Chapter 85: Delve 7

Sunday, April 30th, 8:44 PM

Yellowstone National Park

[Big man is wandering off without Bug-girl?] a haughty, feminine, and vaguely-familiar disembodied voice spoke into Joe’s head. He stopped running and settled into a fighting stance. Joy did the same and Owen shrank toward the dogs, looking confused. Sunny, Sandy, Bella, and Duke all stared at Joe with doggy grins that made them look amused.

[You dare to threaten me, you slow, hill-sized oaf? I demand pets as recompense.] Nino and Hanzo padded out from behind a pine tree and glared at Joe and Joy.

“Fuck’s sake, cats.” Joe snorted and rolled his eyes.

Joy scooped Hanzo up and nuzzled against him.

[Pets, or I won’t help you. Now.] Nino cocked her head at Joe and stared him down.

It’s fine. The animals will know if anyone’s sneaking up on us.

“Alright, fine.” Joe held in his laughter at Nino’s antics, kneeled, and scritched her behind her ears.

[Good human.] Nino smacked Joe’s arm hard with her furry tail. [Now, follow. Your mate won’t shut up about you. It’s annoying.] She sauntered away.

“What did you say? Siobhán’s here?” Joe followed Nino with such speed, she dodged aside and hissed despite him stopping in place before he could have stepped on her.

With a narrow-eyed look of loathing that could cut glass, Nino said, [Stupid human. Must I use single words? Come. Get. Your. Mate.]

Nino darted away at high speed with Hanzo, and Joe gave chase, followed by Joy and the dogs.

“Hey, wait-up!” Owen called out from behind.

Nino relaxed her pace and complained, [Humans are slow.]

Joe glanced back at their tag-along. Despite his Trapmaster class, Owen was still F-Rank and barely keeping pace even with Nino’s reduced speed. The group moved between trees and over rough terrain fast enough to shame Olympic sprinters from before magic came to Earth, yet their travel was effectively a languid jog for Joe’s D-Rank body.

As Hanzo and Nino trotted along, both cats glanced back far too often with scathing, impatient eyes.

After another full minute of travel, a familiar voice spoke and a door in the mountainside opened to a well-lit hallway around 100 meters ahead.

[Good to see you all again, but who’s the Trapmaster?]

“Ah, Ciara. I was sure I heard you just before we headed down into this place. Owen is a stray we picked up inside. From what I can tell, he’s not a danger. More importantly…”

Joe filled Ciara in on what he knew as the doors closed behind them.

“So, we need to head back down as soon as we—” Joe spotted Siobhán talking with Colonel Hart and sprinted to her side.

“Mmf!” Siobhán squealed, hugging Joe back as he pressed her against his chest. He resumed their connection the instant she offered it. To Joe’s relief, she wasn’t as traumatized as he’d feared. However, her clothing was filthy.

Colonel Hart narrowed his eyes at Joe, then rolled them when Joe offered him a sheepish grin as he released Siobhán, stood tall, and saluted. Hart returned the salute with a stare that said his patience was wearing thin.

Owen was led to another area by Mike and four other marines.

Siobhán hopped up to peck Joe on the cheek, then said, “You all made it out! So? What’s going on with the enemy Dungeon?”

After Joe’s explanation of events inside the enemy Dungeon, Hart said, “Ciara, we’ll need your help for this.”

[We’re way ahead of you.]

Mike trotted back in to hand Joe a flamethrower and two extra fuel canisters. “Store those, just in case.”

“From Ciara?” Joe asked as he followed Mike’s command.

“Where else?” Mike asked flatly as he strode away.

Their radio operator chimed in, “Colonel Hart, sir, orders are for you to lead all residents aside from Master Guns Elliott on a second infiltration attempt as soon as possible while Master Guns takes charge of this forward operating location with all nonresident personnel.”

Hart said, “Noted. Schimpf, Peterson, and Killarney, you’re with me.”

“Aye, sir.” Joe and Joy stood tall.

Siobhán stood short beside Joe.

The radio operator said, “Sir, The President says the Dungeon will inform you about two additional teams of… minions who will operate under your orders.”

[I’m sending ten Rock goblins, and ten Enkelyn along with you.]

Hart grinned, “The President’s orders will be followed.”

[My minions have orders to obey your every command, Colonel. They will meet you outside.]

“Thank you, Ciara.” Hart faced Joe, Joy, and Siobhán. “Listen up. We’re headed back inside. Schimpf, you’re on point as usual. Killarney, I want you with Schimpf.”

Joe replied, “Aye, sir.”

Nita dropped down from the ceiling and latched onto Siobhán in her usual manner.

Hart’s gaze followed the massive spider and he took a single step back as he said, “Make sure that connection between you two is active.” He looked at Joy. “Peterson, you’re with me.”

The colonel turned to the dogs. “Sandy, Sunny, Bella, and Duke, I want the four of you to move near us—Sunny and Sandy in the front and Duke and Bella in the rear. Keep your eyes, noses, and ears open for anyone who isn’t with us.”

[We will!] All four dogs stood tall and boofed with understanding and determination in their eyes.

“Nino and Hanzo…” Colonel Hart trailed off, staring at Nino as she stopped licking her backside to look at him wide-eyed with her tongue still sticking out.

Joe pressed his lips to keep from laughing aloud.

Hart did the same.

Siobhán had no such compunctions and she snickered. Her growing amusement made it harder for Joe to keep his composure, but he endured.

Nino seemed to sense the mood and stuck her bristled tongue out even further. Joe mastered his breathing and locked his eyes on the Colonel.

Hart sighed as all humor vanished from his face. “Cats—if you’re willing and able, I’d like for you two to either scare the enemy away from the entrance, or lead them somewhere else. Either way, I’d like us to avoid a fight if possible.”

Nino resumed cleaning herself with feline nonchalance. [Too easy.]

“Let’s move.” Hart started for the door.

Joe moved faster, shadowed by Siobhán and the Labs.

Outside the tunnel, two groups of minions were arranged opposite one another, staring each other down in the darkness.

Colonel hart said, “Hold a moment.”

Joe kept watch. Siobhán’s warmth through their bond made him smile as the Colonel addressed the minions.

After a few seconds, Colonel Hart said, “I want the Dragon Flies flying reconnaissance. Get up there and keep watch over us and the surrounding area as we move. Come down and report to me if you spot danger approaching.”

[We go.] Three half-meter-long dragonfly-shaped Enkelyn said in unison as they shot upward and disappeared against the blackness of an overcast night sky.

Nino and Hanzo moved past everyone and disappeared silently into the darkness of the forest.

“Enough time has elapsed that we can assume the enemy residents have revived. There’s no reason to rush, but we should still get this done in a timely manner.”

“To all the Dungeon’s minions who are joining us on this mission, the safety of everyone here is of utmost importance. All of us can return to life if we’re killed, but if any of us are lost along the way, that reduces our chance of success. We’re heading into an enemy Dungeon to take it over. There are numerous enemy minions and a few residents who stand in our way.”

Hart cast his gaze over all who were assembled.

“If we are attacked, I want threats eliminated quickly, but conserve your energy and mana wherever possible. Think of this operation as a marathon, not a sprint.”

Enkelyn faces were impossible to read but the Rock goblins grinned. If Joe didn’t already know better, their wicked-looking smiles would have unnerved him.

“One other thing,” Hart stared hard at the two groups of minions. “I know some of you dislike other groups who are present, but you are forbidden from interfering with one another. We are all part of a team, and I expect every one of you to act like it.”

Grins disappeared from goblin faces and some of the Enkelyn trembled, but none of the minions said a word.

“With that in mind, Let’s get moving. Schimpf, take us where we need to go.”

Joe turned and headed off with Siobhán and the Labs by his side.

“Girls, take us back to the place we came from.”

[Sandy knows the way.]

[Sunny too!]

The Labs moved in the same direction.

Colonel Hart trotted forward and pushed his way in beside Joe and Siobhán. He glanced at Siobhán. “Killarney, you know invertebrates better than the rest of us. Are you willing to follow my orders to the letter?”

Siobhán nodded. “I will.” Joe felt her swell with determination.

“Good, then I’m taking a risk on you, despite your lack of military training. You, Nita, and the Enkelyn will primarily deal with enemy arthropods inside the Dungeon. Make me proud.”

“I will,” said Siobhán. The intensity of her desire to protect everyone pressed against Joe.

“Schimpf, you still have those weapons you took from the enemy’s training hall?” Hart asked.

Joe replied, “Aye, sir.”

Colonel Hart slowed his pace. “Goblins, save your mana for shaping stone in case we need that. Do you any of you know how to use melee weapons?”

“We does.”

“Arrow-huntings for tribe.”

“Poke and slash.”

“Smashy-club.”

The goblins each responded with their preference—all at once. Their gravelly voices were intelligible, but they reminded Joe of rocks grinding together.

Hart called out, “Halt for a moment. Schimpf, I want them equipped.”

“Aye, sir.” Joe stopped in a small clearing and laid an assortment of weapons out.

“Not have arrowses?” one goblin complained.

“They didn’t have any,” Joe said flatly. “Pick the best weapon you can use from what’s available.”

The goblin grumbled as he plucked up a short sword. Within ten seconds, each goblin held a weapon and Joe put the rest away in his storage.

“Let’s move,” Hart ordered.

Joe obeyed, letting Sunny and Sandy lead the way.

[Kitties found humans,] said Sunny.

[Humans are chasing kitties,] added Sandy.

Around two minutes later, as they continued through the darkness, the distant sound of angry yells reached Joe’s ears.

A hairlike whip of human blood like the one that had cut off the tip of her right ear streaked toward Nino, but she dodged left, her powerful legs propelling her with contemptuous ease.

Another whip was waiting for her, but unlike last time, it slashed upward. Narrowly aborting the jump she’d been about to make, Nino ducked beneath the attack and disappeared into the trees.

This human was learning from his mistakes, and that made him dangerous.

The cats had led the blood human and the other who tried to force his way into their minds on a wild chase away from the Dungeon’s entrance, but it hadn’t been easy. Hanzo was dead. He’d been driven too close to the bigger man by the one with blood whips. His movements had slowed and he was cut to pieces.

Only her reflexes had kept Nino from a similar death, and she couldn’t find an opening to attack.

“Fuck. You see where it went?” Blood-man asked.

“This way,” the bigger man headed straight for Nino.

No. Nino accelerated, putting some distance between her and the humans.

They were fast—very fast for humans, but they couldn’t keep up with Nino.

Something crunched in the distance behind Nino.

“Fuck!” the bigger man yelped.

Blood-man kept running after Nino and said, “Get your hairy ass up, Roy. We’ve got another talking pussy to kill!”

Roy’s only reply was pained groaning.

The one who can sense me is injured. Good.

A well-concealed creek bed almost escaped Nino’s notice, but she managed to leap across. It was deep enough that even Nino might have been injured if she’d stumbled into it unaware.

Even evolved humans can’t see well in the dark.

Nino bared her teeth at that thought. She leaped to the right and hid behind a large tree to wait. Half a minute later, the blood-man ran right into the hidden creek bed she’d avoided. He uttered a wail of surprise just before his head struck a boulder and he crumpled onto his back amid shallow running water and smooth, rounded rocks.

For Hanzo.

Nino dropped onto the man, latched onto his head with her front feet, and raked her hind claws across his neck, tearing it open at a downward angle toward his left side. She kicked again for good measure, and the man’s blood flowed like a small stream from his gaping neck.

[Die, filth.]

Turning away from her doomed victim, Nino marked his face with a spritz of urine, then climbed the embankment and headed back toward the first man.

Pained groans reached her ears long before the man came into view where he’d tripped over a large tree root and then stepped wrong into a sizable crack in the gentle slope of the granite hillside. His right leg was bent the wrong way at the knee.

“Kevin! Where the fuck are you?” the man cried into the night.

Good. Suffer alone, in the darkness.

Nino left him wailing there and sprinted back to the Dungeon’s entrance where other humans had remained.

Six human men stood with firearms. They were quiet, watchful, and seemed wary of the darkness surrounding the torch-lit entrance.

Nino circled around to her right in the hope that she might lead these humans far away from the injured man.

[Help! Let me go! Mmf…] Nino shrieked in her best imitation of a human child’s voice as she pretended someone was abducting her.

“The fuck?”

“Mark. Ron. Check it out but don’t go too far.”

Two sets of feet approached as Nino circled a bit further from the injured man’s direction.

[Ee-mm!] she mimicked a terrified child’s scream being silenced, then hid herself inside a bush between two large trees as the feet tromped closer.

<Human male -F->

<Human male -F->

Mundane humans. Too easy.

Nino padded silently around behind the pair who moved side-by-side, then launched herself between them and raked just above their shoes. Her sharp front claws rent through clothing and flesh, and both men screamed in surprise as she dodged away to her left.

“The fuck was that?” one of the men hissed.

Firearms discharged repeatedly, making Nino’s ears ring as her victims bellowed in anger and pain, but neither of them managed to hit Nino.

Four additional sets of feet raced toward the injured men from the Dungeon’s entrance and Nino circled around at high speed.

All of them were normal, unawakened humans.

Prey.

Before the approaching men reached their injured companions, Nino leaped from the side and caught the last man’s face with her claws as she sailed past, raking furrows into his eyeball. He shrieked in panic and dropped his firearm as the others cursed and turned to see what had happened.

Nino circled again, then drew angry lines across the back of a man’s neck before disappearing into the darkness as another voice cried out in pain and surprise.

“There’s a wild animal! Flashlights!”

No.

While the uninjured men fumbled at their belts to grab lights, Nino leaped again, tearing at two more faces with her claws as she sailed between them.

Nino latched onto the tallest man’s head and pulled herself around until she sailed at the man whose neck she’d attacked.

His head was arched backward as he tried to staunch the bleeding with his hand. Nino twisted mid-air, then kicked off the front of that man’s throat with her hind legs, feeling flesh tear as he gurgled a ragged scream and she sailed toward her next victim.

Nino bounced between them until each had either a grievous neck or eye injury or both, and shots were fired at random.

Dashing away toward the Dungeon’s entrance, Nino heard many footsteps. She kept to thicker foliage as she approached. Hanzo may have technically been avenged, but the exhilaration of combat had Nino looking forward to more.

Floors: 9

Minions: 917/1260

Residents: 15/28

Denizens: 8.69M

Traps: 25/45