Chapter 86: Delve 8

Sunday, April 30th, 8:11 PM (Pacific Time)

Dungeon Ciara

Inside his prison cell, Alex seethed at the heavy, cold feel of the collar around his neck and the shackles that bound his powerless body against an immovable throne of stone that he could not affect in the slightest.

Alex had tried everything he could think of, but it was impossible even to sense, let alone access his mana. His body felt as weak and powerless as before he had met her.

The IV in his arm kept him alive, while somehow, this Dungeon removed all the waste generated from his nude lower half. Alex had been entirely healed by that intimidating marine, and the temperature in his prison was quite comfortable despite his shackles. Overall, the conditions were much more humane than he’d anticipated, and certainly better than what the Order would offer their prisoners.

Still, he was a prisoner, and every moment Alex spent in this place was time that allowed Earth’s enemies to gather their strength while Alex and his Dungeon stagnated. Despite his early lead, the other Dungeon Masters would surpass Alex if they hadn’t already, and he was powerless to do anything about it.

I should never have come here in person. It was arrogant to think that six of us could oppose another Dungeon and the US military.

Alex shut his eyes and steadied his breathing.

Next time, I’ll bring minions, like she suggested.

It hurt Alex’s pride, to know that woman had been correct—that Alex and his crew were nowhere near ready to assault the enemy Dungeon without assistance. Worse, Alex knew it was only a matter of time before his Dungeon in Yellowstone was discovered.

Alex was comforted that the other five holding chairs in his prison were empty.

At least they made it out somehow. With all five residents and the Order’s troops, they should be able to hold that place until I find a way out of here.

Alex frowned. Who am I kidding? Those dumb shits never work together unless I force them to. With her gone off to fuck-knows-where, the unstable bastards will act like a bunch of wannabe heroes and get steamrolled by anyone with an ounce of teamwork. He sighed. Especially Kevin and Karen… greedy shits.

His only hope was that she might send assistance, but their Lord cared nothing for those who lacked power.

Tears of frustration welled in Alex’s eyes as, for what felt like the hundredth time since he’d been captured, he came to the logical conclusion that help would never reach him in this place. His allies would carry on without him, and she would have another take Alex’s Dungeon away, along with his chance at becoming a true immortal.

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Sunday, April 30th, 9:11 PM (Mountain Time)

Yellowstone National Park

Nino rejoined Joe and the others, informing them that Hanzo was slain, but they’d managed to kill one enemy resident minutes before, while the other was alone in the darkness with a broken leg.

Colonel Hart said, “Excellent work, Nino. Hanzo’s sacrifice is appreciated.”

Nino glared at him with her unblinking eyes. [I will require a perch on your shoulder, and scritches when we have finished. Hanzo will expect double his usual pets after our return.]

Hart smiled at Nino. “Your terms are acceptable.”

After Nino hopped up and clung to his uniform, Hart turned to Joe. “Schimpf, lead us inside.”

Halfway down the stairs, Nino said, [This Dungeon smells like human waste.]

Joe replied, “Yeah, for some reason, it doesn’t clean things up like Ciara’s Dungeon.”

Nino’s ears laid back. [Disgusting.]

They reached the Dungeon Master’s room without incident.

“Below this hatch are enemy minions. I was attacked by flying insects last time. Their stings caused swift paralysis and pain. The discomfort persisted even after antidote and healing.”

“We’ll need webs to deal with them,” Siobhán tapped her chin.

[A simple matter,] said one of the two spider Enkelyn—an alien species of ten-legged orb weaver. Its long black abdomen had softly glowing bands of blue, and its forward-facing eyes seemed much too large for its face. It climbed to the ceiling and darted to and fro, attaching lines of silk.

Nino watched them work with rapt attention. Her eyes followed their movements with predatory intensity.

The other spider Enkelyn moved without a word to assist its comrade. Its stocky body was eight-legged, tarantula-like, and though its legspan was smaller, it rivaled Nita by mass.

Siobhán backed away from the trap door. “Right. Colonel, we should give them room to work. I can have Nita spin webs in the other rooms here to restrain anyone who revives.”

“Make it so,” said Hart. “Schimpf, get your bow ready.”

Joe replied, “Aye, sir.”

Nita raced off to do Siobhán’s bidding.

Colonel Hart rested his right hand on the grip of his officer’s sword while Joe produced his compound bow and quiver.

From the doorway, Joe watched as the two spider Enkelyn prepped their traps. The black and blue orb weaver had nearly covered the ceiling with a framework of silk while the tarantula-type raced across the floor, laying down impressive sheets of silk from its long, prehensile spinnerets.

The orb weaver attached a line of silk to the trapdoor’s ring-handle, then attached that with a fair amount of slack to the lattice of silk above.

Joe caught sight of Nita skittering out from the first room and through another door. The orb weaver raced between the floor and ceiling multiple times, attaching more lines to connect the sheet web below to its framework above. Before long, three orb webs had taken shape, with stretchy, sticky silk blocking all access to the doorway where Joe, Joy, Colonel Hart, and the dogs stood.

Six minutes after they’d started, the spider Enkelyn and Nita had their webs completed.

Joy chuckled after she peeked into one of the other rooms.

“What?” Siobhán asked.

Joy shrugged. “Nita isn’t messing around. Anyone who revives in those rooms is going to have a shitty day.”

Siobhán’s curiosity tugged at Joe through their bond as she trotted to look.

“Pff—hahaha!” Siobhán shook her head with a gleeful expression. “She spun horizontal orb webs in those rooms. Anyone who respawns will trip and fall right in.”

“Damn.” Joe raised his eyebrows.

Joe had messed with Nita’s silk just once—and that was more than enough. The familiar’s silk was thin and strong. The day after Joe and Siobhán became intimate for the first time, he’d tested a taut strand by pushing his index finger against it. The silk cut directly to the bone as it split Joe’s fingernail in two.

“Good. Now,” Hart moved in front of the Stone goblins who chattered among themselves in the hallway. “I want you all to seal off these other doorways.” Hart indicated the five other rooms. “Fill them with enough hardened stone that anyone who can’t use stoneshaping will be trapped inside.”

The red-eyed Stone goblins grinned—a terrifying sight as their sharp-toothed smiles reached the very edges of their faces. They ran down the hallway, pairing up to work on each doorway. Less than a minute later, their work was done.

“That’s impressive,” Hart mused.

Joe scratched his chin and nodded his agreement.

The goblins had matched the stone’s pattern to the false brickwork of the hallway, making it impossible to tell where the doors had been if you didn’t already know.

[We are ready,] said the Enkelyn orb weaver as it perched behind one of its webs while the tarantula-type hid inside a funnel of silk.

Hart glanced at the others. “Be ready, everyone. Eyes on the trap door. Anything that gets through, I want it cut to pieces or smashed to paste—whatever it takes. Schimpf, you will see to anyone if they’re stung.”

“Aye, sir.”

Hart drew his officer’s sword. “Open it.”

The ten-legged orb weaver reached one of its long front legs through the web and caught the silk line attached to the trap door. With a single tug, the door swung up and open. The spider secured that line to hold it open.

Aside from a horrid, familiar stench, nothing exited the tunnel.

“I don’t hear anything,” said Hart.

[Buzzings from inside,] said Sandy.

[Heavy breathings, too.] Sunny licked her chops. She sounded eager.

Nino glared at the trap door. [This smelly Dungeon should be destroyed.]

The tarantula Enkelyn darted out of its silken funnel and peeked below.

[Enemy minions sighted at the far end of a large hallway. We can build webs inside.]

Hart grinned. “Excellent. Make it happen.”

The orb weaver Enkelyn joined the other down below.

“I can have Nita cut these webs if you like,” said Siobhán.

“After the hallway below is secured with webs,” said Hart.

Siobhán replied, “Okay.”

Her small, cool hand gripped Joe’s arm.

Joe stiffened a bit when Hart glanced at what she was doing.

Colonel Hart snorted. “You can all rest for now. We’ve got a few minutes to wait. Just keep yourselves and your weapons ready to act at a moment’s notice. Nino and the dogs will let us know if anyone’s coming.”

[We will!] All four dogs replied in unison.

Nino glared at the canines from Hart’s shoulder, but said nothing.

Siobhán beamed at Joe, who dodged instinctively as Nita leaped from her chest to the ceiling.

Bella’s ears perked up and she boofed. The other dogs all gazed toward the Dungeon exit and did the same.

“What is it?” Colonel Hart asked.

Without turning their heads, the dogs replied in unison, [Humans approaching.]

[Many humans,] Nino added lazily.

“Shit.” Hart gripped his chin with one hand and covered his mouth. He pointed in the direction the pups were facing. “Stone goblins, I need you to seal the entrance from that training hall to this passage with your stoneshaping. Make it look like there was never a doorway from the other side.”

“We go!” They answered as one.

The Stone goblins grinned wickedly and rushed down the hallway as a team.

Joe furrowed his brow. “Sir, if we don’t exit in this direction, we’ll have to go the long way, through several floors and a series of deadly traps.”

Hart wrinkled his forehead and clicked his tongue. “If it comes down to it, we can make our own exit.”

By the time the goblins had finished their work, the Enkelyn spiders had their webs ready.

Nita tore the first set of webs down and they all climbed down to the hallway where the enemy minions waited.

Siobhán grinned at the rest of the Enkelyn as they made their way down after everyone else had reached the bottom tunnel.

Together, the Enkelyn comprised the two spiders, three Dragon Flies, three huge ants, an assassin bug, and an intimidating wasp. All were enormous, relative to Earth’s native species, though only the tarantula—the largest among their number, approached Nita’s size.

Everyone looked at Hart

“Hold one moment,” said Colonel Hart. He sized up the ten Enkelyn. “What sorts of magic can you all use?”

[Force,] the tarantula replied. Several hairs from its abdomen detached and hovered above its body, their sharp ends aimed toward the enemy minions.

[Wind,] said the ten-legged spider.

[Acid.] The ants lowered their heads, curled their abdomens over themselves, and shot sticky droplets onto the stone. The substance sizzled on contact with the volcanic rock and ate its way out of sight in less than a second.

The assassin bug brandished its sharp rostrum. Its eyes glowed as it said, [Venom. I have three different toxins. I can dissolve flesh, cause paralysis, alter the mind, or any mix of those three.]

Shit. Joe recalled the sharp, lasting pain of a normal assassin bug’s bite and the small hole the venom had eaten into his knuckle. He shuddered at the thought of what this sixteen-centimeter bug could do, while Siobhán leaned forward with rapt attention.

Joe scrunched his eyebrows and glanced at his girlfriend. Siobhán’s weird. Cute-weird, but still.

Dragon Flies gave a mixed response—two produced spikes of ice facing down the hallway while the third blew a puff of flame as they hovered beside one another.

Hart nodded. “Excellent. Can any of you reach the enemy minions with your spells while leaving the silk intact?” He gestured to the layered orb webs that blocked the passage ahead.

[I can.] The tarantula Enkelyn raised a foreleg while the others remained silent. [However, using force magic at such range will drain my mana quickly.]

Hart narrowed his eyes and glared at the mass of enemy creatures that lurked with unnatural patience just sixty meters away. “Right. Listen up…”

As Colonel Hart spoke, Joe felt himself grin at the plan.

With their orders set, everyone but Nita, Joe, and the Colonel climbed back up to the room above.

Joe reached into his storage for two items—an arcstone-tipped arrow and a vacuum-sealed pouch filled with a potent plastic explosive—C-4.

Joe held the arrow point-down against the stone floor while Nita wrapped it with silk around ten centimeters back from the tip, until there was a band a half-centimeter thick surrounding the shaft. Once that was done, Hart removed a portion of C-4 the size of Joe’s thumb and pressed that into a small cone shape just ahead of Nita’s silk stopper.

They prepped five arrows in this manner, setting them well apart from one another on the ground. Joe put earplugs in as Nita and the colonel climbed back to the Dungeon Master’s room to wait.

Once everyone else was away from the hallway, Joe grabbed the first arrow and aimed for a large badger-like creature at the center of the enemy minion horde.

Joe called out, “Fire in the hole.”

When he released the first arrow, it streaked away at supersonic speed while the plastic explosive was left behind as an awkward broken ring that separated into tiny bits as it passed through the tough webs in front of Joe.

The badger minion struck by Joe’s arrow almost exploded from the intense cavitation caused by such a violent transfer of energy—as did several creatures behind it. The last minion hit by Joe’s arrow twitched and screamed. Then, as one, the entire horde growled, screeched, and raged as it turned its attention toward him and charged.

Joe already had his second arrow ready, and drew his bow part-way, hoping this time he could avoid losing the C-4 when the arrow was released.

Joe watched in wonder as his arrow flew in a normal arc instead of disappearing instantly like a sniper bullet. As it neared the badger at the front of the horde, several enemy wasps were already headed for Joe. But the flying insects splattered into paste after his arrow struck its target.

As anticipated, the C-4 slid forward on impact and contacted the arcstone, causing it to detonate. The badger’s mouth had been open, and its skull became shrapnel that harmed the minions around it. The horde slowed as most of the badgers stumbled over one another and even scuffled among themselves while Joe aimed his third arrow.

Even with hearing protection, Joe’s ears hurt when the overpressure struck, and he pressed his lips in grim anticipation as he loosed his third arrow at the center of the enemy group. He’d drawn the bow a little too far back, and this arrow lost its plastic explosives as the first wasps that had survived ran into the webs and struggled with impotent rage against the impenetrable barrier.

Shit. Joe pulled the wad of plastic explosive off the next arrow and tossed it aside before shooting the nearest badger with a full draw. The arrow skipped upward after passing through his target and striking the floor, but it failed to hit anything else.

Fewer than five meters separated Joe from the advancing minions when he grabbed the last arrow and raced for the stairs.

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Floors: 9

Minions: 917/1260

Residents: 15/28

Denizens: 8.71M

Traps: 25/45