’Huh...’
Vale stared in horror as Xina’s body was staked to the ground.
A mont later, Xina’s ripped sash retreated from her and wrapped itself around Vale’s, and started dragging him back.
Then a ssage was relayed to him.
[A challenger has entered the dungeon]
Followed by four others.
[A challenger has entered the dungeon]
[A challenger has entered the dungeon]
[A challenger has entered the dungeon]
[A challenger has entered the dungeon]
Vale, while being dragged, looked down the hallway to see the struggling Xina force herself to her feet, still impaled through her side, and cast her hand toward the unseen invaders. A mont later, a red crystal rose exploded into existence and consud Xina.
The sa crystallized form she’d appeared from in the Dungeon Core the first day they’d t.
From Vale’s position, he could see the nearly lifeless crystal owl in a stasis of her own making — trapped half-dead in her Crystal Prison. Then, he saw humans...
Five humans decked out in armor and ard began inspecting the crystal rose with curiosity. Then they started talking, their words carried by the echoey chambers.
A man with full knight armor and a hefty tower shield held his hand on the Crystal Prison.
"Happened just like she said it would..."
A buff archer with a pixie cut, who appeared to be a woman, looked to the man next to her.
"And now you’re spearless... Trust her now, Jaune?"
The man sighed as he took a dagger out of his boot.
"Yeah, yeah. Rub it in. I can just dig it out later..."
The knight drew his hand away from the crystal rose Xina had trapped herself in, then looked back toward the four others.
"We’re in a dungeon... Jaune, ryil, stay focused."
"I sense hostility..."
Then, a small woman in leather armor suddenly tensed up and looked down the hallway at Vale.
"We’re being watched."
Vale quickly hid his glowing eyes behind his hands, but it was too late. The group had left Xina behind and, after activating so glowing orb, began charging at Vale, who started sprinting away.
’Shit! Shit! Shit!’
’What the hell is happening?!’
’Where did these fuckers co from!’
Vale had been given no ti to process anything...
He’d just been warming up to Xina and her to him, and she’d just gotten gutted by a spear right in front of her eyes.
Not to ntion his dungeon had not only been found, but people had shown up to kill him. Vale had no idea when he’d been discovered or how, but now that he had, his options were limited...
Vale’s mind raced as his feet carried him down the hallway with proportional intensity.
If this group had brought only five with foreknowledge that this was a Dungeon of Vice... Vale’s hope ran low.
If this group just happened to stumble upon Vale’s dungeon and were confident enough to explore, his hopes were low but not all gone.
However, from what he overheard, these people had appeared here with a purpose. The knight had alluded to foreknowledge of what was going to happen.
As to how that premonition was garnered?
Vale hadn’t a clue. It could be Sloth’s doing, another oracle, or so individual’s hypothetical playing out as they guessed.
The question was... who was ’she’?
’Did I really piss Sloth off that bad by addressing her?!’
And how did Mias not notice they’d been discovered?
As much as Vale wanted soone, sothing, to bla, he didn’t think Mias to be the culprit, as his Loyalty number hadn’t fallen. Well, neither had it risen. Remaining 50/100.
Either way, the truth behind what was happening was secondary to surviving it.
As Vale rounded the corner, he spotted Salo, Awilix, Mias, and Toy all waiting for him, having heard the commotion. Their eyes lit up upon spotting Xina’s sash wrapped around his arm.
Salo asked:
"What’s going on?"
Vale let out a heavy breath, then said a simple ssage that conveyed a lot.
"Invaders. Strong."
Salo’s eyes narrowed as she asked:
"Xina?"
Vale finished catching his breath as the steps grew closer.
"Incapacitated."
Salo had an odd look on her face. It seed her concern outweighed her hate, at least montarily. Not that her concern was for Xina, but if a threat possessed the ans to deal with Xina, then it was one that possibly possessed the ans to deal with Salo.
The succubus turned her head to Mias:
"Reaper, fight with . I’ll regale you with the tale about what happened to Carver’s father."
Mias smiled.
"Enticing... Deal. Though I was already intent on fighting. However, don’t go back on your word."
Vale swiftly summoned the status page and dumped the 246 Aether he’d held from beasts, plus the Levels, into Mias. He was once again flat broke — a necessary sacrifice.
Mias smiled as he looked at his arms. His onyx eyes seed to grow even darker, and his presence seed to fade. With a delighted smirk, Mias looked toward the end of the hallway, which was now being touched by the invaders’ light.
Salo turned to Vale.
"Your orders?"
Vale had rely a mont to decide before the invaders rounded the corner.
"Engage our opponents within the maze. Salo, Awilix, Toy, draw their attention, and Mias sneak up and take out the worst threats to your discretion..."
As much as Vale didn’t want to be a coward...
"I’ll stand guard at the end of the maze with the warriors and workers."
He had to position himself at the back for the simple reason that if he died, they all died.
Vale ground his teeth and disappeared down the winding labyrinth as the invaders rounded the corner and entered the Legion’s view.
***
In Vale’s haste, he’d forgotten to relay the most critical detail... Their apparent foreknowledge of what would happen. And the hidden agenda they may have possessed
***
Salo and the others quickly fled into the maze with Mias heading down a fake path and activating Nevermore, lying in wait to ambush the invaders from behind.
At the most narrow pass, Awilix stood with Toy a little behind her and Salo a little ahead of her. Then she revealed several Dawn’s Eyes, activated them, and tossed them around the area, illuminating the passage.
Awilix wasn’t fully healed from her injuries, and her left ankle was still splinted, so it would be best if she didn’t see too much fighting, especially after facing two Levels in a row and was already drained. At the very least, her Eclipse could ward off the invaders from advancing without a cost.
Salo took a deep breath as the footsteps grew nearer and eventually... the sources made themselves present to her.
Salo jumped in the air, then held herself aloft with her quills as she looked down on the invaders. In Laertes’ language, she said:
"Why are you here?"
A man in a robe, a mage, wielding a large walking stick with an orb attached to the end, spoke up as he stared at Salo’s feet, keeping the rest of her form in his peripheral vision:
"Careful, this beast uses mind attacks. Don’t let it get in your head and try to avoid eye contact."
Salo sneered, then unleashed her quills and sent a barrage toward the mage.
However, the knight with the tower shield slid in front, and the mont he planted his shield, all of Salo’s quills resisted her control and drifted straight into the tal wall.
Salo struggled to pull the quills back as they stayed lodged against the side of the shield, but eventually she pried them off. However, to do so, she had to descend to the ground and approach the five.
Then, the small woman in leather armor suddenly tensed as the demoness approached, and she scread.
"Jaune! It’s here!"
One blink later, the rugged-looking man wielding but a dagger spun around and attacked the air...
From the spot Jaune attacked, a plu of smoke warped into existence, being held back by his dirk.
The man sighed as he struggled to press his dagger into the cloud of smoke.
"Ah, co on."
Salo couldn’t help but notice that the man’s attack was facing... ’Resistance?’
That man, Jaune, could attack Mias.
Though Salo was given no ti to dwell on it as the archer and mage, hidden behind the knight, prepared an attack, while the last mber, the one with leather armor, had cloaked her presence.
Salo couldn’t see precisely where the scout had gone, but when Awilix suddenly deployed the Eclipse, Salo figured it out.
Deciding to trust Toy, Awilix, Vale, and the rest to deal with the one scout, Salo sharpened her claws and grit her teeth as she stared down the knight, mage, and archer.
From what she could sense, these humans were not incredibly strong by any ans, but they were definitely stronger than any threat the dungeon had faced before. Going off Aether particles alone, these humans all appeared to be Ergent and their Aspects of a descent rank.
The one with the most dangerous aura was the one nad Jaune, who was currently locked in a duel with Mias.
Honestly speaking... the group of five humans, together at least, possessed greater power than Salo and Mias.
The mage launched a beam of light, and the archer successively released three arrows, forcing Salo to spin to dodge the attacks narrowly, but one of the arrows clipped her heel.
But while the five may be more powerful than Salo and Mias...
Salo and Mias were two beings whose strength went beyond re quantifiable Aether. Their will and wit had been forged in the depths of a broken world where only the strongest among the strongest survived.
Salo smiled wildly as she reeled her wings back and prepared to launch herself at the enemy.
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