He’d stabbed her through the heart.

Nyssa felt the place on her chest burn and was reminded of the scar that Viskor had left her with. It was a tricky move to trigger his Cursed Attack partway through a stab and then toggle it off again. The cursed mark that he’d left on her heart had to decay naturally, which had left her and the other three in a dead-like state for over a day. By the time she’d been able to move again, Nyssa had been severely dehydrated.

Healing potions and water that they were able to extract from crystals from the water monsters on the lower floors were able to get them their strength back, but with just the four of them, there was no way that she was going to chance going into the bunker from the Dungeon and fighting whoever had been stationed there.

They’d looked for a tunnel instead.

It’d taken them almost a year, but on the twenty-seventh floor, they’d finally found one. But instead of leading them to the twenty-seventh floor of another Dungeon, it had connected to the sixty-fourth floor of the Desolation of Hogarth in the Fane Ward.

She sat in front of the gate and looked at her friends, then at the jungle around her. All of that work only to get stuck somewhere that no one would find them.

“I’m going to take a look around.” Nyssa got up and started down the trail.

“Isn’t that risky?” Haley got up to follow after her.

Nyssa held up her hand to stop the other woman. “This Dungeon has a path and monsters won’t attack you as long as you stay on the path.” She smiled to try to reassure her friends. “I’m just going to look around.”

The green princess sat back down. Now that they’d made it from the wall to the gate, no one wanted to try to trek back to the wall while avoiding monsters on an event floor. It’d been a miracle that they’d made it to the gate at all without running into a monster. But that was part of what Nyssa wanted to check.

Tizon had told her and her father about how the Dungeons work. When the child of a God wanted to claim a city, they would go into a Desolation or a godless town and fight their way until they reached a floor with no monsters. Somewhere on that floor, there was a Mantle of the Gods that would bind the godkin to the Dungeon and allow them to establish it as a city. The mantle would also grant a lot of levels when it was taken, which was something she needed right now to get her friends home.

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Nyssa had never considered the possibility of ever taking a city. She’d been content helping Tizon protect the Ward. Besides, she wasn’t a true godkin. She came from a hero line, which is what the seal on her chest hid. Her class gained unique bonuses when fighting against the Gods, and it was something that Tizon had hoped to eventually turn against Kire and the rest of the Primus. So while her stats might have been a little lower than a fledgling God, she had the potential to become everything that they were.

It didn’t take her long to find the golden mantle. It was almost like it was calling to her, begging her to claim it. The golden woman started to touch it, but pulled her hand away. She touched her scar one more time and thought about Viskor. Their union had been a sham, but he was somewhere out there, bound to those monsters. Tizon had hoped her power could be used against Kire, but that fight had always been about helping Tizon. Now it was personal. Kire had something of hers and once she was strong enough, she was going to take it back.

Nyssa didn’t hesitate as she grabbed the mantle and let it wrap around her. Most Mantles of the Gods had to be fought and beaten, but this one knew her struggle, her goal, and it wanted to help. Because it too wanted revenge on Kire. There was no fight as the mantle gave her everything it had. As soon as the warmth began to fade, she looked down at her CB to check her stats.

Nyssa - Level 73

Age: 33, Hair: Red, Eye color: Brown

Skin: Golden, Blood: Golden, Height: 5’9”

132,718,660 Exp

God Hunter - Mana 29,304 / 29,304

3,200 Power 3,200 Defense 8,542 Speed

5,726 Magic 3,328 Recovery 5,598 Aura

Stat Points: 0

Hide Presence, Dagger Storm, Divine Mark, Shadowstep, Godslayer

Passive: Erase Presence, Sense Divinity

She’d lost some of her skills, but gained some very strong ones. Nyssa smiled as she looked back at the gate. They still had to crawl back up to the surface, but she knew that wouldn’t be a problem. Then she could begin.