Chapter 76: Dog Day

Friday, April 28th, 1:01 PM

Dungeon Ciara

Sunny and Sandy were lounging atop the Crow’s Nest beside Nino and Hanzo, soaking in the sun’s rays to stave off the unseasonable chill in the air. The distant crashing of waves against the expanded harbor’s protective seawall kept a reliable rhythm, soothing Sunny toward slumber until something wormed its way into her perception like a vicious parasite.

Beside her, Sandy and the cats bolted upright as Sunny did the same. Sunny knew this feeling, and she growled along with her sister. It was the same as when Mommy’s pretty rock was chased by bad humans, and it was approaching from high above.

[Is this the badness you spoke of, dogs?] asked Nino, her ears laying flat as she glared at the sky.

[Same,] the Labs replied in unison.

[Mommy, bad is coming,] said Sunny.

[Wrong-feel.] Sandy snarled.

[Where is it, girls?] Mommy was angry.

[Sky-bad,] Sunny replied.

[Okay. Humans, warn everyone that we have enemies incoming from above! Girls and kitties, do what you can to find out what it is and protect whoever you can.]

[Yes, Mommy,] Sunny replied along with her sister.

There wasn’t anything visible in the sky, but the bad feeling grew ever stronger, making Sunny’s fur stand up tall.

“We have incoming! Everyone inside the Dungeon—remain calm and follow your area’s evacuation plan!” Dangerous loud-stick humans repeated those words from all over, and crowds of people rushed inside Mommy’s entrances.

Nino and Hanzo hissed, then leaped away, but Sunny couldn’t see anything.

[Dogs! What are you doing? Run away!] Nino hissed at them as she sprinted into the Dungeon with Hanzo.

Sunny glanced at her sister, whose eyes met hers with a look of tall brows and confusion.

[Listen to Nino! There’s something coming, girls!] Mommy yelled.

Sunny braced herself to launch off the Crow’s Nest, but something pierced into her thoughts and she snarled, snapping at the air around her head. Her sister did the same, but nothing was helping. Pain spread through Sunny’s body along with the wrongness that came down from above.

[[Unssafe.]] A scary, snake-like voice talked into Sunny’s head. It wasn’t like the good voices from the kitties or Mommy. This one forced itself into Sunny.

She could sense that Mommy was speaking, but Mommy’s words couldn’t reach sunny, and that made her furious.

Thoughts of violence flashed across Sunny’s mind—of running people down and tearing out their throats to savor the tender flesh between her teeth. But it was wrong. It wanted her to kill good humans so that she and her sister could be safe. It wasn’t right. This was the opposite of what Mommy wanted. Sandy growled threateningly beside her.

Sunny became enraged and pushed back against the thoughts that didn’t belong. Thoughts that weren’t hers.

[[Ssubmit.]]

The snake-voice said another word, and it pushed harder, causing Sunny to collapse as her rage lit a fire inside her and became something more.

[No. Bad voice,] Sunny snarled. The wrongness screamed without words, then disappeared as she heard Mommy’s voice clearly again.

[…abies, are you okay? What’s happening, girls? Talk to Mommy!]

[Is okay now,] Sunny began, [but was bad.]

Sunny stood, then pressed her mind against the wrong-voice she knew must be hurting Sandy.

<You have weathered the mental assault of a Minor Demon. Will you consume its essence?>

Yes. Sunny kill and eat!

Power rushed into Sunny, and she saw her paws shine with pretty blue light. Her sister stopped growling and stood to glow beside her.

[Demons bad,] said Sandy as she huffed.

Sunny whined and licked her sister’s snout. [Sandy is okay?]

Sandy returned the gesture, but her tail didn’t wag. [Not is okay.]

[Demons very bad.] Sunny locked eyes with Sandy.

[Demons? Tell me everything that happened, girls.]

---

I was busy digging my seventh floor when Nino shouted for my girls to run, but the Labs stopped to stare at one another atop the Crow’s Nest. Just before they slammed into my pups, I spotted two writhing masses of ethereal, eldritch horror. Sickly green and black, they appeared as if made from worms or leeches.

<Unknown -D->

<Unknown -D->

I had no idea that Dungeons could freeze up in terror, but when I saw the Rank of those creatures bearing down on my Labs, I did.

All I could do was watch as the Unknowns tunneled into my dogs’ bodies without leaving physical wounds.

Sunny and Sandy managed to fight them off and consume what they referred to as Demons, so they appeared safe, for now.

But someone had sent these things to attack us. The Demons had attacked my sweet girls—my loyal, innocent babies.

Whoever sent them will be killed slowly, a thousand times over. And once that’s done, their punishment will begin.

NOBODY HURTS MY PUPPIES.

My Monterey falcons, Murder hornets and Devilflies fanned out, seeking any sign of who had sent the wretched Demons that attacked my family.

Fine. The bastards want to play hard? I can always come back and finish my floors later. It may cost more mana, but my income will be higher along with my mana pool. If the enemy’s sending D-Rank attackers, then I have no choice but to surpass them.

Joy had mentioned that, since I could alter my floors after they were “complete” — it made sense that I’d be able to dig multiple floors in a day if I just made a long hallway for each in the rough direction and at whatever depth was required. Once that was done, I could add a core room and be done with it.

Fueled by rage, I rushed construction of my seventh floor, doing exactly that and leaving half its volume to be completed when I had time. Ten minutes later…

<Congratulations! For being the first sapient Dungeon on Earth to finish a seventh floor, your minion-mass multiplier increases from 5x to 6x for normal minions and from 1x to 1.1x for sapient minions.>

Floors: 8

Minions: 747/1120

Residents: 12/26

Denizens: 6.92M

Traps: 25/40

Excellent. Bigger minions means stronger minions. Next…

An hour later, I had another ‘floor,’ which consisted of a hallway leading down toward my next core room. Bosses could wait along with everything else. The eventual pattern was a rough spiral of floors that descended like massive steps below my location. The instinct said this structure was proper, and I listened.

I moved my core down again, and felt a tremendous shift inside my crystalline body while my residents glowed brighter than ever.

<Congratulations! For being the first sapient Dungeon on Earth to reach D-Rank, you may grant two different blessings to each of your residents.>

<Additional blessings available for residents: consult your Spirit Guide for details.>

Floors: 9

Minions: 747/1260

Residents: 12/28

Denizens: 6.93M

Traps: 25/45

“Excellent, Mudball. You responded well to a severe threat, and you’ve learned an important lesson that I was forbidden from teaching. Always be at least the same Rank as your enemy.” Sven appeared in my simple core room on the eighth floor.

[That means the enemy Dungeons have been higher Rank than me since we started having problems with you disappearing?]

“Not all of them, since the first residents you encountered from another Dungeon were E-Rank, but the answer is yes. You are lucky they weren’t higher Rank at that time, or we would have lost.”

[Shit.]

“Absolutely. Take the lesson to heart, Ciara. The enemy is trying to win. Now, about your new blessings…”

Sven explained, cautioned me to be certain that I expanded my new floors properly before too long, then disappeared.

In addition to the Blessings of Fortitude, Alacrity, and Acumen, I had three new options for my residents.

Blessing of Animal Empathy: Allows the blessed to befriend and communicate with sentient animals via telepathy.

Blessing of Growth: The blessed may increase or decrease their size up to fifty percent relative to their true size, at-will. Transformation requires up to ten seconds, with each second representing a five percent increase or decrease relative to normal. The blessed’s body will remain at any chosen size within range, until a new size is selected.

Blessing of Manasight: The blessed may see flows of mana up to one Rank higher than their own.

I gathered my residents in the castle to explain the new blessings.

[Girls can be bigger?] my pups asked in unison, their tails whipping madly behind them.

[Yes, you can be bigger or even smaller if you want, if you take Growth. But there are ways you can also be tougher or faster, too.]

[Big girls!] The Labs said as one, and licked their chops.

[Okay, babies.] I chuckled.

They glowed, and ten seconds later I had two Labrador Retrievers big enough to dwarf most Great Danes.

Joy stood nearby, and her eyes widened as she whispered, “I want that blessing.”

[As you wish, Joybean.]

After Joy received her second blessing, she shrank instead, until she was the same height as Siobhán, though she appeared unnaturally slim. After hopping up and down for a moment and embracing Siobhán, Joy she grew again, past her usual size until she loomed over Joe, who grinned at his student.

Joe said, “I’ll take Alacrity for my second, Ciara.”

Once the light around him faded to normal, Joe stepped to one side and threw a single practice punch that split the air with a crack. He smirked but said nothing as the others stared.

“Toughness and Manasight,” said Mike. “Best things for crafting and combat.”

Mike’s eyes became a deep sapphire-blue after the change, and he gazed intently at everyone. “Those who have two blessings and a class are brighter to my eyes, but Joe’s a damned glowstick.”

Siobhán snorted and grabbed Joe around his waist. She waved her eyebrows at Mike, laid her small hand across Joe’s stomach and said covetously, “My glowstick.”

President Thomas and Colonel Hart shut their eyes and took deep breaths.

Mike scrunched his eyebrows down, failing to stifle a laugh as he flicked his gaze between Siobhán and Joy, then stared at Siobhán and facepalmed with a groan. “And you’re the one who declined to join the Corps.”

Joe rolled his eyes and squeezed Siobhán against him with a shit-eating grin. “Oorah, Master Guns.”

Joy paid them no mind as she transitioned from tall to short and back again. She appeared too enamored with her new ability to care.

“You already know what I want, ProfCon. Anything to do with animals.” When she glowed, Siobhán seemed to realize she’d been caressing Joe’s washboard stomach through his shirt the entire time and released him with a coquettish grin.

The President and Colonel both had a Toughness Blessing. Thomas opted for Acumen, while the Colonel took Manasight.

Nino and Hanzo sauntered in, fashionably late to the meeting. Both leaped onto the meeting table, and Hanzo laid down to claim one region as his own while Nino paraded her pink butthole for everyone. She hopped onto Colonel Hart’s lap, then locked eyes to glare at the man.

Colonel Hart wore a tight smile as the seconds dragged on in silence and Nino’s ears slowly laid back. His mouth twisted into a half grimace as he glanced at The President, then reached down to scritch Nino’s ruff.

[Took you long enough, human.] Nino continued to stare Hart down.

President Thomas snickered through his nose, then said, “It’s fine, Hart. We had three cats in the White House. This pretty much how I imagined they would talk if they could. Besides, as a cat’s servant, it’s not wise to delay your tribute.”

Nino’s ears stood tall and she gazed at President Thomas for a few seconds. [An adult human spoke words of wisdom? I see now, why you were chosen to lead the herd. You shall, of course, provide tribute when I finish with this one.] She gave the President a slow blink, then settled down to purr as Hart pet her.

“Anything for our feline masters,” Thomas chuckled.

“Cats…” Joe shook his head.

Siobhán paid no attention at all during that exchange as she stared at Nita, who rested on a silk framework in the southwest corner of the room.

[Soybean, are you okay?]

“Mm! I’m talking with Nita. The Blessing of Animal Empathy is incredible, ProfCon. Nita’s even smarter than I thought,” Siobhán beamed.

---

[-As Misstress wishes,-] said Nita.

[-You’re sure you can remember the faces of everyone who lives here?-] Siobhán asked.

[-They are known.-]

[-You’ve been paying attention, then?-] Siobhán wrinkled her brow.

[-Ssince the firsst moment.-]

[-Do you like staying close? You’re always watching when I have you rest in the corners or on the ceiling.-]

[-With Misstress is besst.-]

[-So… what do you think of Joe?-]

[-He is Misstress’ mate.-]

Siobhán felt a rush of contentment through her bond with Nita.

[-Yes, he is...-] Siobhán blushed.

[-Misstress is happy.-]

Nita’s feelings were joyful.

[-I wish I could do more for you, pretty girl. I need some way to help you grow stronger.-]

<Do you wish to share your Animal Empathy blessing with your familiar? (Limitations will apply due to the shared nature of this blessing.)>

Yes!

<Familiar: Nita may now communicate with and befriend other arachnids at or below her Rank of -D-.>

[-Oh, that’s amazing, Nita-girl! We need to go down into the Dungeon so you can talk with the other spiders!-]

As usual, Nita sensed Siobhán’s intent and darted forward to hang from her neck like a massive, fanged amulet.

Siobhán blurted out, almost yelling in her excitement, “We’re headed down to test a few things! Anyone else wanna try out their new abilities?”

The others were silent as President Thomas stared at Siobhán with his mouth hanging open. He’d obviously been talking and she hadn’t noticed.

A pang of embarrassment reached Siobhán via Joe and she deflated as Mike facepalmed and Joy raised her eyebrows.

Colonel Hart sighed as Nino stepped off his lap onto the table and presented her butthole. [Stupid humans.] She stared at Hanzo, who yawned and joined her as they leaped from the table and sauntered away.

As the cats exited to the hallway, Hanzo said, [Humans are loud.]

[Obnoxious,] Nino agreed.

Siobhán felt like she should say something, but the possibility of sticking her foot any further down her own throat loomed large, so she ruled that out and sat down quietly beside Joe.

Mike chuckled. “Cats…”

Everyone except Siobhán rolled their eyes.

---

“They’ve reached Rank parity.” Alex stood, wiping the soil from his hands as he turned to glare at his team.

“Our demons failed? I thought they were undetectable. You haven’t sensed their deaths, right?” Tony asked as he stared down from their mountainside location, at the tree-studded area inside the Dungeon’s massive wall. “They could still be working on it.”

Alex sighed. “Demons aren’t like normal minions at all. I can’t tell if they’re alive or dead—fucking awful things. But we have to use what’s available. Anyway, it’s obvious the enemy Dungeon is already working on its ninth floor, which means the advantage we thought we’d gained yesterday is lost.”

Karen hissed, “Shit… and Hawaii fucked up bad. That stunt they pulled must’ve wiped out close to half the remaining population. Polluted the hell out of the oceans, too.”

Alex said, “Hawaii’s Dungeon Master was a psychopath. Like I said before, he’s been replaced.”

Tony interjected. “Our allies from the main Dungeon still can’t get here?”

With a slight frown, Alex replied, “They could, technically. But we’re all the same Rank as the enemy, for now. Waiting for them could take weeks. Even a large raid could fail, because we still don’t know enough about the enemy Dungeon and its allies. The Great Mistress has her own strategy.”

“What did she say? What’s our Plan-B?” Karen asked.

Alex cocked his head for a second, raising one eyebrow as he inhaled slowly. “Instead of going after the core, we slaughter the Evil Dungeon’s nonresidents. They can’t revive. If we take away their delvers while ours continue, the enemy will run out of steam and Earth wins.”

Tony spat. “That’ll be a pain in the ass. We’re outnumbered all to fuck right now, and the military’s on their side. There are a ton of civilians, too… so we’re double-fucked.”

Alex spotted a glimmer of something in Tony’s eyes, but it was unreadable. He resisted raising an eyebrow, then shrugged as he stared at Marchant. “Yeah, I don’t like the idea of killing innocents who’ve been misled, and it’s a suicide mission.” He turned to face the others. “But we’re immortal and they aren’t. Though some of them may be innocent at heart, these people are aiding and abetting Earth’s enemy. We have the advantage of fighting on their soil, which means those working our Dungeon are safe.”

Karen scowled and shook her head. “I don’t like it, but we have to protect Earth.”

“It’s so fucked. This damned Dungeon got its hooks in the government,” Tony hissed through his teeth.

Casting his gaze across the others, Alex narrowed his eyes and said with conviction, “There’s no choice. They’ve sided with the greatest threat our world has ever faced. Whatever it takes.”

“Whatever it takes,” his team echoed with hard eyes.

Alex sighed and commanded, “Helmets on. We’ll approach from three sides. You know your teams and you know what to do. Follow what we’ve trained for, but I want full shock and awe with nothing held back. Aim for crowds when possible. We’re killing as many of these traitorous bastards as we can.”

---

Floors: 9

Minions: 747/1260

Residents: 12/28

Denizens: 6.95M

Traps: 25/45