"I immediately gave her a hug and said, 'I was so worried. We lost connection, and I didn't know right away. It was horrible worrying about what might have happened to you.'"

Realizing Trix probably wants to be a part of this, I bring her out.

I immediately give her a hug. "I was so worried," I gushed. "We lost connection, and I didn't even know right away. It was horrible worrying about what might have happened to you."

"Calm down, Ria. I'm fine," Trixy soothed. "They had some kind of compulsion magic, but Carac and I resisted. We tried fighting, but the giant demon was too much for Carac, and the Succubus did something that disabled your magic items. I couldn't hide or anything. I was captured, and Carac put up a great fight. I will remember his bravery."

"I'm glad you came when you did, though. I did not like being jammed in his dick and squeezed so tightly by those gross demons. I prefer you in all ways. What happened, anyway?" Trix questioned with a quirk of her head.

"Well, I decided to give them most of what they wanted. The demon wanted you to shoot into my stomach while he choked me with his junk, and the Succubus wanted to escape by stealing my magic and breaking free." I explained.

"Soooo, I had him shoot you where you've been before, then used a new formation to shrink the Succubus for a while since she was distracted. I glamoured her to look like you, me to look like her, and a me that looked like it vomited and either passed out or died. Then, I stuffed the Succubus in the fiend's dick, trapped her with a new ring that is malleable until the command word is spoken, then holds its shape to trap the Succubus deep in his dick."

"Finally, I used the binding sheet to hold the demon still while I milked him for all he was worth. He couldn't cum, but he began to cry after a while. I finally let him, in all his agony, shoot the Succubus into me, and I hold her in my extradimensional womb. She is there till I let her free. I dismissed all the demons, and our friends that survived seemed to pass out after I removed their enthrallment."

"Now I have freed you, but of the connections I stole from the Succubus, one still remains. I don't know where it leads, but I intend to find out."

Trix replies with glee, "Oh my, you got them exactly like they got me. So perfect. I wish I could have been there, but you probably had your hands... and other parts... full. Oh well. I'll go check on our friends, and you go check that mysterious connection."

Trix finds that each of the members that still live are alive but comatose. They are likely that way from being drained.

Following the barely perceptible magical tie, I find a wall that has a very subtle enchantment. It's physical while you think it's physical, but won't stop you if you think you can pass right through it.

This magical matrices skill is amazing. Reading that web of magic was pretty easy, but normal pursuits like spellweaving, runes, or enchanting wouldn't be enough on their own, but that skill is enough to see into the truth of it.

Passing through the wall, I find a pink glowing ball radiating magic. It is what the connection is tied to. I can almost feel... fear? Apprehension? I can feel its emotions. It has emotions. This couldn't be what I think it is.

Walking up to the densely packed ball of magic, I find another sphere around it. Not sure what it does, I study it.

Twenty minutes later, Trix follows me in after asking where I am. She asks, "What are you looking at? It's very shiny. That's a very pretty pale pink. Like your special earring."

"I have a point," I responded, getting an idea. "That is pretty much the same pale pink, and part of my soul went into it. The energy coming directly from it is not malicious, but it's being collected and taken by this sphere of magic around it. It seems to be some way of manipulating it. The sphere is exuding some emotions. It's very likely sentient."

I take a moment to think, then continue. "Trix, this is the source of magic for the dungeon, and likely its controller. If I'm right, it's a dungeon core. The Succubus placed this to cut the control of the dungeon core but established its hold on the dungeon's contents. I could potentially alter the sphere casing the dungeon core, allowing me to remove it. I could either make it into a vehicle of sorts or into a mobile cage. It would make a potent power source, but I don't feel comfortable turning a sentient being into a battery. What do you think? Break the cage? Make it a mobile battery of magic, or make it movable and also let it have its autonomy back? I'm all for the last one or the first one, but I'd like to know what you think."

Trix seems to be taking the question seriously. After a moment, she gives her confident reply. "Let her choose. You can start by removing the restrictions, right? I bet she has an opinion."

Of course, Trix is right, but I ask Trix the obvious question. "How do you know the dungeon core is a she?"

"Intuition. I'm quite sure that she is a she."

I shrug, but she is probably right. "I'll get started on the modification. It's a complex object. It will take me a while. Give me an hour or so."

Trix flies off, presumably to keep an eye on our friends.

Much more than an hour later, the final change to the cage is made.

I mostly changed all the functions to be controlled from the inside rather than the outside. I left an override just in case, but I don't think I'll need it.

Something changed. My existence has been a series of draining and this void of a prison pretty much since I arrived. My previous world was good, but the opportunity to join a new world couldn't be passed up.

That damned Succubus I summoned as my boss brought an illegal artifact. I was offered this place on a new world. I had all the opportunities. That damned boss monster is a bitch, but something is changing.

This place is where I made my home, but something is different. There is a human here, but the rest of the dungeon is changed. Some of the theme I had was the same, but this isn't my dungeon. There is so much work to restore it.

Looking a bit closer, I see the artifact isn't gone, or even damaged. It has been... inverted? I can reestablish my connection and sever it as much as I want. It's not supposed to be that simple. Maybe I should communicate with the human. She feels like a boss monster, but clearly isn't summoned or even dungeon-born.

"Greetings, human. I don't suppose you might know what happened to the artifact surrounding me," said a voice in my head using the same connection that I stole from the succubus.

"Oh, hello. I'm Ria, a human from Earth. I do know what happened to that sphere. It was a nasty piece of magic. Trixy and I thought I could free you," I responded to what was probably a dungeon core. I decided to find out something. "Are you a dungeon core?"

"I am a dungeon core, and my name is..." The next sounds that I heard in my head were unpronounceable in any language that I had heard of. "What did happen to the artifact? It seems... different. Inverted somehow."

"I altered it. It was a bit harder than I expected, but it was by no means impossible. The woven strands of magic had a primary function of maintaining connections while redirecting the control functions. It was a simple process to start altering a few of the strands to allow for a controlled connection from the inside rather than an external force. I redirected all of the control points through a central node, and voila!" I gave a flourish. "You have your connections back and can be moved around."

"I can also destroy it or revert it, but I don't think you want the last option. I know it's the purpose of a dungeon core to grow stronger, or at least that's what stories from my world seem to indicate. I would gladly bring you with me if you want to come. I know dungeon cores are normally tied to a single location, so this might be a great opportunity for you. It's up to you, though." I paused and waited for a response.