An enormous chicken with several glowing red spheres floating in the air around it, shouted a challenge at Mariam as she led her companions along with 4 Soldiers into the first "chamber" of the Dungeon. It looked more akin to the opening square of some strange village or farming hamlet. Stacks of hay lay in piles near various exit points and Mariam could hear tapping feet and barley disguised clucking coming all around her.
The very large and very loud chicken kept posturing and shrieking at the group, but that was not what occupied Mariam at that moment. No, she cared only about identifying what would certainly be the reason so many Units had died in here already. In her old life trying to see where the first trap was, would have been pointless. She was not a trained Rogue or a Trapmaster, but her body was simply superior to what it had been.
After the group stepped cautiously out, she heard the click as one of the Soldiers stepped on a flat stone partially buried into the ground. Her arm shot up and her Fragment shouted a warning. Thankfully, the Soldier managed to parse the message and stopped before it could move again. It glanced about nervously and it rubbed its antennae with the sharp forelegs that it had ready to battle any incoming threat. Mariam had sensed it the moment the group stepped into the Dungeon, the Subjects staggered as they felt their connection to the Swarm was muted and grew distanced. They could still sense it, but it would be like shouting to someone from across a valley. Technically it was possible, but not much in the terms of communication could be done.
The Soldiers, on the other hand, hated the experience of having the Swarm grow silent. Even with the communication that their Fragments had with those who were inside of the Dungeon, they couldn't help but to fret and vibrate with the worry and loneliness coursing through their simple minds. Units, unlike Subjects, did not have a life of their own. All they were in this world was a simple extension of the Sovereign Swarm. Without it? Well, without it they were nothing more than animated piles of metal, chitin, and flesh.
Zilla had been the one to establish some semblance of order over the confused and terrified Soldiers, her own Fragment whispered to theirs and she somehow managed to make them bow to her will. It had taken a few minutes, but the results were worth it to get more combatants with them into the dungeon.
"Check out the haybales behind us, Child."
Mariam did not turn to look away as she knelt down to examine the stone that the Soldier stood on. The mute child moved like a ghost through the ranks and to the haybales standing innocently near the entryway to the chamber. Soon after it disappeared then sounds of wood being broken and empty clicks followed. The small child peeked out and lifted up what looked to be some strange crossbow-contraption and Mariam frowned.
"So we have the big distraction over there, the Soldiers in their panic rushed in to fight it and promptly got blasted in the back by several crossbows. Which in turn left the group vulnerable to being swarmed, and that just had to be repeated throughout the Dungeon enough times until the entire force had been wiped out."
Just as she finished her conclusion then the mysteriously moving regular-sized chickens made themselves known by rushing at the group from all directions. The large distraction chicken flapped once and the red spheres floating around it were sent out towards the group. Bor and Lysander held their weapons without much enthusiasm as they stood back to back, Zilla ordered the Soldiers to face out and form a small circle of chitin for the squishier Subjects to stand behind. And the Child rushed back to join in with the group.
Mariam ignored all that as she rushed into the largest concentration of swarming chickens who in turn attempted to tear into her with beak and talon. Ironically, swarms were probably the foes that Mariam was the least suited to combat. Her strength, endurance, and fighting style were good for battling individuals in close-quarters brawls. Being swarmed by dozens of angry chickens with beaks that tore through armor like paper, were not nearly as ideal for Mariam. She trusted in the body that her Sovereign had given, and in the simple fact that chickens were ultimately chickens.
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Even if they tore into her flesh with each passing breath, they were not sturdy enough to withstand the vicious assault that Mariam brought to the fight. She wringed necks, stomped down to shatter spines, and bit off the heads of the chickens piling on and around her. Blood spurting out and the angry caws and clucks filled her ears as she moved faster and faster while trying to keep the enemies off her.
Once the Sovereign Swarm had enhanced a mediocre Adventurer to the point that he had been able to beat one of the most gifted duelists that she had ever seen. And that was before the Swarm had grown stronger after having infused itself with godhood. She was faster, stronger, and even better equipped than Henry had been and Mariam felt the power of her new form fully unleashed in that moment. Her hands smashed through the bodies of the Dungeon creatures as she sped up. When the mass became too much, she just used her weight to crush several of the animals trying to slice through her.
A fiery explosion sent her sprawling to the ground, and the eyes in the back of her head blinked before they could process what happened above. The red spheres were now over the battleground and rocks flew up to strike at them, which in turn caused the red balls to explode and burning debries floated down onto the ground.
She ignored the ringing in her head and the chaotic deluge of thoughts going through her brain, and focused instead on getting up and taking stock of the situation. It took effort and it was hard to ignore the myriad of burns and wounds all over her body, and yet, she still ended up distracted as she saw the enormous distraction chicken getting closer.
It was the size of a rather rotund brown bear and with a beak far more vicious than one would expect even from a bird that sized. Each step practically sent it floating through the air for a short time, so it moved more with hops than steps to be exact. Mariam was too busy marveling at how it moved to notice that she had exploded forwards in an inhuman sprint, until she tackled the monster in the side and they both went flying through the air.
Despite being so large it was strangely light and Mariam could actually lift the entire struggling and cawing chicken over her head with both arms. Her subsequent attempt to then smash the chicken into the Dungeon floor was sadly less successful, but she just used the time to pin it in place and then began tearing through it. After having torn through the neck of the beast, Mariam finally began to calm down and look back at the group.
They looked less torn up than her, but that was not saying much. Her body had been transformed into a horrific visage of blood, caked in dirt, and glistening burns. Bor was busily attempting to pull one of his quills out of the neck of a chicken, the Child had an ugly bruise and dragged their left leg behind them. Lysander was bloodied, but seemed more occupied with trying to sketch down the carnage rather than reflect on his injuries. One of the Soldiers had perished in the battle and the Dungeon was already absorbing it into the soil. Zilla was somehow still pristine and she was kneeling down and observing the process through which the Dungeon absorbed the dead.
"Well, at least none of us Subjects died in a Dungeon who seems to focus on unleashing...chickens on us."
Mariam tried to inject some humor into her voice, but one look at her companions made it clear that the attempt at humor was not appreciated. To put it mildly.
"Let us go back, I think this is going to be a longer campaign and we need time for our bodies to regenerate."
Lysander spoke up while he furiously sketched down onto a little notebook and the Child glanced over to indicate that it agreed. The former Adventurer threw her hands up in frustration at the rookies, but ultimately she led the group out after having only entering the first true chamber. After she had left the first rounds of Soldiers walked into the Dungeon to continue chipping away at it. More Units were coming to reinforce the impromptu Dungeon party. A small Collective was forming where the few hundred Units and the small team of Subjects mingled their Fragments. Who knew what kind of mind would rise from that? Mariam and her friends certainly didn't, they were too busy recovering to focus on the strange impulses coming from the Fragments of the surviving Units that came out of the Dungeon.