“Another burial site in the valley?” Aeonia asks, looking down on the group from her seat. “Yes, I knew about it, however I didn’t know its exact location. Things have changed ever since I was locked in here. More than you can possibly imagine. And I elected against giving you intel the validity of which I was unsure of.”
That, to Izuku at least, sounded as if she knew that being an undead doesn’t make people automatically assume good intentions from you and she didn’t want them to think badly of her before getting her dream job in the Dungeon.
Fair.
“And the… entity that we’ve spotted?” Uraraka asks. She is definitely the speaker for their group by now, with only Yaoyorozu occasionally joining talks if she has something important to add. “That woman with a dog?”
On a sidenote, the less is said about Kaminari’s reaction to seeing Aeonia in her full glory, the better. Man wasn’t quite drooling, but he was clearly getting dangerously close to it.
However, Aeonia has ignored it, and so have they. At least Yaoyorozu had enough foresight to outright tell Kaminari not to open his mouth during the talk and to not try to hit on Aeonia.
“A lampada.” Aeonia replies while resting her head on her hand, leaning slightly to the side. “Daemon spirit serving Mors, the Exarch of Passage. The High God of death, funerals and mourning. They take care of the graveyards, although usually only the ones that the mortals have forgotten about. However they are present in all of them that weren’t claimed by the Breathless Tide, just not showing themselves up to anyone if they don’t have to.”
“Lampada?” Yaoyorozu decides to add something as she is looking curiously at Aeonia. “I remember that name being used to refer to torchbearer nymphs from the retinue of Hecate, the Greek goddess of crossroads and a number of other things, like ghosts and necromancy. Who was also associated with dogs.”
Yeah, if there was someone among their group to know such an otherwise unimportant piece of trivia from their world, it was definitely Momo Yaoyorozu.
“Oh?” Her knowledge is enough to make Aeonia look actually interested in her words. “The name Hecate is unknown to me, but the rest of the description does strike oddly close. If you exclude necromancy and ghosts, as those are in the domain of Nex.”
“Not… necessarily .” Yaoyorozu replies. “The ‘necromancy’ in this case refers to various forms of divination that involve asking questions to the dead and receiving answers from them. Nothing more than that.”
“Then that does sound closer to the domain of Mors.” Aeonia admits. “It’s possible then that she and that Hecate of yours are the same entity, the latter being an imperfect reflection of the former that has reached your distant world. Nevertheless, it seems that the inhabitants of the other burial site have never seen the same light as I did and didn’t commit to the cause of the Breathless Tide. How… regretful.”
Yeah. She didn’t even have to mention it, and they still realized immediately that she’d gladly go there to… convince those spirits to change their allegiance to Nex and Calamitas.
Or, if they prove especially resistant to conversion, convincing their corpses was probably on the table as well.
“You… you were a lampada at some point in the past, weren’t you?” Uraraka asks, connecting the dots before Izuku or anyone else could. Though in his defense, he would have that thought a second or two later. They were quite similar, if you exclude the clothes (the one of the lampada were much more… reserved ) and the red eyes. Thus making Aeonia look like an evil lampada.
“Not quite.” Aeonia squints her eyes at Uraraka. It seems that the dots weren’t connected correctly after all. “The old elven religion predates that of the Grand Empire, or at least the presence of the latter in this world. It believed, and in some parts of the world, still believes, that the gods and other spirits require certain rituals and the attention of the mortals to exist. But when I was forgotten, I refused to fade away and accepted a new patron instead. I’ve become one of the pale ones of Nex, who like other daemons of Creation do not require such sustenance. The spirits protecting the other tomb have clearly picked Mors instead, becoming the lampades.”
They still didn’t know so many things about this world. It was… confusing more than anything else. Gods and daemons could change their allegiance and very nature? Switch from one cosmology to another, just like the mortals could change their religious beliefs?
On second thought, when you considered the fact that daemons were pretty much mortals but from ‘higher’ universes, it suddenly made a bit more sense. It’s just that when they changed their ‘religious beliefs’ they’ve also changed the very core of their being. Same probably with profession.
It also opened up another question that they didn’t exactly want answered right now. Namely, what happened to the other spirits present in this burial site alongside Aeonia. Were there any to begin with?
Did they choose Mors and were slaughtered? No, who would then lock Aeonia inside? Maybe they simply faded away, not accepting any of the High Gods as their new patron god.
“Let me give you a word of advice.” Aeonia then informs them before they can even try to properly digest the earlier revelations. “Do not try to fight them. That burial site is bigger than my own, even if the… quality of those entombed within is much lower. The amount of lampades protecting and maintaining it will be significant. I don’t think that there’s less than a dozen of them there. And their dogs are as much if not more of a problem than they are.”
“What are they?” Uraraka asks. What she doesn’t mention is that they don’t really plan to throw their hands with the people who were just minding their own business and protecting a funeral site from graverobbers.
But additional intel could be useful.
“They are called gravehounds.” Aeonia replies. “Mors has issues with those trying to cheat or disrespect death in various ways. Each of the types of dogs that are accompanying her servants were bred to deal with one particular type of those acts, in a way that is as swift as it is brutal. The gravehounds are the weakest but most numerous among the hounds of Mors, created to deal with the grave robbers.”
Well
I guess that the life expectancy of graverobbers in this world is pretty short
Yeah, I didn’t even see the dog and from how Spinner described them, I still don’t want to be anywhere close to it.
You what ?
You absolute HERETIC
DOGS ARE JUSTICE
Alright, alright, whatever.
“And if it wasn’t bad enough, the light of lampada’s lanterns and torches can instill fear in hearts of the mortals and spirits alike, and even temporarily break their mind, making them an easy target for the gravehounds to tear apart.” Aeonia decides to add further evidence for the theory about the life expectancy of graverobbers in this universe. “In short, they’re not easy to deal with.”
That sounded like a major understatement for Izuku.
“Will they immediately attack if we show around?” Uraraka then asks a very important question. “We could be the relatives of the people interned there, seeking to visit the graves of our ancestors after finding out about where this place is.”
“They will definitely ask about that, and only attack if you answer no and then still try to enter.” Aeonia admits, immediately proving to them that the servants of the exarchs were much more reasonable than those of the hierarchs. “Unless there is a necromancer accompanying you. If the one among your companions with a good taste is there, they’ll find out quickly. The light of a lampada’s lantern will always reveal a necromancer. And then they’ll kill you all.”
Yanagi doesn’t comment on the compliment, but it’s nice to know that Aeonia can appreciate one of them. Even if it’s only for being a necromancer.
“Any other questions that you have for me?” The pale one then says. When Uraraka gives her a mildly surprised look, she decides to elaborate. “I find getting you up to date on certain things surprisingly… enjoyable. Although I still consider this to be an investment into my own future.”
If she’s going to go full tsundere on us I’m going to fucking s c r e a m
Please, do it while outside.
In Spinner’s quarters, maybe?
He’s definitely the best at tolerating you.
Truly a saint in the making.
You’re not even trying anymore, aren’t you?
And they do what Aeonia wanted. Uraraka describes to her the elven mine that they found and their entire past history involving it, including the recent clash with the Gore Munchers and their slightly deviant friends.
Aeonia appears genuinely intrigued by it.
And eventually, Uraraka gets to the end of her tale.
“Cynocephali, Gore Munchers and the Rose Guard soldiers.” Aeonia comments a moment later, enlightening her as to the name of the one enemy that they failed to kill. “How… intriguing . It seems that the forces of the Rapturous Ecstasy seized that mine and are using it as a base of operations in that segment of the Labyrinth. Lovely. Just what I needed close to my tomb.”
It seems that she isn’t a big fan of the Rapturous Ecstasy. Then again, she didn’t seem to be a big fan of anything that wasn’t the Breathless Tide.
“What are they?” Uraraka asks, relaying Izuku’s question to Aeonia. Moments before Yaoyorozu could ask it.
“Spirits, of course.” Aeonia replies. “Cynocephali are shard spirits, sentient but barely. Their existence is that of endless hunger. In the realm that they come from, they’re dogs. Quite smart and capable of using simple tools and humanoid, but still dogs. Your theory about the miners resorting to cannibalism and being possessed by minor daemons is likely correct.”
“This can happen?” Uraraka asks. Despite having the time to get used to the theory, she’s still a bit surprised by it being correct.
“Sometimes.” Aeonia replies, tilting her head a little. “It depends on many factors. On the amount of ambient mana in your surroundings. On the time of the year. On simple luck, or lack of it. As for the other two, they’re daemons from Moraver, a nearby Spiritual World controlled by the Rapturous Ecstasy.”
“Sounds like a fun place to live in.” Monoma decides to dryly quip from the background. “Has to be hard to get bored there.”
“Yes.” Aeonia grees with him with a faint nod. “It’s an idyllic realm of tame climate and friendly nature, dotted with palaces more beautiful than anything that you can find in a Material World, built from the finest marble, decorated with numberless works of art, with silver, gold, ivory and jewels.” She sighs loudly before continuing. “Whose inhabitants endlessly indulge in their most depraved fantasies, where nothing is forbidden and everything is encouraged.”
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
The second half of that description has definitely ruined the first one.
True
“Such a realm, naturally, requires some armed forces to protect it from foreign incursions.” Aeonia continues. “Gore Munchers are pretty much a nickname for the militia composed of some of their more… food-obsessed civilians, while the Rose Guard are best described as a parade unit made entirely out of people who for some reason have a thing for military discipline. They look great, their equipment is beautiful, and they are one of the few more or less disciplined formations of the Rapturous Ecstasy, but their combat skills are abysmal and their equipment is made from soft and thus easy to form material. For better looks.”
“Wait, by ‘thing’ you mean…” Uraraka tries to ask, but gets the answer she seeks from the disgusted look on Aeonia’s face. Their entire military formation was a military formation because they had a fetish for it. “Eugh.”
“Eugh indeed.” Aeonia agrees with her. “The problem is that we’re having servants of Cibus, the Hierarch of Gluttony, and Procacitas, the Hierarch of Lust operating alongside each other. Those of Desidius, the Hierarch of Indulgence are likely not far behind. And if they’re all in one place, you’re dealing with a permanent holdout of Ecstasy’s forces.”
“Meaning that they’re a plenty of them down there.” Uraraka replies. “And now that we’ve engaged their regular forces in combat, they’ll look through the previously abandoned upper level and find the exit to the surface.”
“Yes.” Aeonia replies. “You shouldnt’ go back there any time soon, as they’ve likely set up a proper guard by the entrance.”
“Will they try to spread around?” Uraraka then asks. Izuku is ready to guess that she was weighing new opportunities for fighting strong opponents with the squick that would likely accompany said fight.
“Possibly.” Aeonia admits. “Good news is that they’ll come into contact with Rampant Bloom’s forces first, and they like them about as much as you do. Another good news is that unlike Bloom, they won’t try to kill you, although their presence in your vicinity and their eventual… control over you might lead to your Dungeon being made to develop in strange ways that you’ll likely not enjoy.”
Which was a very diplomatic way of saying ‘they’ll try to change you into their personal sex dungeon/drug den/cannibal buffet’.
That’s a big no for me.
You know what, yeah
I prefer this Dungeon in its current form
Not the one that Toga immediately imagined when she heard the term for the first time
Yes.
Besides, can you imagine bringing the adults into such a Dungeon?
How would we even explain that?
Ah, yes, let's forget that I'm an adult.
Anyway, I just imagined All Might appearing in this world just to see his successor indulging in some weird-ass drug-fueled orgy and you being all like ‘I CAN EXPLAIN!’, lmao
…
Eugh.
Good luck explaining your love triangle with Toga to him to begin with
…
I don’t want to think about this.
Got it, I’ll be reminding you of it as soon as possible then.
Sigh.
“You should consider informing the beastkin about that.” Aeonia continues. “Nine Hordes are Rapturous Ecstasy’s enemies, and the iron mine with an access to the Labyrinth will be a major incentive for them to gather up their forces and attempt to conquer that place. You won’t get to explore it anymore than you already did, but seeing that it’s not officially occupied by something, you won’t get to do that either. And if there’s a regular battle nearby, the amount of things that you can obtain by scavenging the battlefield will be significant .”
Oh, and that’s a great idea
Can you imagine how many unlocks we would get out of it? All the skills and abilities
And it’s entirely possible that they’ll feed all the slain daemons to us
I agree, although if the beastkin get defeated, we’ll end up in trouble.
Big trouble.
Fair.
But do we have a lot of choices in that field? If Ecstasy starts poking around the area, things are going to get… very much NSFW.
I’m trying not to think about it, but you’re not wrong about it, yeah.
Sigh.
“I… see.” Uraraka replies cautiously. “And if I can ask about it, are all of Procacitas’ servants female? It struck me as a bit odd that…”
Aeonia chuckles faintly. And with all the dignity of a former deity.
“No, child.” She interrupts her. “They wouldn’t limit themselves to just that. Her servants are rather diverse, you just only got to witness the Rose Guard. Which adheres to feminine aesthetic, finding it more graceful or beautiful or whatever, I really don’t want to know their exact reasoning. Even for the Rose Guard, though, you don’t know what you’ll find when you take off their undergarments until you actually do that. Not that you should ever try that.” She shakes her head. “Some of the ones you saw were probably very feminine males. Or carried the primary characteristics of both genders. Or none at all.”
… huh.
That’s one point in Ecstasy’s favor, I guess.
What?
The diversity!
It's a very good thing to be very, errr, diverse and accepting.
That’s what I meant!
I’m staring at you suspiciously right now.
“And before you ask, the higher ups of the Guard can actually speak, if only to issue orders.” Aeonia adds. “If you encounter a squad led by one of their officers, expect a much tougher fight. And it’s not like your current equipment is sufficient to defeat even the regular soldiers of the Rose Guard.”
“Thank you for reminding us.” Uraraka replies, sounding vaguely irritated. Yeah, she doesn’t like being reminded that they aren’t strong by local standards. And how a relatively thin-looking plate armor is enough to completely no-sell all their attacks. “Anything else that you think that we should know about them?
“They’re all daemons, either born in Moraver before it became a Spiritual World or after, or outsiders that arrived there as wayward souls after dying in their respective Material Worlds.” Aeonia replies. “From your lack of knowledge about Creation, I’ve figured out that you might be interested in knowing that.”
“You meant that they can be… dead people ?” Uraraka realizes what it was that Aeonia wanted to tell them. “From this world?”
“Yes.” Aeonia replies calmly. “Of course, most of them continue upward towards the Radiant Worlds, but the ones that stay behind are indistinguishable from regular daemons. Though it takes them centuries to get there, so whoever you encounter likely has no attachments left in this world. Making this rather inconsequential.”
The issue of confirmed afterlife being ‘inconsequential’ was something that they definitely had to spend a while digesting.
“There’s something else that I’d like to ask you about.” Uraraka decides to change the subject.
“Go on.” Aeonia replies.
They quickly describe their discovery of the Northern Wind facility. What they’ve managed to get out of this was a rare sight of actually confused Aeonia.
“I can’t help you with that, I’m afraid.” Aeonia shakes her head. “It’s definitely a local group, one composed of mortals rather than spirits. While the Spiritual Worlds and their inhabitants change slowly, at least from the perspective of a Material World, the same cannot be said about the latter. Whatever knowledge I had about it has gone entirely obsolete during my imprisonment here.”
Well, it seems that Aeonia’s knowledge has its limits. Unfortunate, but expectable. Especially for someone who was locked in here for so long.
“I see.” Uraraka nods. “Well, that would be all, aside from… we’re thinking about going after the Mourner.”
“You’ll succeed with your current party without a doubt.” Aeonia informs them. “Mourners can be quite dangerous but their greatest strength is ultimately their ability to make their enemies weaker and their allies stronger. But this one has only a very few of the latter.”
Good, that was an interesting and useful intel on the fight that would soon happen. But there was more to ask her.
“Is there anything else that our current party can fight here?” Uraraka asks.
“Yes.” Aeonia replies. “But in most cases, it’s going to be more of what you’ve already seen or will soon see. Deathblades, mourners, a lot of lesser undead, but usually just the skeletons… the family behind this burial site was a noble one, but far from a truly distinguished one. Aside from the one that brought their doom, they were just petty court sycophants that only got a bit more important soon before their passing.”
She was quite freely dissing the ones that once helped her exist in this realm with their rituals and memory. Then again, she was a daemon serving the lord of all undead now. Expecting kindness from her was a fool’s endeavor.
If anything, it was quite impressive that she stuck loyal to her own words, and did aid them whenever they asked her for it, even if it was mostly for her own long-term good. She was evil, yes, but not in Tomura’s old style of ‘you looked at me weird so I’ll kill you’.
“Aside from the revenant I’ve mentioned earlier and myself, the only true problem is the guards room, due to it being filled to the brim with deathblades and a few of their less common variants, the headhunters.” Aeonia continues. “Past that they are the mourners, a few skeleton mages and sorcerers, a few ravagers in one of the burial chambers and a bone golem in another, though those are beyond you right now.”
“Ravagers?” Uraraka, as expected, goes for the names that they haven't heard yet. “Headhunters? Bone golems?”
“Ravagers are creatures born from up to a dozen skeletal corpses banded together into form, a pale recreation of the bone titans sometimes fielded by the strongest of the armies of the Tide. “Aeonia replies. “They’re tall, bulky and surprisingly resilient for skeletons, often armed in heavy weaponry and sent ahead to shatter formations of the armies opposing Nex’s will.”
Sounds like something akin to Gore Munchers, just skeletal.
Good synergy with the Cynocephali - break someone’s formation and swarm them with fast attack-type creatures to break them one by one.
Sounds useful then.
“Headhunters are a lesser version of the dullahans, headless warriors who are death knights’ counterparts who trade resilience for speed and some magical attacks.” Aeonia continues. It’s how elves often fought in the past, so it’s pretty common to see them at elven graveyards. Nowadays they grow much rarer. And bone golems aren’t actually creatures of the Tide per se, just a pile of bones reanimated by an elemental. Tough. Slow but extremely tough.”
“I think that we’ll take that mourner first, then.” Uraraka decides. “Once we take her down, we’ll see what state we’ll be in and if we can take down something else.”
“Logical decision.” Aeonia agrees with her. “Your necromancer won’t be of much use in that fight, as their magic can’t influence the undead, at least not in a negative way. If it wouldn’t be much of a problem, is it possible for her to stay with me while you face the mourner?”
“Huh?” Yanagi replies for herself. “Why?”
“As you’re from another world, apparently, I doubt that you know a lot about what being a necromancer truly is about.” Aeonia replies. “There’s more to it than just casting spells. And I wish to offer you some guidance.”
“Oh.” Yanagi tilts her head a little. “Alright. That sounds great.”
There is truly no debating that.
“Let’s go then!” Uraraka decides. “Are you going to lead us there again?”
“Yes, I will.” Aeonia says as stands up from her throne. “Follow me.”
They barely have the time to move out of the sanctuary when things get… troublesome. Very, very troublesome.
Someone enters the Dungeon. Someone that definitely wasn’t invited to it, and that they’ve never seen before. Someone who looked like they meant trouble.
It was a knight in full plate armor, one missing only their helmet for some reason, decorated with some… odd and grim motifs and symbols, merely looking at which made them feel uncomfortable.
The head that they could see in absence of the helmet was that of a female cat-morph, with her face covered in some oddly shaped tattoos/facial paint, some sort of black decorations in her hair and with piercing blue eyes that looked human rather than feline.
They were armed with a kite shield and a longsword, the former not decorated with any symbol whatsoever, only more of those strange decorations by the edges of it.
Dungeon failed to gauge her intent for some reason, but it was made obvious by the fact that the moment she saw the shrines, she began to destroy them with an expression of rage (and not a single word coming out of her mouth) on her face. \
Ochako, we have a bit of a problem and I think that I need you to relay a question to Aeonia before fighting the mourner.
***
The new guest. I wonder what she's up to :v
image [https://images.squidge.org/images/2024/07/30/image.png]