Vortena

by Neven Iliev

  The scream abated some fifteen seconds later, although the ringing in Xera and Kora’s ears felt like it would last a week. The fiend had been about to rip her own ears off in desperation, but the screeching had thankfully stopped before she went through with it. Boxxy immediately spat Fizzy out, as it wasn’t sure when the last time it had recycled the air inside its Storage had been. The gnome was a little disoriented, but otherwise fine.

  [Chaotic energies swirl around you. You have obtained new headgear.]

  Boxxy’s brief use of Storage had caused its Chaotic Disposition to trigger once again. The ‘new headgear’ revealed itself to be a black, cylindrical top-hat, which materialised out of thin air and stuck itself to the top of the chest’s lid. The Mimic grumbled inwardly, but couldn’t complain too much. At least it wasn’t something dangerous.

  “Th-thanks, Boxxy,” mumbled Fizzy, catching her breath.

  She smiled slightly when she saw the monster’s ridiculous new accessory, but refrained from breaking into outright laughter.

  “Hah! Nice hat, boss! Khihihihi!”

  Kora, on the other hand, giggled brazenly, though Boxxy failed to note the sarcasm.

  “Think so?” it asked curiously.

  “It is quite a classy one, Master,” Xera stated calmly. “If hats could be shiny, then this one most definitely would be.”

  Boxxy had to agree with her. Even if it wasn’t very practical, the top hat did seem to ooze a certain sense of fanciness.

  As for Valeria, she was surveying the damage she’d caused with a shit-eating grin on her face. The splintered remains of countless beetles were strewn all around, slowly crumbling into dust as the dungeon reclaimed them. The lich gleefully turned around and opened her mouth to brag, but was met instead with a dagger through her throat.

  “Keh! Kehok!” she coughed, visions of her first death flashing through her mind.

  “Don’t do unnecessary things!” Boxxy snarled, pulling the weapon from her neck.

  While Valeria may have tried to claim otherwise, there really had been no reason for her to do that. The group had had the situation well in hand, and could have easily cleared the swarm even without her ‘help.’ Granted, there was no telling how long that would have taken since it was unclear exactly how many of the things there had been, but it couldn’t possibly have been enough to overwhelm Boxxy. The creature’s omindirectional sight and flexible tentacles meant that it didn’t have any blind spots that could be exploited with such cheap tactics.

  “I didn’t let you live so that your stupidity could cause us more damage than the enemy!” it berated her. “You need to warn me next time you pull something like that, or it will be the last thing you neglect to do!”

  “Koff! Koff! I’m so sorry, sweetie!” she coughed. “I’ll be more mindful, please don’t be mad!”

  “… Alright. Since you understand, I’ll let you off with just one stab wound for now.”

  “Thank you ever so much!”

  The Mimic wasn’t being sympathetic, nor was this some bizarre form of forgiveness – it was simple pragmatism. What was done was done, and she had ended up saving them a bit of time, so it wasn’t as though her ill-advised actions were entirely without merit. However, even that small contribution would go to waste if Boxxy stopped to educate the lich on matters of friendly fire. It would do so eventually, of course, but now was neither the time nor the place.

  The party continued their climb undisturbed, wary of a repeat attack that never came. Either the ambush from earlier had been the dungeon’s only means of defence, or whoever was in charge here had decided a repeat would be futile.

  Regardless, no other traps or enemies appeared to impede the group’s progress, even once they had reached the top of the stairs. What blocked their way forward this time was a set of heavy double doors carved from even more shiny black marble. A series of intricate patterns was etched into the massive slabs, indicating that this was probably a place of some significance.

  “Uhm, B-Boxxy?” Fizzy spoke up. “D-do you think we can take a reh- rest b-before we go… in… there?”

  The gnome’s already shaky voice grew smaller and smaller with every word she spoke. While the Mimic had said that it would be willing to take a break for her sake, this was the first time that she’d actually dared to ask for one. Though they had spent the better part of the day invading the dungeon, Boxxy had still made everyone take regular breaks to replenish their HP and MP even without her saying anything. The stupidly long climb, however, had drained what was left of her stamina.

  “Okay,” Boxxy said, much to Fizzy’s relief. “Will half an hour be enough?”

  “Y-yes! That’ll be plenty!”

  “Good. Arms, Snack – guard the stairs, make sure nothing sneaks up on us from behind.”

  “Understood, Master.”

  “You got it, boss!”

  “Nasty.”

  “Yes, my darling!”

  “You shut up and be quiet. I have preparations to make.”

  “Eh! But- But! Surely we can prepare by doing that a few times, right?!”

  “I suggest you do as Master commands,” Xera whispered. “Unless you’ve grown to like being stabbed in the neck.”

  “There’s no such thing, you stupid slut! Not everyone’s as hopelessly rotten as you!”

  The succubus scoffed at the sheer irony in Valeria’s words and stepped down to join Kora in keeping watch. The pouting lich seemed to calm down a bit and turned around to resume protesting, but was stunned into silence when she saw that Boxxy had assumed Xera’s form and was sheathed in what appeared to be an aura of crackling lightning.

  “Dark Explosion!”

  The lich raised her hands and clenched her eyes shut in preparation for a blast that never came. After a few seconds, she peeked warily at the Mimic, realising that it was holding a twelve-sided, transparent object filled with ominous-looking energy. Her confusion was entirely natural, as this was her first time seeing Boxxy prepare a Big Bang Ball – a combination of Power Overwhelming, Crystallise Magic and Dark Explosion.

  Boxxy deposited the solidified lump of mana into Storage and removed a metal toolbox that caught Fizzy’s attention immediately. It was one of the bomb-making kits that she had sold to it about a month ago, before her life had gone to utter and complete shit. The Mimic opened the box and nonchalantly began putting together some rough hand grenades with whatever leftover materials it could find. After about five minutes its MP had fully recovered, so it stopped momentarily to make another Big Bang Ball before resuming its tinkering.

  It was highly likely that there was something big on the other side of those doors, and the creature wanted to make sure that it was adequately prepared. It had refrained from using magic until now, since it had wanted to raise its Mimic Job Level, but that was not why it had climbed the Spire. It could have gotten all the XP it needed by fighting in the hedge maze outside, so there would be no need to hold back when it confronted whatever was behind that door.

  Which was where Crystallise Magic would come in. The Skill was at Level 5, meaning that the Spell Crystals would last up to thirty minutes before disappearing. With a production rate of one Big Bang Ball every five minutes, the Mimic could walk through those doors with full MP and five or six of them at the ready. The Artificer-made explosives could technically be used to help finish the job in case the magic ones proved insufficient, although that wasn’t the main reason Boxxy was making them. It had simply wanted to pass its idle time doing something productive and making bombs with the materials it had on hand had seemed like the best way to do it.

  Unfortunately, it was short on explosive components, so it was only able to throw together six basic hand grenades and three satchel charges. It moved on to making music boxes with the copious amounts of cogs, gears and springs in its Storage, steadily raising the Level of both its Artificer Job and its Clockwork Expertise Skill.

  Meanwhile, the two demons diligently carried out their orders, keeping
an eye out for enemies while humping each other. When questioned, Kora simply stated that she didn’t have eyes on her dick, so it was fine if it was buried in Xera’s ass. Boxxy conceded the point and allowed them keep at it on the condition that they both remained vigilant.

  Valeria watched the two go at it, her eyes wide. She’d had no idea that the tall, muscular demon had one of those hidden away. The revelation of the fiend’s extra equipment had been quite a shock, though it had faded soon after. Pretty soon, she found herself growing excited as she watched them, even going so far as to caress herself between her legs. She threw a few longing glances over at Boxxy, but the Mimic did not even appear to register her existence. Not only was it entirely focused on its work, but it had already given Valeria her share of ‘affirmative action’ for the day. It had taken care of that on the way back from retrieving its dagger, which was why it had arrived a few hours later than it otherwise would have.

  Fizzy also watched intently, though her gaze had been captivated by far less perverse matters.

  So, this is how Boxxy gained Artificer Levels so rapidly, she remarked internally.

  A veritable storm of screwdrivers, wrenches, tweezers, hammers and wire cutters was putting together clockwork contraptions before her very eyes. It wasn’t just the sheer number of tool-tipped appendages. The mind-boggling speed and pinpoint precision with which they worked was absolutely fascinating to the gnome. The display was so fantastic, so utterly mesmerising that she could do little more than stare in openmouthed astonishment, not even registering all the lewd noises around her. She could scarcely believe that the brutish thing was capable of such delicate movements, but it made sense, considering the expertise with which they had flicked and teased her sensitive spots yesterday.

  The realisation that she had just complimented her own rapist on its technique snapped the gnome out of her reverie. That was the one thing she could not forgive, the one thing that had truly hurt her in a way that was very different from the beatings. Or the kidnapping. Or the memory wiping. At least she could understand why the Mimic had done those things, but yesterday morning was completely unforgivable.

  … Or was it?

  Thinking back, Fizzy realised that her captor had never truly shown any real animosity towards her. It had been understandably upset with her at its capture, but it had since shifted the blame for that onto the gods’ faith-measuring contest. None of the abuse had been because it hated her. In fact, it had become considerably kinder lately – if anything, it actually looked after her.

  Didn’t it?

  But no, absolutely not, the rape yesterday could never be brushed aside so easily, no matter how hard she tried. It had completely crushed her, leaving the gnome utterly disgusted at the feeling of her own sullied body. She no longer even felt like a living being with thoughts and emotions, and had been silently contemplating suicide ever since it had happened.

  It would be so… easy to do it. She had both the means and opportunity to escape her living nightmare, and the monstrous chest would be powerless to stop her.

  But she would not, nay, could not do such a thing. Even if her mind wavered, her body remained firm. The biological drive to survive led her to sleep, eat and drink whenever possible. The unstoppable urge to cling onto her fragile existence with all her might was something the Mimic had thoroughly ingrained into her very being. The Mimic had demanded that she live, and if there was one thing the tortured woman could not deny, it was Boxxy’s demands.

  The thing was basically a natural disaster in the shape of a treasure chest. It would appear without warning and for no discernible reason, then proceed to do whatever it damn well pleased, caring nothing for anyone it hurt along the way. It didn’t matter how much its victims tried to beg, plead or resist, they were powerless to stop it. From Fizzy’s point of view, standing up to the thing was completely futile. Even if she were to survive the attempt, she’d be left homeless, destitute and drenched in various fluids, as if she’d challenged a typhoon.

  … Almost exactly like that, actually.

  Part Seven

  Boxxy ordered its minions to get ready for combat. It had finished its preparations and was ready to face whatever awaited it on the other side of those doors. Kora and Xera stopped their antics and got in position, as did Valeria. Fizzy had braced herself as well, feeling strangely fired up. She just wanted to hit something, over and over again. Though she hadn’t gotten to do all that much thus far, bashing those stone golems had turned out to be a surprisingly effective outlet for her pent-up anger. Probably not the healthiest method of therapy, but an effective one nonetheless.

  The Mimic instructed Arms to open the heavy double doors and the eager fiend got to work immediately. She placed two hands on each door, really putting her back into it as she pushed them apart. Or at least, that was what she’d meant to do, but the large stone slabs opened practically on their own after her initial nudge. A large, circular chamber lay beyond, its walls, floor and ceiling made up of the same mystery stone as the rest of the Spire.

  However, unlike the agonisingly long staircase, this room was far from featureless. Twenty evenly-spaced statues made from even more shiny black stone lined its walls. Though they were all based on the same aesthetic ideal as the soldiers outside, each of the constructs was uniquely outfitted with spears, shields, staves, bows, daggers, swords and axes in various configurations. One of them was even wielding a pitchfork as though it were an angry farmer. All were currently inanimate, but things were unlikely to stay that way, given the nature of the dungeon.

  There was also the matter of the room’s dimensions. It was easily thirty metres in diameter, which was considerably wider than the tower it supposedly occupied. A chamber so large would undoubtedly be visible from the ground, giving the Spire a mushroom shape, but that clearly hadn’t been the case. Its actual location was also suspect, as Boxxy seriously doubted whether this was indeed the top floor. They had definitely climbed at least ninety metres worth of stairs by its estimate, despite the fact that the tower couldn’t possibly be taller than fifty.

  In short, this room’s very existence made no sense, yet here it was.

  And the thing most likely responsible for the creation of the impossible space was in this very room. A crystal sphere, roughly a metre wide, floated just under the center of the circular ceiling. It glowed with bright blue light, lighting up the entire room like a miniature sun. The radiant glow pulsed slowly, releasing waves of mana that washed over the group with every ‘heartbeat’ of the magical sphere. Those waves were so heavy with magic that magically enhanced perception wasn’t even necessary to sense them radiating outwards, especially at this short distance.

  This was without a doubt the magic core responsible for maintaining the Spire of the Jade King, and directly underneath it, sitting on a heavy-looking throne, was the dungeon’s namesake. The Jade King was bright green, his slightly transparent body shaped like an elderly, bearded man wearing a crown on his head. He was also depicted as wearing clothes and armour, unlike the twenty naked ‘servants’ around him. The statue’s eyelids opened slowly as he awakened, his shimmering, crystalline eyes regarding the five intruders into his royal chamber as he lifted his intricately-detailed body from its seat.

  He drew the beautiful sword sheathed at his left, pointing the heavy blade directly at Boxxy and its group. His arrogant posture and grand movements exuded a regal demeanour truly befitting of a mighty ruler. The black statues lining the walls moved in unison, kneeling before their sovereign as if this was some sort of elaborate stage play. The invaders prepared to repel an attack at the sudden movement, but the golems showed no further signs of life.

  “Who. Dares?”

  A deep, groaning voice echoed throughout the chamber, making it difficult to tell exactly which direction the sound was coming from. One would assume that this was the Jade King’s voice, but that was debatable seeing as his lips hadn’t moved.

  “Intruders. In. My. Realm?” he cont
inued. “I. Shall. Show. Thee-”

  *Clunk*

  The Jade King’s speech was rudely interrupted as a small, glassy object struck him square in the forehead. It bounced harmlessly off his shiny skin and fell, prompting the three-metre-tall golem to catch it in his free hand almost by reflex. A very poor decision, given the nature of the magic sealed inside the crystal.

  *KADOOON*

  [Your target has sustained massive injury. Target HP -760.]

  The force of the blast shook the entire room, sending green shards flying in every direction. Boxxy didn’t even wait for the dust to settle before throwing the rest of the Big Bang Balls it had prepared. Each released a deafening blast of destructive force as they tore through the Jade King’s body, dealing damage comparable to that of the first. Notifications informing the Mimic that its Crystallise Magic, Power Overwhelming and Ruin Mastery Skills had gone up to Levels 6, 7 and 9, respectively, flashed through its mind. It was about to move onto the Artificer-made explosives before it suddenly stopped, tentacles on the pins, as it realised that there was nothing left to explode.

  [The final guardian of the Spire of the Jade King has been slain.]

  [Feat of strength performed! You have unlocked a new Perk: Rare Golem Dismantler – Jade.]

  [To the victor go the spoils.]

  [The dungeon’s monsters will become more docile for the next 48 hours.]

  Xera, Kora, Fizzy and Valeria could do little but gape in stunned silence at the cloud of dust that had once been the dungeon’s final boss, their jaws hanging wide open. The only thing left of the Jade King once the air had cleared was a collection of jagged green pebbles scattered all over the floor. The series of blasts, totaling over three and a half thousand points of damage, had been so violent that a number of them had even embedded themselves in the far wall. The four women could scarcely believe their eyes, but the dungeon-wide all-clear message was definite proof that yes, it was already over.

  “Well,” Boxxy finally broke the silence. “That was easy!”