What was now clearly a paladin ripped through the fortress doors like twine rather than reinforced wood. Like a terrible war machine, she shot into the gatehouse, caving in one man's chest and nearly cutting the next one's head off with a backward strike of her blade. Around her was an almost tangible aura of fear and power, it barely affected me, but I could clearly see its effect on the men below.

Roaring in a challenge, the Nightingales stormed forward, spears, swords, and the odd mace moved as one against her, they failed of course, but it seemed the lady paladin's goal wasn't the men, only something inside the fort. I tried to keep up with her, but it was almost impossible given the difference between her and the rat I was seeing through, still, I could roughly tell the trajectory based on the mental map I had, and to put it simply, it was fucked.

Quickly I transferred to another rat closer to the lord's chamber where Helvina was pacing back and forth, muttering some magical curse or another.

Huff "Vermin? I'm fairly sure I have a spell for that somewhere... Wait, you're one of the dungeon's, what are you doing here?"

I had the large rat pull at her robes toward the door, it wasn't safe here now, and despite things being what they were I wouldn't risk the child of a friend and ally.

"Hey, hold on what exactly is your deal, we're safe-."

CRASH

Fuck, she got through the last doors.

"...Oh, very well then, I'll need a moment to gather some essentials."

Come the hell on lady, I'm only trying to save your damn life!

The faithful rat pulled harder, some of its smaller kin squeezed into the room and began helping it. They couldn't move her alone, but it conveyed the message. She gave a huff and started following the swarm out and through the winding passageways, each built to impede a person's sword arm. As we drew closer to the dungeon, the sound of breaking stones and creaking wood, and as Helvina was getting the heavy door leading to the lift I saw the lady paladin round the corner, eyes full of murder and blade wreathed in a sick green. She had the kind of face most would call beautiful, were it not for the brand across her face.

"Stay still bitch and submit!"

Outside of this already weird situation, that sounded weird, but I say no to all of that. As critters, the rats couldn't meaningfully hurt most things, but nothing said they couldn't be a distraction, and when she took a step forward, I swarmed her with all the vermin I could muster around her. They nibbled, scratched, and squeaked, climbing all over her body and face trying every and all tricks they knew to keep her away. She had trouble with numbers, or at the very least she had difficulty with such small ones, but even if each swing killed one or two rats more took its place.

After a panicked few seconds, Helvina got the door open by getting the guards to help. She swiftly ran onto the lift with the guards and entered my dungeon. Releasing control of the rats, I saw the paladin burst through the doors, throwing the few remaining rats far. With a snarl, she began to climb up the cliff face and all but ripped her way in. She curbed stomped the spiders and was looming over the retreating Helvina and guard in the clockworker room, she straightened herself out, still with murder in her eyes.

"If you would kindly surrender now, we have oh so much to talk about, lady-"

"Fuck you, [Penumbral water blade]!"

From Helvina's staff, a torrent of pitch-black water cut the enemy, breeching the paladin's armor and aura but doing nothing otherwise. Despite not injuring her you could see the rage building on her face, whether about being interrupted or her armor getting damaged I couldn't tell, could be either. Still, either way, she was massively pissed off. She lunged forward only to be met by the workers, giving the Nightingales a chance to run further in, making it to the fourth floor in record time with some speed spell and me showing them the way.

The paladin wasn't just sitting around though, no, she was raising absolute hell on the second floor after ripping apart the first. In her destruction of my work, I could see the line that separated a hack job like that first guy and this lady, the dude was wild and random, drunk on power that wasn't his given by a patron who couldn't care less about him, unlike this finely honed weapon of a servant. She melded savagery and skill, quick, deadly, and more than anything, under control. She would enter a room, rush the weakest link in the given situation, and slowly or quickly disassemble my monsters or traps. Already she was upping her pace seeing she was at the barracks.

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She stepped through the door after bashing the face of the last rancher in with the pommel of her sword. The rats had already assembled to meet her challenge.

I-I know they don't care about their survival, even relish the fact that they'll likely die for me at some point. But damn it, they were mine, my monsters, my people, mine!

The commander stood at the front, leveling her sword toward the intruder.

"You are as foolish as you are hideous invader, know this, we shall not fail, for our lord has never failed, AND WE ARE WITH OUR LORD, CAN YOU SAY THE SAME WENCH!"

They screamed as they ran forward, the paladin barreling into their ranks. They tore at her with blades, spears, and claws, ripping hair and bruising skin, she fought back by bisecting the one in front of her, backhanding another's head off, and caving in another's chest with a forward kick. It was unfair, cruel, and downright sadistic of her to kill my precious minions with such ease. I could feel my growing anger fighting with the empty hole that was likely my 'dungeon instinct', I was switching from wrath to apathy which was only escalating my rage.

She tore through more until she held the final by his throat, it was the cook, a goofy rat in a goofy chef's outfit.

He made a weak squeak, and looked at me, not just in my direction, but truly at me. He spoke, barely audible, and with great pain.

"How wonderous a life it has been."

She crushed him, her controlled facade showing the slightest of cracks.

Apathy gave way to rage, and from rage came hatred. It felt thick and caustic in my non-existent gut, an almost addicting sensation that made me want to rip her apart like she did my ratkin and a million other horrific things that sang sanguine satisfaction. My wrath only grew as she massacred her way across the third and fourth floors, she didn't kill everyone, Bellona and several others were alive from the third, and the mage rat was only the only one left of the fifth, still in an intense battle with the paladin who seemed to know exactly how to screw over magic users. Thankfully the others had escaped to the boss room, the bad news, they were in the boss room. The machine mother wouldn't hurt them but there was no stopping the environment.

She swung her sword towards his neck, her face showing more emotion each time she got deeper.

"[Sprint]!"

Thankfully the mage was a slippery one.

He maneuvered himself away from the strike, countering with a barrage of stone bricks blasting her holy aura like bullets from a gun. With a flick, he shouted two spells as the last few bricks flew.

"[Monolithic chains], [stone to steel]!"

A large pillar rose behind her, catching her legs and wrists which she immediately started tearing out, only to be slowed down by the stone manacles transforming into metal.

"[Headhunter earth shot]."

A serrated metal spear formed from the stonework; it started spinning before shooting toward her head.

This was it; she would die!

"[Reverse magic!]"

Instead of destroying her head, the projectile immediately shot back into the mage's head, killing him. I know I don't have a body, but I could feel something in my chest burn.

Looking at her, she was clearly winded by that final fight, the small injuries she had accumulated were taking their toll on her stamina. Thankfully she had more than a few cuts and bruises, the best example was the gash along her side, made by the lord-commander before being impaled. I still had more rats in the fourth-floor dungeon and only a few kobolds were able to get to the battle on time so they were still available, but no, I would do something very different.

As the lady paladin collected herself, possibly letting her bullshit god magic heal her, I opened the door, beckoning her to continue forward, perhaps even finish this whole thing. I had one of the dryads meet her at the stairs, arms raised to show she didn't want to fight.

"The maker has expressed his displeasure with your actions but is willing to show you the way if you leave peacefully."

The paladin looked suspicious, but after looking at some bone on a chain she nodded, following my dryad from behind. I could tell she was interested in the surroundings, if only in a materialistic way, but that wouldn't matter, soon she would leave.

"Your maker will be rewarded for its submission; it will not die today or any day, once we have him, acquainted, with our relics."

"So, you say."

My dryad was unbelievably angry, I could feel it from our connection but also see it in the machine plants leaning away from the steaming spirit. Reaching the stairs to the boss' room, she motioned for the paladin to go in.

"You shall find what you seek down there, and through those doors."

"I am curious at what point your maker learned their lesson, hmm, no matter, I'll take the lady Nightingale and return for your maker, beast."

She began to walk down the steps, the door wide open.

"Hmph, I do not see her creature, I know you speak the truth, so I order you to reveal them."

Didn't know she could tell detect truths, thankfully it was an unintentional technical truth.

Spring the trap Dryliet.

My dryad's beautiful face split into a nightmare of gears and mechanical teeth, sending out a flood of boiling oil and sharp gears. Her sisters revealed themselves by forming a massive thick wave of mech vines that threw her clean into the next room. From there the vines formed a wall that combined with the room door, made it extremely difficult and even dangerous to break through.

"Damned cowards, I'll make you the lord's playthings for this!"

"Aren't you just a big ball of issues and shittery?"

Further in the room was her, the [Machine Mother], and she was as pissed as I was.

"I do not have time for games creature, give me what I want or else!"

"First, you will shut up."

The random fires providing light were snuffed out, being replaced by the light from the toxic-spewing smokestacks surrounding the room.

"Second, you will repent."

Blobs of grease and oil seeped from the ground, forming pointed spears with jagged metal. Man-shaped constructs split from the trees, and finally a big serpent uncoiled from the top of the tree where it met the ceiling.

"Third, you will die."

Boss time asshole.