, hand, singular, I suppose. When you’re a giant, holding giant things, those things just look regular. Mrs. Vernant on the other hand… I have no idea what her evolution did to her. Outwardly, she looked basically unchanged. You know, besides the amber color in her irises. I did give her and the other humans the ability to see in the dark, like cats. It was just far too useful of an ability not to have.
Grant stood on his own power, hands proudly akimbo. His bat friend quietly observed everything from behind Grant’s ribcage, like a chest burster in hiding. Together, they flexed their fully grown wings behind them. It wasn’t long ago that the undead and bat combo were practicing flight. Although, with the smoothness of the integration between the bat and skeleton combo, they hadn’t needed much to perfect it. The two were working like a well oiled machine, acting entirely as a singular entity. If it wasn’t for the obvious dichotomy between the skeleton limbs and bat limbs, you could be mistaken for recognizing Grant as a singular whole again!
The ‘naughty’ villagers that I’d turned into my thralls didn’t receive evolutions. A punishment, I suppose, beyond enthrallment. Besides, most of them had family that liked them the way they are. Like Felecia Bellamy. Even now, she refused to accept evolutions from me.
She, along with the remaining human thralls, gathered all of the villagers into the castle square. My various minions milled about the crowd, equally curious as to what was going on. I wasn’t exactly going to explain this a hundred times over, so gathering everyone up to explain it all at once was my best alternative.
“Listen up!” Owyn called. The crowd quieted down. Many of the villagers eyed up Owyn holding on to my core, clearly worried something was going to happen that they didn’t like.
“We’re going to war!” Owyn declared. He waited again for the murmurs to stop. “Lucid takes your safety very seriously, and right now, the caverns are not a safe place. For the past few weeks, Lucid, the Baroness, and I have been collaborating to come up with the safest way for us to continue our existence down here! And obviously, that means being safe from dungeons.”
“That’s your job!” Someone shouted from below. A man from the crowd of villagers huddled together, distinctly separate from the rest of the villagers that regularly mingled with my monsters.
Owyn nodded. “It is. It’s my job as an adventurer, and Lucid’s, as per our deal for his protection. And so we’re enacting our plan to ensure our safety as a whole. As a courtesy, we’re inviting anyone willing to participate in the defense of our walls to join in the effort. Volunteers will be given weapons, provided by Lucid.”
Felecia raised a hand politely. Owyn gestured for her to talk, visually taking the lead in this announcement for the rest of the villagers. “Defense?” She asked.
Owyn nodded. “Our plan is to intentionally antagonize the undead dungeon into attacking us. With our defensible position, and Lucid’s air superiority, we should be perfectly safe, especially if we use our defenses to our advantage.”
“How’s that going to work!?” A different man accused. “We’re not going to sacrifice ourselves as bait just so the rest of you can live!”
Owyn grinned wide. “I’m so glad you asked. Arty? Where are you buddy!?”
A lone mimic crab shuffled in through the side entrance. She was much larger than the other mimic crabs, nearing humans in size and weighing nearly 1000 lbs. She didn’t look like much, especially when she moved so slowly, but that was because she was extremely dense by nature. Her legs were massive, and the spiked tips sunk into the stone ground beneath her with ease. She hid her face behind massive clawed hands, reminiscent of Mimi’s crab hands. But the piece de resistance was centered on her back. A singular cannon barrel, extending back behind her to a solid end meant to be braced by whatever stood behind her. The cannon alone weighed as much as the rest of her combined. It was dense by necessity, since I didn’t want her getting hurt when firing off the five pound stone balls we measured out for her ammo.
Oh yeah… this was going to be fun.
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Mercy
The other dungeons were all cowards. Hiding in their shells, like crabs. Mercy HATED those crabs! Lucid had crabs, and they were all stupid! They were hungry all the time, and they wasted time and resources acquiring them! Mercy was not like them. She was smart. She knew how to effectively use her mana! With one single payment of mana, she could enthrall a corpse and it wouldn’t ever complain again! They did as she said, blindly obedient, as they should be. Lucid was a moron, to allow his undead to maintain their personalities. It was inefficient! To this day, she regretted not finishing off that Grant monster. His torture would forever haunt her, even after she killed him.
She could see him through her undead’s eyes, standing there atop Lucid’s stone shell. Arrogant as the day he was enthralled. One day…
Her forces were growing. Her mana was growing, and one day, she’d be powerful enough to assault Lucid directly. But she wasn’t ready yet. Mercy was smart, so she’d do the smart thing. The Ratkin dungeon used tools to cause damage. That was smart. If the tool broke, they could find another. If an undead broke, they could not heal. Mercy’s soldiers all used tools if they were able. That way, if they broke, the soldiers would stay intact! Mercy was such a smart dungeon!
Her forces were weak, she knew this, but they were numerous. She had many hidden around the open spaces of the cavern, playing dead. They ambushed new dungeons, feeding her further, and adding to her undead army that roamed in search of fresh corpses. They numbered many. Small mice and rats mostly, but their strength wasn’t in their size. The other dungeons were stupid, they invested in evolutions. What a waste of mana, they were going to die anyway. And while they still lived, they required yet more care.
Morons, all of them.
Mercy’s plan was almost ready. First, she would destroy the mixed creature dungeon. By far, it was the weakest out of the dungeons that posed a threat. Mercy’s giant dragon may have to sacrifice itself in order to halt the ‘boss’ monsters, as Lucid called them, but that would be an efficient use of it. Through its sacrifice, she would gain two in its place! And the long skeleton wouldn’t be of any use against Lucid’s giant crab anyways. That ‘Rab’ posed the greatest barrier to Mercy, but she figured she could lock its joints up, like that stick had done to her other skeletons. The smallest undead would be useful for that much.
Her favorite undead, the zombie fishman ‘Dweller’ carried her cube reverently, wandering close to a new corpse. A large ratkin. Far larger than they normally are. It held no weapons, but instead its teeth looked extra long and sharp. It’d be a good skeleton, but while it retained its flesh, it would remain as a zombie.
The undead surrounding her crowded Mercy out of sight as she was lowered to the corpse. This too, was something smart Mercy had thought of. Many such groups of undead wandered about, obscuring the view of one undead in particular in the center. That way, Mercy’s group didn’t stand out! Where was Mercy hiding Lucid? You don’t know! Stupid!
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Of course, her giant dragon stood above her own group. It was just smart to keep the best for herself!
BANG!
Mercy heard the sound coming from Lucid’s dungeon. What was he doing? Had he finally become smart, and decided to kill the humans for mana, and then to raise them as undead? He certainly had a lot of mana. Mercy wondered how he had so much?
A ball entered Mercy’s domain. It zipped through at incredible speeds, slamming into her dragon's skull before it or Mercy could even think to react. With a shatter of bone, her dragon’s skull was obliterated! But the ball didn’t stop there! It continued downwards, crashing through a ratkin that had stood below the impact point before finally splitting in two with a hard impact on the ground.
Her dragon crumbled above her. Deader than dead. Many of Mercy's smallest minions got crushed beneath the massive weight of its skeletal corpse.
What was this? Where did the ball come from? It seemed to fall from the direction of Lucid’s dungeon! But how! Nothing Lucid had could throw stones that far, or that fast! And why was the stone such a perfect sphere!? It was almost as if Lucid had created it like that! But why!?
Her undead carrier knew why. Dweller knew insults very well.
Lucid sent a ball, shaped like his core, to assault Mercy. He was insulting her! He thought she was weak! The weakest of the dungeons! He thought she was weaker than the mixed dungeon!
This would not stand! Mercy had to kill him for this! NOW!
She was powerful! Far more powerful than she had ever been! Even without her largest undead, she would still be able to kill the weakest dungeon, claim its soldiers as her own, and then-!
BANG!
Mercy’s thoughts fell silent. It happened again. That sound. That sound before the stone fell from above with amazing speed. No, this is ok! Mercy is smart! She saw where the last one landed! All forces, move away from there! No! Spread out! Nothing can throw that accurately! The first stone was a fluke!
The second stone appeared at the edges of her domain. Like the first, it flew with a speed nothing should be able to move at. And this one cut through Mercy’s most concentrated forces. If it wasn’t for Dweller’s instincts, it would have hit Mercy directly! Instead, Dweller pulled back, and it only barely cut across his shoulder, drawing blood from the creature that had yet to bleed under Mercy’s reign.
Dozens of undead fell, including the newest one. Brain matter and bone exploded across every surface of Mercy’s exposed core. Yet another insult.
And a defined threat.
This was no fluke. The first shot was intentional. It destroyed Mercy’s largest undead. The second shot was meant to kill her directly.
If Mercy did not kill Lucid now, Lucid would not stop attacking her. She had to attack him back. Now!
Mercy’s undead moved as one. All of the undead that played as corpses rose from the moss, joining the horde in the violent tide of war. Many of them would die, but so long as Lucid died as well, that was fine.
Dweller’s eyes tracked along the top of Lucid’s stone shell. And standing there, arrogant as could be, stood Grant. The half undead, half bat abomination. He held Lucid’s ugly core above his head. Taunting Mercy. Insulting her.
This would not stand!
Her undead spread out, surrounding Lucid’s territory in sync, still charging in as one mass. Rab would only protect one side of Lucid’s stone shell. Not all of them. Mercy was smart, she’d take advantage of that.
Her domain crashed into Lucid’s and the battle truly began.
BANG!
Mercy felt fear. A momentary, fleeting, USELESS feeling!
And instant later, it was justified. The dozens of undead next to her were cut through. This time, Mercy didn’t even see it coming. One instant, her undead were there. The next, gone.
Perhaps… it was fitting to feel fear.
Her undead horde did not stop their assault. They couldn’t. Either she would die, or Lucid would. It was just like when they first met, all over again. Lucid was powerful.
But this time, Mercy had mana!
She pressed on, forcing her mana against Lucid’s domain. She did not gain territory, but neither did he. They were evenly matched! This was a fight that Mercy would win! That she would win!
Rab roared above her. Mercy had Dweller look up. The giant crab had raised his shield claw, and was lowering it to slam into Mercy’s core. Unacceptable! She would not lose to a crab! Her undead surged forward again, dodging the claw. Only the furthest back of her army was crushed.
Rab did not raise his claw back up. Mercy kept watching it, even as the rest of her army charged forward. They slammed into the wall, already scrambling to climb it. Stone weapons poked out from slots in the wall, attacking Mercy’s soldiers from within. Mercy commanded them to fight back with their own weapons through the slots, forcing the living back a touch. Her smallest undead charged in through the slots, but none of them made it very far.
Rab had still not raised his claw. Why? He wasn’t dead, Mercy could feel that much. Wouldn’t it be more effective if Rab attacked again? Lucid was stupid, but he wasn’t that stupid to not use his boss monster to attack.
Mercy’s undead were dying, one after the other. The humans in their defensible position were too much. Too overwhelming. And the demon was flying overhead, busy protecting Rab’s joints from the undead that attempted to scale the giant crab. Other flying creatures assisted him. Some insignificant humans that had once stood on the top of the stone shell like Grant did were protecting Rab’s feet, where they could. The furthest back to either side of the shell.
Why? Why wasn’t Rab raising his claw?
The humans grew arrogant. Some of them dropped down from the stone shell, attacking Mercy’s undead more directly. They took damage, but they wore thick hides that protected their vital organs. It wasn’t fair! Tools to both attack and defend? Was this the power of armor? Mercy never believed in it before, dead was dead. It didn’t matter how it got there.
Her domain reached Lucid’s core. And like an impenetrable barrier, Mercy suddenly realized that their wills were not equal. Lucid was fighting Mercy’s will and mana at the same time, with just his will alone. And Mercy’s will was growing! She had grown as a dungeon, and with every undead that fell, her will grew more! And yet, Lucid’s will grew alongside it! How was this possible!
That was when Rab’s claw finally moved. Not up, to crash back down into Mercy’s forces again, but dragging along the ground, scraping and closing in on Mercy’s back. Were they planning to squish Mercy against the stone shell? Foolish! Dweller was strong! He could protect Mercy, and stand the crushing force of the claw against stone! Even better, the zombie could break through the stone and be on the other side!
Mercy’s forces converged into three points, one for every wall they assaulted. Dweller ran up the piling corpses, charging Lucid’s core and his abominable undead. Mercy’s domain shrunk as she approached Lucid, his will halting her own. It was no matter. Dweller, and the undead running in front and alongside him, would take care of whatever pitiful defenses Lucid had!
Grant took flight. The coward! Mercy couldn’t fly!
But the inside of the stone shell wasn’t as full as Mercy thought it would be. There were barely a dozen humans inside! Where were all the others!? Surely, they weren’t defending with so few soldiers! Mercy’s undead horde poured in from the three sides. Humans followed them in soon after, somehow eager to meet their death.
Grant flew back down, nearly amidst one of Mercy’s hordes. Several of Lucid’s monsters converged on his location, including a giant of a human, squeezing two of Mercy’s zombie ratkin in its massive hands. Despite their enhanced strength, they could not fight back. Lucid’s core touched the back of their heads, and Mercy was forced to fight for their control.
Lucid won.
He went again. And again, and again, and again, and again! Lucid was forcibly converting Mercy’s horde! She could do that too! She just needed a target!
That one! The slow crab with the thick shell and the tube on its back! It cowered from Mercy’s great forces, clearly a weak willed creature! Mercy could conquer that one and use it against Lucid! Dweller ran after it.
Mercy’s undead parted for her, and her core easily touched the undefended crab.
Become mine! Mercy demanded.
The crab’s claws gripped Mercy’s core. Tightly.
Please stop. It mewled.
Let go! Mercy demanded. Dweller pulled back, but this pathetic coward wouldn’t budge! Its legs were somehow attached to the ground!
Let go! Mercy shouted.
Her undead were falling. Piece by piece. The humans were huddled together, each of them defending the others backs with their actual backs against the stone shell. Spears and logs of stone bashed and shattered her skeletons, while forked pikes held back her zombies long enough for the spearmen to finish them off.
She needed to retreat!
Mercy looked around with Dweller’s eyes, seeing the hole in the stone shell at the front. Rab’s giant claw blocked the exit. Humans stood at the stairways, and Lucid’s thralls walked in from the two side exits, finished with Mercy’s undead from outside the stone shell. She was trapped!
LET GO! Mercy cried.
Say it. Lucid said from afar. His core continued converting her undead. The converted didn’t even join in the fight!
Leave them alone! Mercy shouted. DIE!
Say it. Lucid repeated, malicious intent dripping gleefully from the words.
Let go! Mercy was almost pleading. What was with Lucid’s monsters! He wasn’t even helping this one defend itself! This heavy crab was resisting Mercy’s control by itself! How!?
Say it. Lucid said again.
Mercy was panicking. Say what? What did Lucid want! Mercy just wanted to live! She deserved to! She was powerful! Look! She was still maintaining her domain against Lucid!
Her domain crashed down upon her, and her core was somehow stolen from Dweller. Her whole world devolved to darkness, void of anything but the pure terror Mercy was feeling now.
Say it. Lucid said again.
MERCY! She cried.
Dweller's signature vanished. His gentle hand returned to touch her core. She could see him again!
Dweller sneered. “You pathetic, worthless, moronic dungeon. Your ego is only dwarfed by the depths of your stupidity. I wish -”
Lucid’s core touched her own.