The next room was different from the others in the fact that it was filled with the clash of metal and steel. They entered from the south entrance of the room and found themselves on the back line of a combat that they were not expecting. A wall of light blue slimes with angel wings was locked in heated combat against more demonic purple slimes. The two forces remained stagnant as neither side would budge or lose men. Whenever one slime on either side melted from the damage, a new warrior formed and took their place. They were in a stalemate, and it was obvious that they were waiting for some outside force to turn the tides of the battle. The dungeon was not subtle in the fact that it was giving them a bit of mercy, most likely taking pity on them after they had lost two of their party members in this temple alone.

What should have been both sides attacking them was now a new opportunity for them to test their mettle against the demonic slimes and be the heroes that the dungeon intended them to be. Velua was not going to waste this opportunity when she knew that there was no way they could survive without the healing aid of the angelic slimes.

“Alright, you two. Just listen to me and we can get through this room without damage. Molin, you are going to keep us hailing hearty while Dle and I start cutting through the purple slimes. Dle, we need to kill only the purple slimes, then the blue ones will heal us for helping them.” Velua said firmly, taking on her clear noble speaking voice as she looked at the two of them. There was no point in being casual now, not when men had died because she didn’t get serious enough with them. If she had been more clear with Dum or more focused on Twe, then they wouldn’t be in such a hopeless situation as they were now. She deeply doubted that they had even seen half of this floor yet. The dungeon acted too old for it to be an early floor, so they were going to press on until Velua was down to just herself. Then she would die too, and at least she would get to spend her afterlife in a dungeon.

She didn’t say that to the other two, of course. She preferred that they just accepted that they would delve and delve until they earned the hammer and made their way home. There was no way of leaving this dungeon alive, and even if they did; the swamps outside were far too dangerous for them to possibly make it out alive. She decided that there was no way to go but forward, just like when she was confident death would come for her in the dungeon back home. She drew her sword and marched, gritting her teeth as she felt her eyes burn with a pain that she could not control. So she would release it in the only that was healthy in the moment, and that was attacking enemies.

“Clear away you blue bastards!” She shouted as she rushed forward, a baleful red glow coming from her blade as she charged an attack that would release a small iota of her frustration. Much to her relief, the slimes parted, striking their weapons at the purple slimes to stagger them long enough for Velua to get her attack out.

“Hateful Slash!” She roared as she swung her blade at the slimes, not connecting steel to the membrane at all with the attack. Instead, a red wave of magic was sent out to the trio of exposed demonic slimes, cutting their cores apart and splashing them against the back wall. She was taking deep breaths as she looked at the other purple slimes that were still attacking the angelic ones.

She was about to start hacking at the purple goo before she noticed a flash of red behind the line. Dle was showing off the skills that he had trained with for years, having slipped behind the enemy line and begun to take out the demonic slimes one at a time. He was a skilled rogue, his ability far outpacing the warband that was being decimated. However, Velua was doing the one thing she had trained herself out of, getting distracted in a battle situation. She screamed as a lash of purple slime struck her face and sizzled it like acid. She swung hard, her weapon slicing through the slime with ease to crack its core.

The slimes were coming down far easier than she had expected, simple slashes and attacks seeming to fall them with ease. Now that she pondered it for a moment, the slimes on the staircase had been knocked down by single arrow attacks to the cores. As she considered the fact that these monsters were easier than they should have been, she felt the pain in her cheek fade away with the tune of a flute playing out behind them. She was thankful that her remaining team members were trying their hardest, even if her leadership had been far from the best.

She brought her sword up and released another hateful slash, bringing down three more demonic slimes forming from a crack in the floor. With that trio killed, it seemed that the demonic slimes were beginning to lose the battle against the angels. She took a deep breath as the blue slimes began to slash down and kill whatever slime was remaining, the party was able to take a breather as their new allies settled the remainder. A few of the angelic slimes began to block off the crack where the demonic slimes had been drooling out of, keeping a stern vigil while the remaining three gestured towards the next room.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The door was unguarded now, and it seemed like this was merely a small battle blockading the way to the next chamber. “Alright, we got more healers. Come on, we might get to survive this!” Velua lied, raising her sword with a cheer that hid her true pain. She believed in warmth until the biting cold of death came for them. She rushed forward and Dle was coming up behind her, Molin taking up the back as he made sure that the slimes behind them would not be going turncoat just because they were moving on from the room.

The next room they entered was what appeared to be the temple crypt. Two of the angelic slimes separated from the group and began to check over the bodies that were interred there. Their squishing hands pressed against the foreheads of the corpses and skeletons in some kind of ceremonial blessing. They were ensuring that there was no way the dead would rise and attack the party. As they carried out their task, the third slime stopped at the door and looked up at the plaque above.

“Looks like it’s another riddle,” Molin said with a sigh as he looked at the door, the room a rather grim sight after what they had just gone through. He went over to one of the bodies that were lying in the tombs, waiting for Velua to say the riddle out loud as she had done before.

“In twilight's embrace, where sorrows wane, I am the solace in eternal reign. After life's dance, in the final leap, I'm the tranquil slumber, the dreamless sleep. Beneath the stars, where dreams ascend, I am the promise that all will mend. In the heart's embrace, where fears release, I am the whisper of endless ease.” Velua said softly as she looked at the door, trying to keep her eyes off of the bodies that were lying within the crypt. She didn’t want to think about the bodies or the bodies that would not be brought back home with them. The brothers would never be placed in their family tomb. She didn’t even know about those who were lost in the swamp, unaware of their status or families.

Dle looked up at the riddle, sneering at it before he began to look through the pockets of the corpses, trying to see if there was anything worth being stuck in this room. He had barely said a word since Dum died, but the hate in his eyes was clear enough for no one to bother probing him. It was a good way to get that skilled dagger through the eye.

Molin took a deep breath as he watched a skeleton be allowed the ritual by the slime, the skeleton did not react to what was done to it. The pile of human-shaped bones was allowed to lay there without any kind of disturbance, completely peaceful. The spirit was long gone, fled from this world so that there might be peace to it as well.

He took in a deep breath, smelling the mold and mildew of the crypt before giving a nod. “Peace. The answer to the riddle is peace. Either the promise of it or hope for peace after death. Just like how the slimes here are making sure that the bodies are at peace and not rising from their slumber.” Molin said softly as he found an empty alcove where another body could be put to rest. He gently put his hand to the rough-hewn stone, running his hand along it as he considered something. He was an old dwarf, playing a young man’s game. If this dungeon was not the end of him, it was clear that he would need to finally accept what his daughter had been telling him. He needed to retire and allow the mountain to be the last place he roamed.

The plaque glowed gently, brightening the dim room lit by torches at both entrances. The door slowly began to slide open as the answer was spoken. The slimes finished their task and gathered around the group once again, knowing that they would be joining the dwarves in whatever the next room had in store for them. Velua looked at the slimes for a moment before shaking her head.

“Dungeon. Please if you would, allow the changes I make to this room to be permanent. Not so that our hubris or hope may defile you. But that those we have lost may feel they joined us this far in the next life.” Velua said softly as she got out her dagger and went to the empty alcove that Molin was looking at with both sadness and longing. She said nothing as she pressed the tip of the blade into the wall of the alcove, crawling inside slightly so that she could reach it easily.

“Elbur the Seer. Albin the Fisherdwarf. Maluth the Cook. Twe MeltBlaze. Dum Meltblaze. Those lost on the journey to the hammer.” She said as she carved the words into the stone, pulling back once she was done. They might never get proper graves under the mountain, but with red mana trailing over the names she knew they would at least have this alcove as a resting place. “Know peace, friends. We are still trying.” She said softly, looking at Molin who was smiling softly up at her. He bowed his head, praying to the Mountain before they turned back towards the door.

Dle was waiting with the slimes, not meeting their gazes as he continued to brood. But upon his cheeks were tear tracks, showing that he had at least acknowledged what Velua had done for them. He said nothing but did not have to as they marched to the next room of the dungeon. The mana got dense as they drew to the second to last room.