The party of five jumped down the tunnel. Loki’s screams were swept by the wind. She may have been a goddess for countless years, but she had no experience in freefalling. The loud and intense wind made her heart race. Adrenaline pumped through her as she fell deeper and deeper into the endless abyss.
Asahi pulled Loki closer with his telekinesis and enveloped her in a wind barrier to reduce the impact on her body. The goddess grabbed his shirt before dragging herself and wrapping her arms around his neck.
“I’ma stay like this.”
Meanwhile, Aimi and Rini maintained their calm as much as Asahi did. Rini suddenly had an idea. Reaching into her maid dress, she pulled out two kitchen knives.
“Glow!”
The knives burst into a neon blue light, becoming the only source of light in the abyss. She waved the knives, giggling loudly.
“That’s hilarious.” Ruby joined in on the laughs as she spread her wings and boomed past everyone. “See ya later!”
After what felt like minutes, Asahi saw light at the end of the tunnel. It still took a few more minutes to reach the light.
Ruby slowed down with her wings and landed gently. If she had maintained her speed, the surrounding landscape would’ve drastically changed. Feeling water on her face, she looked up and gawked.
“Wow…”
Asahi and others arrived soon after. He expected the last level of the dungeon to be pitch black and cold like some basement. On the contrary, a gloomy evening sky over them thundered and constantly rained drizzles. They stood on the shore of an island, surrounded by an endless ocean. The only way forward led through valleys strewn about with magma and trees. Even within the reach of magma, green life flourished like it was a normal forest.
A magical force powered them; the force was divine in nature and could also be felt throughout the archipelago.
“I knew the dungeon had Arcanum in its hands,” Loki, still clinging to his back, whispered and pointed in the distance. “There is our destination.”
The temple in the faraway land towered over everything the archipelago had to offer. Like the surrounding trees, the temple’s environment defied natural laws as vines and colorful flowers covered most of its structures. A surreal forest existed around the temple amidst the flowing magma.
(We are surrounded by Arcanum of various gods devoured by Dungeon-chan.)
Arcanum twisted the environment with its potent power, creating a magical scenery that couldn’t exist on the surface.
‘God of fire, god of water… The forest is even near the temple. Hmm, Dungeon-chan must be a god of nature.’
Asahi focused on finding enemies on the floor. Arcanum blocked off his perception from prying. Being a god of life in training, he could feel powerful life signatures everywhere. Most of them carried hints of Arcanum just like the Demi Spirit tentacles he encountered before. Any of them could tear a Level 7 like Ottar into pieces with ease.
However, the most potent life force was within the temple. It was on par with Ruby, whose life force was compressed to the brim in her small vessel. The Master of Dungeon was physically more resilient than Ruby, a Dragon God.
Ruby rubbed her hands together with a grin. “I feel so much chaos here.”
“We are near the Demon Lord’s Castle. Though, we skipped a lot of steps on our journey…”
“Haha.” Loki got off his back and saw her world tilt left and right. The ocean waves washed over their cliff, making the rocks slippery. Her sense of balance was skewered enough already, and the slippery ground made it impossible to stand still.
“Woah woah woah.” She spread her hands and tried to steady her tilting world. “I’m fallin’–”
Asahi chuckled and pulled the goddess into his arms. “Just stay still.”
His act of kindness earned him a grateful hug from Loki and an intense glare from Ruby. She wasn’t fond of seeing Asahi tend to others, especially Loki.
“She is more delicate than Venelana.”
“Jealous much?”
Loki being Loki saw this as an opportunity to have fun by pouring oil into Ruby’s flames of jealousy. The result was an outburst of aura that could’ve killed Loki if Asahi wasn’t there.
A true dragon’s jealousy wasn’t to be underestimated.
Asahi sighed. “Ruby, don’t act like that. I’ll give you plenty of love later. If you keep this up, I’ll be forced to punish you.”
Ruby stuck her butt out before him and raised her dress. “Dish out your punishments on my resilient ass. That’s how you do it with Ddraig if I recall correctly.”
“I suppose.” Asahi held his chin and admired her backside like an artisan admiring its finest craft to date. Ruby’s butt wasn’t enormous like Ddraig but it was full enough to sink both of his hands. A red string concealed her privates from prying eyes, creating a tantalizing contrast with her white flesh. Though he doubted if she even cared about clothes and hiding her body like humans.
‘She has almost the same size as Freya.’
Asahi reached out and groped a feel. Her proportions reminded him of Freya; they both had curves that lured your gaze until you could no longer look away.
The groping incited a yelp from Ruby. Her reaction showed that she wasn’t prepared to actually be touched.
Loki mischievously reached for the red string protecting part of Ruby’s dignity. She perhaps wanted to embarrass Ruby or just needed to sate her own curiosity regarding Ruby’s sacred place.
Asahi grabbed her horny hand and shook his head at her. “We have company.”
Rini stored her kitchen knives and slipped on her black gauntlets of destruction. Aimi gripped her daggers, looking nonchalant as she waited for monsters.
Green vines wriggled out of the cracks within the hills, becoming thicker and more robust. Magma didn’t work on the vines, showing its extreme resistance to fire — a result of adaptation throughout centuries.
The hills suddenly exploded, and debris flew towards Asahi. Ruby covered her back with her dress and swung her claw. The debris crumbled into dust.
Asahi left Loki in Ruby’s arms and jumped at the frontline. With a wave of his hand, he cut the incoming tentacle. The vines retreated before congealing in one spot, wriggling and twisting into an amalgamation.
“Girls, shield your butts. Tentacle monster is coming to defile you all!”
Ruby chuckled. “As if cheap tentacles can reach me before burning to cinders. Oi, idiot, don’t touch my waist!”
“I feel so confident in yer protection,” said the Trickster casually touching Ruby’s waist as if she was a tailor taking measurements of her client. “Such exquisite skin. Huhuhu, Ais will grow up like ya.”
While the mortal goddess teased the dragon goddess, the vine monster showed its true form. A giant monster with claws, one pair of wings, a tail, and the face of a big lizard.
Ruby’s eyes stretched wide. “A dragon?!”
Here tiamat of that world incoming