The adventurers in Rivira were loudly yelling at one another about how the Gale Wind had just murdered a man. "I saw her do it!" "It was the Gale Wind, absolutely - I'd recognize her anywhere! Blonde hair, elf ears, green cloak, absolutely her."

When I stepped into their midst, people parted around me. I felt a brief moment of confusion, before I remembered that I was Level Six, and they were, well, not. "What's going on?" I asked. Darkness was still slung over my shoulders.

"We found this adventurer outside Rivira," said a larger man, with a scar across one eye, gesturing down towards the body. It was definitely not in great shape - cut up quite a bit, then stabbed. "These wounds are from a sword, not a monster. And these guys say they saw the Gale Wind do it."

"I see," was all I said. I looked down at the body carefully, and elsewhere, asked Rei what was going on.

"Oh, come on. Julia and I were totally looking for this faggot the whole time and he's seriously still here? I figured he got iced or some shit due to the mess that's been made of the timeline by all the different shit. It's Jura Halmer, he's a member of the Evilus Familia. I mean, not the corpse, unless it's missing an arm and an ear. The murderer. He's trying to summon a Juggernaut, the worst, nastiest, biggest monster in the whole Dungeon. Probably the guys he's hired are the ones saying how they totally saw Ryu do it."

"The wound that killed him isn't the same as the other injuries," I said; luckily, a Level Six's senses, combined with a light dose of Exalted Excellence, let me identify as much. "All these are shallow cuts with a long blade, made while the person was alive - but here, the heart," I pointed directly to it, "that's a short knife wound."

"How can you possibly tell?" A werewolf angrily demanded. He'd been one of the ones accusing the Gale Wind.

"When you're cut while you're still alive, you bleed, so all these wounds were made pre-mortem," I explained. "Once you die, the blood only pools out - there's no pressure any more, and it's not getting pumped through. The wound here is shallow, it doesn't penetrate all the way through to the spine," I explained.

"That doesn't mean anything."

"Doesn't it?" I asked. "If you're cutting somebody up with a long blade - by the looks of it, the sort that can't stab, but only slash - why would you suddenly switch weapons?"

"Are you saying it wasn't the Gale Wind that killed him?" The scarred man asked.

"I doubt it." I paused, stepping back. "The Gale Wind is now a Level Five-"

"She's a Level Four," the werewolf spat.

"No, she isn't," I replied. "Ahem. She's a Level Five. Who here can handle an adventurer of that Level?" I looked around, and of course, nobody could. There weren't that many Level Fives and Sixes in the first place. "I'll look into this matter, on my own. I recommend the rest of you stay put, and keep close to maintain your numbers." I trekked back towards town.

"Asshole!" The werewolf threw something at the back of my head, but I simply idly twisted my neck to one side and caught it with a flick of my wrist via a Strand of Fate. It was... a rock. Just a regular, boring rock. It wouldn't have hurt if it had impacted my head directly, given the speed it was thrown. "That's not where she went! She went into the Dungeon! If you want to hunt her yourself-"

"Then I'll do it without Darkness," I snapped. I stared at him coldly. "What's your name?"

"Tark Sled. I'm going to go track down the Gale Wind. You seem too chummy with her," he said, huffing and straightening his back.

"Yeah?" I replied. "Okay. Go ahead and die." Rei was meanwhile informing me that Tark was super suspicious and probably guilty as fuck. "No one will miss you."

"Why you-!" He stopped himself though, probably recognizing that he'd just get beat to shit if he attacked me. "Hmph. Come on," he said, jerking his head to what seemed to be his adventuring party.

I headed back to Rivira, finding one of the 'hotels' and paying for Darkness to have a room. She slept like a rock, just letting me drop her into bed and not even responding, still having a cheery smile on her lips as she landed against the bed.

Elsewhere, two more of my bodies were headed down into the Dungeon, and Cass was racing ahead, carrying Julia on her back.

* * *

Syr hummed to herself, stepping down the staircase after having listened to a quite interesting bit of conversation from Drake and Rei through the wall. She pretended to be oblivious, of course. She certainly had no interest in the pair wondering about how much she knew.

Rei had knowledge of the future. Quite substantial and specific knowledge, too.

Did that explain the simultaneous presence of Bella and her Cassandra somehow? The two most beautiful souls she'd seen in ten thousand years, brought together - was that something that was done with malice aforethought? She couldn't see why.

It was something to contemplate later, though. She didn't trust Drake to protect Ryu. He seemed sincere in his affection for Ryu. He seemed to be the sort of man who tried to protect those he cared about. But he also seemed to have something akin to Ryu's own problems: a suicidal insistence on righteousness or justice or whatever you wanted to call such things. He'd been willing to feed her Cassandra to Lady Shiva, and it had only been good luck that her Cassandra was still alive despite that.

No, she needed a better protector for Ryu than him. She found 'Alise' spinning her wheels outside the Hostess, her head pivoting this way and that, occasionally hefting herself up on the wheelchair - their eyes met, however briefly. "Bad news?" Alise asked.

"Oh, no, not really," Syr replied, taking out a small bag. "Here, eat these," she said, handing it over to Alise, who opened it, just frowning as she saw what was inside.

"Magic stones?"

"They'll help you regenerate your legs." She hesitated. "Ryu needs your help."

At that, Alise crunched down on one - then let out a shuddering noise of delight. "Oh thank the gods," she breathed out, her voice husky as she chewed away. "It tastes fucking good! Holy shit! Good fuckin' food!" She hurriedly wolfed down the contents of the bag, and Syr just gently took hold of the wheelchair's handles, guiding her both towards the Tower of Babel - and down a nearby alley, somewhere that nobody would see. "Thanksh, sho much, mmmf!" Alise said, acting like a total glutton as she treated the magic stones like they were some sort of candy and she was a four year old.

"Mhm," Syr said, taking a long look around herself. She once more reached back, unbinding the hairband keeping her hair in check as she moved to lean in front of Alise. The girl's breath escaped her lips as their eyes met, the otherworldly power of Freya on momentary display. "Ryu is in danger in the Dungeon. Jura Halmer is planning to kill her, along with his co-conspirators; they're down past Rivira. Save Ryu. Do whatever you have to do, to achieve that goal, Alise. Make sure she comes back safe. You understand?" Dimly, Alise nodded, and then the power was gone, the girl in question shaking her head. "Well? You should be able to regrow your legs now. Kill a few monsters on your way down, and-"

Alise's legs burst back into existence, and she rose to her feet. "Thanks for the food, gotta go, though," she said, giving Syr a quick half-salute as she just started to bolt, moving with the sort of inhuman speed that Syr had only ever seen on Ottar, turning into a red blur that streaked down the streets, weaving through the crowd.

She rolled the empty wheelchair back to the Hostess, humming to herself.

She certainly hoped that Ryu would come back okay.

* * *

Alise had to save Lion. She'd literally given her life for Lion's sake, spent the lives of her comrades to save the one uninjured member of the familia, and now Lion was about to lose her life because she was too damn eager to get herself killed in an endless quest for justice. Someone was blocking the main doorway into the Dungeon, so she just kicked the back of their knee, sending them down to the ground, her foot hitting their shoulder as she leapt over them, falling into the darkness of the Dungeon. She had to save Lion.

Her eyes were shockingly good at handling the darkness. The cold dark of the Dungeon was lit up in black and white, every surface shown in careful studious detail, every bit of grit and grime and discarded items visible even in the pitch darkness. Blood wasn't red, but it was identifiable by its smooth, crusty texture. She recalled having made her way through the first eighteen floors countless times, during her time as an adventurer. She followed that well-established mental map, moving forward with inhuman speed.

She killed a few monsters on her way down, swift little stabs with her bare hand that saw her pull out their cores, the stone delivered to her mouth shortly thereafter, quenching the lingering hunger that had been eating at her for the past weeks, ever since her resurrection. It was so nice to eat something that had a taste beyond ash. The Dungeon was basically a smorgasboard of monster cores; it delivered them up to her occasionally, as she made her way down, but the old fuck seemed smart enough to realize she was just going to kill them and stopped giving her any snack food except for the occasional probing every couple floors. She slid under, past, beside various other adventuring parties, earning only faint noises in her passing.

Lion. Lion. She had to save Lion.

Her eyes were struck with sudden brightness when she arrived in Rivira, her gaze flicking around frantically. She spotted Drake at a great distance, and rushed forward towards him. He was Lion's boyfriend, so he'd know where she was. She stepped up next to him. "Where's Lion?" She asked, making him startle at her sudden appearance.

"Jesus Christ," he said, planting one hand on his chest. "You scared the shit out of me, Alise."

"Where's Lion?" She repeated.

"I don't know. She's down there somewhere - Jura's planning to summon the Juggernaut again, I'm pretty sure. I hope it won't be too strong for me to fight on these floors, but-" she zoomed forward. "Wait, fuck!" She felt a tug at her back, those weird invisible strings of his dragging him along with her as she moved. She didn't stop him - he might be helpful. "He's got explosives set, almost certainly - we need to find them and stop them." His voice was loud as he yelled, but she just moved like the wind.

"No, we need to save Lion," Alise replied. "Tark Sled, Jura Halmer, those are the ones we have to kill?"

"I don't know if they're actually guilty!" His voice was panicked, desperate. She understood his feelings - but she had to protect Lion.

"Jura's an Evilus familia member. If he's alive, then-" she heard something and fell silent. Drake slammed into her back a moment later, but a firm planting of her feet kept herself still. Breathing. People breathed differently from monsters. Four breaths. All male. Werewolf. Catfolk. Two humans. "That way," she said, her voice clipped as she twisted her movements, Drake managing to latch onto her waist and hold onto her that way. She just smirked at that - Lion probably wouldn't be that ticked about it, since it was an innocent touch and her boyfriend was a polygamist anyway, but she could probably tease the hell out of the girl with that. "Morning," she said, as she landed in the midst of the group. "Know who I am?"

"I know who the guy is," the werewolf spat.

"Cool. Howdy. I'm Alise Lovelle, one of the two surviving members of the old Astraea familia," she said, giving them a wave. "If you want to kill me, this is gonna be your best shot." They were all looking at Drake, which was annoying - and she turned to glance at him, only to find he'd somehow been replaced by a Rohini familia member. Did he use shapeshifting magic? Whatever. "Yeah, this is my side piece," she said, smiling as she turned her attention back to the group. "I'm unarmed, see?" She held her hands out to either side - and the werewolf foolishly tried to stab her.

He moved like molasses, though. She was supercharged, after crunching down on some magic stones, and she just watched his arms slide through the air like a coin slowly flying upward, each spin visible to her keen eyes. She slammed her hand directly into his throat, neatly decapitating him in a single strike. Her hand collected his sword, and less than two seconds later, all four of them were dead. "That was... a bit fast," the Rohini familia member said.

"Have to protect Lion, these guys were obviously going to hurt her," she said, idly running her finger across the sword's blade. Warm blood pooled on her fingertip, and she sucked it off - nope, tasted like ash too. Guess magic stones were the only thing she'd enjoy eating from here on. "You didn't stop me, anyway. You are Drake, right?"

"Yes," he said, and it was like the illusion instantly flickered out of existence. She shook her head. "You're probably right, and he did attack you."

"I'm always right," she countered, rolling her shoulders. "Let's find Lion and get her out of here."

* * *

Ryu's blood felt like cold ice as she stood before her opponent. The catfolk in question looked around himself desperately, a manic look in his eyes. "You... you should be dead," she said.

"So should you, bitch," he spat back at her, his whole body shaking faintly. Fear? Energy? She didn't trust this situation. Something was off. He grinned as he saw the way she moved, the way she hesitated. "Scared?"

"Are you?" She replied, simply.

"You killed my whole familia."

"They deserved it. Why did you rear your head today?" Something was most certainly off about the whole situation. "That stupid note." Bragging about surviving, about killing her friends... telling her where to find him...

"It wasn't stupid if it worked," he said, a wicked smirk curling across his lips. "Even if you kill me - you still d-" he was cut off as a sword simply sliced cleanly through his neck, the woman wielding it a fiery redhead she'd have recognized anywhere. His head flew into the air, rolled around for a half-second, and then was kicked into a pulp.

"Morning, Lion. You gave Syr a hell of a scare," Alise said, a cocksure smile on her face. "All panicky and whatnot. Kind of cute, actually. Do you swing that way?" She prompted, placing one hand on her hip.

"Swing...?"

"Oh, right, forgot I was talking to the densest plank of elven wood yet discovered," Alise said, flicking her hair - then looking annoyed as she realized it was too short to do that properly. "If you imagine Syr all nakers, do you think I wanna touch that stuff? Or does your heart and loins belong to this'n?" She gestured to a member of the Rohini familia, who had apparently followed shortly after Alise.

Said member was the one to speak. "He was saying that she'd still die even if he did," the woman said. "That means-"

"Nada, on account of he's a corpse," Alise said. "Well, fuck it, you're right, Drake. C'mon, Lion, hop on top," she said, flash-stepping forward to her, grabbing her around the waist, hefting her up. "M'shoulders, I'm fas-"

There was a loud explosive noise at that point, an echoing, intense sound, loud enough to jitter her teeth.

The Rohini woman flinched at the sound, and Ryu felt her blood run cold. "Not again," she whispered. Her first love. Her best friend. They were both about to die right in front of her, to that.

"Not again, what?" Alise asked, tilting her head, completely oblivious.

"That's-" the explosions echoed through the cavernous depths of the Dungeon, new ones joining the last. "It's the Juggernaut," she said.

"Cool," Alise said, flippant, oblivious. "Is that bad?"

"It's what killed you, Alise!" Ryu shouted. "We have to-" there was a loud shrieking noise, resonating through the Dungeon.

"Is anyone else on this floor?" The Rohini woman asked.

"Don't think so," Alise replied. "Only heard Jura and Lion here." She glanced at the corpse of Jura, wearing a smile on her lips. "You goo-"

The shriek of the Juggernaut grew louder as it entered the open chamber at high speed, like a vision right out of her nightmares. Alise simply vanished from her position, Ryu being shoved away at high speed - and Alise's arm dangled against Ryu's body for a moment, pressed against her chest with intense force, before falling limp to the ground. The Rohini woman hurriedly leapt into the air as the Juggernaut tried to claw at her too, hurling knives with a swiftness similar to Drake's, blade after blade impacting fruitlessly against the creature's powerful armor.

"No no no no no no," Ryu repeated to herself, her eyes looking around for any sign of Alise. She'd just lost her arm. She'd just lost her arm. That was all. She'd lost her legs, and she was fine now, right? Right? She- she'd just, just gotten her friend back, and-

The creature's shriek drew her out of her reverie, a faint blue glow filling the chamber from Drake's anima flaring. The sapphire blue colors illuminated the wiry, gargoyle-like monster as it screeched and clawed at him, throwing objects at him. She shifted her grip. She couldn't use her magic on this creature. "Don't use magic on it!" She shouted. "It can-"

The creature wheeled around on her, screeching, and she felt her whole body still as it held her in its gaze. Drake was trying to throw knives at it, but that wasn't working. She was going to die. She had lived just to die. She had survived just to die.

A moment later, Alise leapt into the creature's head, sword slamming into its eye, making it shriek in panic and claw at her - and her sword turned into a shattered mess, as well as her legs getting clawed clean off.

"Woof," she said, thumping on the ground, with just a single limb. "Fuck, this thing's tough," she said, her limbs sprouting forth a moment later, as she clambered up to her feet. "Right, gotta getcha safe," Alise said, rushing forward for Ryu, connecting her shoulder with Ryu's stomach and hefting her into the air in a single smooth movement. The last thing Ryu saw, before they turned the corner into darkness, was the Juggernaut clawing out at Drake in a savage strike, the blades moving through him like water.

* * *

I had to admit that this particular monster was insanely overleveled. How the fuck did they beat this thing in canon? Did it auto-level? Was me or Alise rip-roaring our way through local Dungeon spawns telling the Dungeon it needed an extra strong monster?

Whatever the case, I was narrowly dodging its strikes with an application of Duck Fate and liberal weaving. I could die here if I had to, but I'd really rather this thing was dead before then. From what Rei said, it was stupid dangerous, and right now it seemed even more dangerous. My other bodies were still making their way to Rivira, and I had no idea where Cass was by now. I hoped Alise turned her back, but knowing her...

I shifted the shape of my hand. I couldn't beat this thing with knives, but maybe, with Maw of Dripping Venom - as I tried to strike in, it almost cut off my fucking head, and simultaneously leapt backwards, clearly able to detect my deadly intent. I had to stagger back as the thing just screamed incoherently at me. "You do have a limited lifespan," I said to it, half a dare to the creature... no, I had a better way to convince it to do what I wanted. I let my Essence wreathe me in the purest nature of beauty, and the creature paused at that, seeming to squint with its good eye up at me. Its screech was more curious and confused.

I rushed forward again, hand at the ready, and as my fingers impacted its snout, burning off much of my remaining Essence - it reacted, lashing out with knifelike claws and sending my body careening into the wall as thick, heavy rake marks tore into my chest.

Oh yeah, and my right arm - the one I'd used to hit its face - came clean off too.

Really wished I'd had the juice to Duck Fate at that point. Maybe the use of You and Yours Stance was premature.

It screeched after a second, hands going up to its face, clawing at where I'd managed to impact it. I could only just move to try to apply pressure to the wound, my eyes wandering, looking for the arm that I'd just lost. I was exposed. Obvious. But it was busy, and You and Yours Stance was still up, so it wasn't attacking me as I finally found my arm, crawling over to grab it, tucking it under my good arm before starting to press my hand against the stump on this side.

Oh, don't get me wrong. I was in incredible pain. But when you're in that sort of situation, well - there's pain and then there's things you need to do, and the latter takes priority.

The creature stumbled around, starting to look a bit drunk from the Maw of Dripping Venom. It apparently had done a good job of getting past its defenses, gauging by the impact... but after a few seconds, I realized it wasn't getting any more drunk. Any slower.

And Cass was absolutely on her way.

And this thing was a fucking monster that had carved up a Level Seven, and a Level Six, with casual ease.

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. Panic rose in my chest. Alise and Ryu were safe, but Cass was about to die. Fuck. I couldn't go through that again. My Essence was pooling in my body once more, and the creature was looking at me. I took a long, deep breath, stumbling to my feet, blood running down my right side. I drew my left hand into the shape for Maw of Dripping Venom. "Look at the ceiling," I told it.

It tilted its head upward curiously, and I lunged into action, sapphire essence covering for the pain and injury for a moment. I managed to hit its stomach with my poisoned fist - and it lashed out with its tail. I had enough Essence by that point that the razor-wire tail just passed through my body like water on the first strike, but it followed it up with a sweep back, and then that body was neatly bisected right through the middle, top half separated from the bottom, my body hurtling into the wall a moment later.

I managed to keep that body conscious for long enough to watch the creature collapse to the ground, falling into a coma.

Then...

Well, it turns out dying doesn't really feel like anything.

Just like falling asleep.

In incredible agony, in my case.

Chapter 91 is available on my Subscribestar at this link, Chapter 92 at this link, and Chapter 93 at this link. It includes some downtime and the start of the next arc. All three are available for just $3/month.