by Matthew Peed
“Boss is amazing!” I said, thinking about him scolding me earlier.
He was scary, that was for sure, but he was so powerful. The ultimate machine! I got shivers just thinking about those perfectly aligned parts moving in his chest. I wondered if he would allow me to inspect them someday.
“Careful,” I heard Terry say.
“I know, I know. At least let me daydream,” I pouted.
“I don’t care if you daydream, just don’t do it about the one being that we owe everything to. Last thing I need to hear is how you pissed him off enough to take us down with you.”
I nodded and looked at the mech under us. It was humanoid but sized down to fit inside the dungeon. It stood three meters tall and about a meter wide in the shoulders. Made from an orichalcum alloy, it could withstand many levels of magic and physical attacks. While it was designed by goblins, Boss had manufactured them so they were much smoother than what a goblin would make. It was truly quite imposing.
There was an assortment of weapons it could be equipped with depending on what was called for. Blunt, sharp, projectile, and all the way to energy were available thanks to Boss. The mechs came with a limited barrier projector that could last for several minutes under intense fire before its own internal battery drained.
“We reach our destination in the morning. Make sure everything is triple-checked. This is the goblins’ first mission from the boss. I . . . we won’t fail him,” I ordered.
“Yes, ma’am. We’ll get it done!” Terry said with a grin that showed his fangs.
Chapter 8
Regan
The sound of dead and rotting trees being trampled echoed out as my forces moved through the undead forest. Units with teleport matrixes sent the debris back to the dungeon without much issue so that I could quickly absorb it. Of course, some of the dead and rotting stuff simply turned to ash a lot of the time after being crushed by the marching automata.
The number of beastkin had also exploded. This deep in, the corruption was much worse, but there were still large concentrations of them. I found that their survival rate depended on their having a leader with at least end-tier-two-level strength.
This also meant that Ren was receiving a lot of challenges right now. The combat was well taken by the girl, and I could feel her power increasing by the day. It appeared a lesser version of the mana absorption that my minions have on their defeated enemies was at work with her.
I did get some good news from Tony that some adventurers had finally reached the twentieth floor. I would need to expand the number of floors again soon. Unlike a traditional dungeon, I used mine more like a resource for outside ventures. So instead of fighting through forty floors to reach my core, a group would actually only have to fight through around twenty floors total.
My floating island section would be a decent block for many parties, but they could easily hire a mage who knew flight magic to get them across. Maybe I would make some wyverns or something to attack anything that was not supposed to be in the air. At least the island that led to the next set of floors wasn’t marked in any way other than by some ruins.
I shook my head and decided to worry about it later, doubting anyone would get through the goblin city in only a few days. It was still technically a boss floor. There were a few ways to get to the next floor, but all of them required dealing with Godfather Tony. Tony had a very large and encompassing love for coins.
I looked back to the screen. My forces were encircling Alara’s dryads. There was still one more on the path to her location, but the rest were all around her in a circle. I planned to launch a coordinated attack on all the dryads at once. Anubis was already prepped to teleport to each of the dryads once they were . . . incapacitated.
My forces would take a few days to surround the entire area that made up what I decided to call Alara’s “influence.” They were having to fight their way to each location, after all. Each commander unit was equipped with a few transponders to install at suitable locations. I didn’t have full control over them like my dungeon aura, but I could move my forces via teleporting much easier at those locations, mainly due to the unholy mana being weaker in those zones.
For now, I looked toward the one dryad that was still “in the way” of my path to Alara. I wasn’t even playing any games with this one. It was magnified on the screen, being over a hundred kilometers away. I wanted to see the necromancers deal with my attack this time. I looked over to Anubis.
“You ready? You won’t have much time and will most likely be under fire,” I said.
“Yes. With Father fully equipping my squad, I’ll be fine as long as it doesn’t detonate again. That shouldn’t happen with your plan.” Anubis grinned, his fangs shining in the light.
“Very well.” I gripped his shoulder, then turned to the bridge crew. “Begin bombardment!”
A screen came up that showed a zoomed-in view of the dryad from space. An army nearly twice as dense and made up of treants, corrupted beasts, and other monsters surrounded the dryad. I was sure there were some airships using illusions to hide in the area. They were about to receive a very rude awakening.
Ten seconds from my issuing the order, six brilliant beams of energy lanced down from the sky, two hitting the dryad nearly directly, while the others hit within a hundred meters of it. The monsters that were hit by the initial beam were vaporized. The dryad instantly started to char. A midair explosion signaled one of the enemy airships being turned into cinder.
Three seconds passed before they were able to get the barrier up. Unfortunately, it was pointless. It held for a max of five seconds before the ion beams pierced through. There was a moment of stillness before the pulse from the satellites crashed into the dryad and its surroundings. Everything within five kilometers turned into a blazing flame that looked like it was straight out of hell. All the screens turned into the magic version of static from the magical blast wave.
“Mana in the area has reached dangerous levels. Corruptions will spawn if not handled within a few minutes,” one of the bridge automata said.
“Noted,” I said to the automaton, then ordered, “All forces move. Anubis, once temperatures reach levels you can handle, go in!”
The airship fleet moved forward, while the land forces worked to make ground. Through doing controlled tests, we knew how long it took for what the labs were calling “corruptions” to manifest. Another thing I owed to Jarvis with my being too busy to do the testing myself as of late. I wondered how I would be if I had built my dungeon similar to a regular dungeon. Probably significantly more bored, I thought with a chuckle.
“Temperature within tolerable levels!” an automaton called.
Anubis readied his weapon, then a blue light formed around him as the teleport matrix activated, sending him into the dying inferno. Maybe six ion cannons were a little much. A minute later, Alpha was close enough that I could start pulling the excess and raging mana into my aura. With my interference, the inferno died down quickly.
The sensors quickly found Anubis and his squad. They were completely unharmed, maybe a bit of ash on them. I didn’t think anything could survive that attack but wanted to be sure. Needless to say, none of the airships survived. Anubis quickly finished the ritual, and the golden sapling grew from the ashes of the dryad’s former body. I wasn’t surprised, given the fire’s size, that I felt a large amount of fire mana emanating from it.
With this dryad dealt with, we possessed a direct line to Alara. If I pushed the fleet, we could arrive by midday tomorrow even. I wouldn’t do that, however, as the necromancers had already proven to be more inventive when challenged. I would need to make the one responsible one of my new toys. The will required would be high, but I felt I could manage.
Speaking of toys, I needed to find out what Julie had learned. I ordered the bridge to handle this section the same as the others, then moved to the cells. I had set up a torture room for her there that was equipped with everything I thought a torturer could need. Hone
stly, though, I felt the knife would probably be enough to make most people open up, so to speak.
“Julie!” I called from the entrance.
I could see exactly what and where everything was in the room, but I didn’t want to be rude when entering a lady’s room. An insane and very unstable lady’s room, but a lady’s room nonetheless. In my mind’s eye I saw her peek up from where she was peeling one of the men’s skin back.
“Coming, Master!” Julie shouted and hurried over to me.
She was dripping with so much blood that I was actually surprised the group wasn’t dead. Her monochrome jester outfit I’d made for her was . . . crimson now. It was only made creepier by the large grin she wore when she ran toward me. She came to a full stop in front of me, and I could see her desire to hug me flashing in her eyes.
“Hello, Julie. How goes it?” I smiled.
“Good! I got everything they knew, I think.” She glanced back to four who were in various states of dismemberment. “I might have broken them,” she said, tilting her head to the side like a child that knew they were cute enough to get away with anything.
“Well . . . as long as you’re sure you got all the information from them,” I said, shaking my head.
“Yes! They knew little. They were ‘recruited’ at Jade Wind and were on their way to the citadel when they received orders to intercept the force approaching from the south. Of course, they figured it would be a walk in the park with their new power. They said there is a large plan in motion that would change the current political map. Of course, they didn’t have an accurate time frame,” she said in a rush.
“I don’t know how you guys got anything done before. How did you prevent your own people from walking into a planned culling?” I asked, rubbing my forehead.
“This is the biggest operation that the necromancer following has ever done. Before, or at least while the person who sent me my orders, there was a very loose ‘do stuff for achievements’ mentality. We might seem like we work together, but there was actually quite a bit of infighting between different groups of necromancers.”
“I remember you telling me that before. Alright. Anything else?” I asked.
“The situation is bad in Jade Wind. You might want to send that princess of yours back to help stabilize the city,” she said, actually looking serious.
“Is that so? Can’t say I’m surprised, considering half their air fleet up and left a few weeks ago,” I said, nodding.
“It’s more than that. The king is close to going insane, if what these four said can be trusted.” She shook her head.
I grinned wickedly. “Rats usually tell the truth if you hurt them enough.”
“Master!” Julie cried and wrapped her arms around my arm, latching on. “Only you understand me!”
“Julie! Damn it,” I said with exasperation.
She just gripped harder. I sighed and pulled her off. It took a little more effort than it used to, but living in the dungeon meant that her strength was increasing. I wasn’t sure why she hadn’t broken through yet, but the way necromancers worked was hard to understand. I’d once had Julie cultivate mana for me, but the ambient mana actually worsened her own. From what I could tell, she had to corrupt it and then reabsorb it. Something that I didn’t let her do, of course.
“Master! Let me out to kill things! Please! I haven’t killed anything since that little horde attacked the town,” she pleaded, rubbing her head into my arm.
“Don’t worry! It won’t always be necromancers that I’m fighting. You’ll get a chance to tear apart something sooner or later. For now, you’ll just have to be happy tearing them up.” I pointed back into the room. It might seem cruel, but in my opinion they had brought it upon themselves.
Julie pouted but didn’t say anything else. I walked into the room to inspect her handiwork. While back on Earth I certainly hadn’t been squeamish, and that was only amplified when I arrived on this world, but I was pretty impressed with Julie’s work. I could sense layers of her mana holding back blood from wounds that would normally have cause them to bleed out. If she were to release them, they would die in seconds.
“Are you four enjoying your stay? Can I get you anything to make you more comfortable?” I grinned, tapping one of the men on his forehead.
“Ple . . . ase . . . st . . . op,” the man wheezed out. Each syllable seemed to cause him immense pain.
“Sorry. I’ve classified you as an enemy. If you would like to be reclassified, I’m afraid it will take about a week and you need to submit all the correct paperwork.” I smirked diabolically.
“Pl . . . ea . . . se,” he managed to say.
I frowned, then slammed my clawed hand into his chest, instantly rupturing his heart. “I said no,” I growled, pulling my blood-soaked hand from the man.
The blood vanished as it was absorbed by my aura. The others were smart and didn’t try to plead with me. I sent my mental eye to scan the other prisoners and grabbed the fifth necromancer. I had left him with the other prisoners to see if he would try to organize some form of resistance and to find out who the normal leaders among the traitors were. I would be sending those to Izora for her to punish. Whether she killed them herself or she requested that I do it for her, these people would likely die.
When the necromancer appeared in the room, his first response was to look around wildly. He, of course, immediately saw his cohorts who were in pieces. I was glad he didn’t relieve himself. While my dungeon aura absorbed everything, I still considered it rude.
“What the hell?!” he shouted with a panicked tone.
“Welcome. Please enjoy your stay,” I said, flicking my wrist.
Chains shot out of the wall and wrapped around his limbs. They jerked him back, and his body was literally slammed against the wall. I heard a few cracks as bones shattered or broke. He instantly lost consciousness.
“Master?” Julie asked, confused.
“I left one with the prisoners to find the lead rats. He’s served his purpose, so you can have him,” I explained.
“Do you need information from him?” she asked as she eyed various tools that were lined up neatly on several tables.
“Nope, in fact, you can kill him when you’re done. Unholy mana on the individual scale barely makes a dent anymore. Those too when you’re done with them,” I said, pointing at the others hanging. Panic flashed on the faces of those who were conscious, and still had eyes. I could have added them to my collection, but they weren’t exactly high up on the totem pole.
“As you command, Master,” Julie said with a feral grin.
“I meant to ask you. Do you still worship the Celestial the necromancers follow?” I asked, thinking about why this fanatic didn’t give me faith.
“Yes . . . No . . . Maybe?” Julie said, sounding not sure herself. I thought it was the first time she actually looked normal. I decided to try something. Whether it worked or backfired would remain to be seen.
I reached over and grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up off the floor. “Remember this. I don’t share with my enemies. And . . . I plan to kill this Celestial. You better choose before I really don’t need any more necromancers,” I said, my tone flat.
“Yes . . . Master . . .” Julie managed to gasp out.
I wasn’t sure if it was my crushing her airway or the fact that she was scarlet in the cheeks and was clearly getting off on me hurting her, but I grinned at her answer and dropped her back to the floor. She wobbled for a moment before she righted herself.
“I have grown fond of you, and I don’t want to find another insane person who’s able to do this kind of work for me,” I said, glancing around.
Julie’s blush grew deeper. “I understand! You’re the only one for me!”
“Good,” I said, gripping her shoulder before walking out.
I was back on the bridge before Julie recovered and went to work on her new guest with such vigor that I was sure he would be dead within a day. The whole time, she wore a grin th
at split her face. I only grinned as I felt a small trickle of faith from her. I made sure to set the mana she could get from me down to nearly zero, just to be safe. I didn’t need a Julie who could destroy an entire town like Izora was now capable of.
Chapter 9
Izora
The goblin city was amazing. That was all I could think while we were there. I saw so many things that didn’t use mana to operate. The buildings were all constructed in ways that mana played no part in. We were allowed to go into the public buildings, and I was amazed by each one.
The other thing was the mechs that were all over the city. I thought they would be rare, considering we’d only seen the one on the way to the godfather’s manor, but I was completely wrong. They were almost like carriages in the countries, being used by anyone that looked to have even a little bit of a position.
“Hey! When can we go to the surface?” Alphonso asked for about the tenth time since we left Tony’s manor.
“Eventually,” I replied with a sigh. “We want to explore down here for a bit.”
“What do you want to see?!” he asked, bouncing on his feet.
“Well, that’s the problem. We don’t know what there is down here to check out,” I answered, shrugging.
“Do the goblins have a library or anything?” Tsuzuki asked.
“Huh? Of course, we do. We need a place to store our knowledge,” Alphonso said as if talking to a child.
“Uh, let’s check that out for now,” I said quickly.
“Yes, Boss.”
Alphonso led us through the city quickly. When the other goblins saw him, they made way for us. I could only grimace at the implications of that. We came to a large building that was made from dark brown material. I wasn’t sure but I felt it was made from wood. Large sections of glass made up parts of the buildings. To top it off there were large, lazily turning gears connected to the neighboring buildings.
