Chapter 161 - Delve and Loot

Note : Edited the chapter to add a section at the end that I had forgotten to implement.

Chapter 161

Red Sands Desert, Principality of Rebirth

Dungeon Factory, Second Floor

Allya sighed as she sat down, before collapsing on her back. She just…stayed there, panting slightly, for several solid seconds. She was far from out of shape, or training, but holy shit she'd forgotten just how draining dungeon delving was. She was too used to assassinations, or being a commander in battle, where ninety-nine percent of the time was preparation, and the last percent was high intensity combat.

She opened her eyes as she felt a shadow fall over her.

"Well, you look worse for wear." Said Raika, before kneeling down by Allya's side, and handing the baroness a bottle of water. "Here, drink, it'll help."

"I'm not a newbie you know." Said Allya, before sitting up and taking a gulp.

"I know you're not. But you're…what was it again? 'So creaky you squeak?'"

They exchanged a smile, and Allya shook her head.

"Alright, I'll admit I'm a bit -a bit!- rusty." She took another gulp. "You seem to be less shy."

"Just old instincts kicking in. That's all."

"And a bit of battle born bonding."

"That too." Raika cleared her throat. "I wanted to thank you. For the training, and, uh, the gear too."

"Ah, figured that one out." She'd suggested offering some equipment to the adventurers, or at least an allowance, but Dominique had pointed out that Raika was rather proud, and would probably balk. Hence why she'd given the mana to the guild representative and told her to simply present to them as a fund to get them back on their feet, that it'd be repaid from the share guild took from quest payments or something. "Didn't take you long."

"It wasn't hard. I know Dominique well, and that girl is…well, she's not a very good liar to begin with."

"I suppose it's something I should have kept in mind. Do you have any objections?"

Raika sighed, and shook her head.

"No. Thank you, we…we really needed it, to get ourselves back on our feet."

"Don't mention it. It's literally pocket change for me. Besides, it gets you to keep my ass alive."

"Well, we seem to be doing pretty well so far."

Allya nodded. They'd crushed the first boss of the dungeon, but…She had a sneaking suspicion the fight had been a bit easier than it should have been. Moreover, any doubts she might have had about Crystal being Alexandra were very deeply buried now. The golems just refused to even consider attacking Alyssa most of the time. She'd heard of tales aplenty of ranged golems, whether with crossbows or javelins, ruthlessly targeting healers and casters, but while Dominique had taken her fair share of fire, the attacks on Alyssa had been pathetic in their number…and had they landed, would have been grazing hits as well.

Raika was a whole other matter, but clearly the woman could take a hit, and Alexandra -Crystal, damn it!- clearly knew it.

"So we are. But we haven't even finished the second floor yet."

"Plan on making it to the third floor?"

"Oh, absolutely. If we can." And that was because she wanted to be as close as possible to Alexandra's core. Something told her that the deeper they went, the closer she'd be to unveiling the dungeon core's secrets.

If only she knew what to do with them once she had acquired them. So far she was doing it because it was what you didn't know that killed you, like when the dungeon core had pulled back her forces to fight…something inside her mesa. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't hoping for the scanners to shed some light on that particular mystery as well.

"Well, I suppose we better rest up then. There's a lot of fights ahead of us."

"Yeah." Allya flopped back down.

"I'll…let you take a breather. See you later milady."

"For the love of the Gods, call me Allya."

Raikia looked at her, rising an eyebrow, and the baroness chuckled.

"Everyone calls me that already. It's becoming pretty tiring. Only my girlfriend seems to remember my name instead of my title anymore. Besides, Pyn's a lady too. Makes it less confusing in combat."

"Well, if you insist…"

"Consider it a standing order from the local tyrant, if it's so much of a problem."

Raika chuckled.

"Well, I'll pick one from Dominique's little book of sarcasm, and only respond with 'your wish is my command milady.'"

Allya chuckled.

Maybe this delve wouldn't be so bad after all.

*****

"So…care to explain this?" Asked Alexandra as she tapped her armrest. There'd been a delay in her questioning, since the party had picked their adventuring back up, but there'd been a tense backdrop to the entire event, and now that they'd stopped to rest once again.

"Look, Alex, I…" Started Emilia.

"Milady, I-" Said Sarah, cutting off the advisor, and practically stepping in between Emilia and the dungeon core.

Alexandra turned her gaze to the maid, and the vampire took a partial step back, whatever she was going to say dying on her lips. For a split second there was something in the dungeon core's eyes. Something…horrifying.

But as suddenly as it began, the feeling ended.

"Sarah. I appreciate your loyalty." And Alexandra really did, in fact, appreciate it. "But this is not the time and place for it. You are all on the stand for this, but Emilia first and foremost because she is my advisor, whose job it is to tell me stuff like this." Alexandra turned back to Emilia. "So, you knew." It wasn't a question. But it wasn't an accusion either. "Why did you not tell me?"

Emilia took a deep breath…and sighed, seemingly deflating both literally and metaphorically before Alexandra's very eyes.

"Because I was forbidden to. As with spells, there are strict guidelines on what I can and cannot tell you. Admittedly some of these guidelines are more flexible than others, but…not this one."

"Alright. Then pray tell, why is it not common knowledge? Why does no one mention that the Gods literally created magic?"

The vampire shrugged.

"As far as I know, it used to be common knowledge. It just…faded out over time."

"Uh-uh."

"Yes, 'uh-uh'. The fact that the servants of the God of Fire didn't keep it as one of their core teachings probably didn't help, alright? But there are still people who know, although I suppose they are few, and not many would believe them. Why does it matter?"

It matters a lot. It matters because it gives a whole different spin on my existence and what is going on. It matters in that it weighs on whether I can trust you or not, whether I should keep you at a distance or even neutralize you as my other self suggests. It matters because I am increasingly terrified I'm going to have to fight your damned Gods if I am to survive this madness! Thought Alexandra. But of course, she did not give voice to those thoughts.

Instead, she leaned forward.

"It matters because I am worried what else you could keep from me. Something important, critical even, that could end us all."

Emilia visibly hesitated, before sighing.

"I…I don't know. I don't think I am. But I cannot betray my oaths either. I…I need to talk to my mother."

Alexandra looked at her girlfriend, and nodded.

"Do so." She once again gazed at the vampire, before getting up, and hugging her tightly.

There was a second of hesitation, before Emilia hugged her back.

"Alright." Said Alexandra, after a solid minute, breaking the hug. "Want to watch and see how our dear baroness react to the loot? I'm willing to make a bet on her swearing profusely."

"Ten hours of design time."

"Deal."

"Can we bet too?" Asked Ella.

"Well, it's not like you have anything I would want to bet with." Said Alexandra.

"Babysitting hours for CQ?"

"Ella dear, I'm fairly sure my daughter would drag you out of your lab to do mischief even if you won, babysitting hours or not." Besides, CQ had the vampires wrapped around her little finger at this point, she doubted the maids would stop spending time with her regardless!

"...Fair enough."

"I'm sure we'll find something eventually. Now shush, it looks like they're getting ready to move out again."

*****

Allya sighed as she sheathed her daggers. She hadn't liked having to use their phase function, but the second floor's little boss fight hadn't given her a choice. At least Crystal was unlikely to try to loot her anyway, but she couldn't count on 'unlikely', especially when it meant she could get caught red handed!

She looked briefly around the room, and nodded at Alyssa, who was currently busy healing Raika, who had taken several hits. Dominique was also looking the worse for wear, but she had a lot of defensive spells in her deck, so to speak. Or rather, her wind attack spells had a tendency to shred anything on their path, including incoming projectiles, which she had used to great effect.

Only Allya and Pyn were more or less intact, and that was because the golems, for all their toughness and power, really weren't that agile, and they could dance around them like no one's business. Any stray hit or ranged attack that did manage to find their mark only bounced off their shields, which had proven both extremely resilient and fast recharging, a nice change of pace from their wards.

Allya dodged as she heard a click resonate through the room, her daggers in her hands before she'd even processed the sound. Everyone had reached for their weapon, but…nothing was happening. The baroness slowly went around the collapsed form of the Bishop boss and its mount…and found a treasure chest hidden behind it.

"It's alright." She called out. "It's just a chest. I'm guessing one of our hosts' 'bonuses'." After all she hadn't heard of there being any chests in the second floor boss room before.

She flipped open the lid…and gasped.

"What is it?" Said Pyn as she walked over to her, looking over her girlfriend's shoulder. "Oh hey, it's one of those…firearms, right?"

"Yes. Yes it is." Said Allya as she leaned forward, and hefted the large gun. "That, is a shotgun. An assault shotgun."

"And that's…bad?" Said Pyn as she heard the tinge of anxiety in the baroness' tone.

"Well. It seems to be fully automatic, and have some kind of high capacity drum magazine." Allya sighed at the elf's confused look. "That kind of weaponry? It's beyond even the Tarkians, honey."

"Oh." Said the elf, her eyes widening. She might not have much knowledge of technology, but Allya had made sure to teach her the different levels that existed, and how much power they represented.

This weapon represented a huge leap in what they'd known the dungeon could achieve…and it was on purpose. A message. Both a promise and a threat. The dungeon could give her this kind of advanced weaponry…but the fact that it was a gun specialized for close quarters, an assault weapon meant to clear trenches or defend tight corridors, like, say, a dungeon, wasn't random. It was a threat of what would happen should things go sideways.

Allya didn't need that encouragement. But the fact that the dungeon core had moved forward this quickly terrified her. Alexandra -Crystal, she reminded herself- had gone from recycled crossbows to muskets to fully automatic weaponry in a year. Who knew what she'd be capable of in even just a few months?

The baroness looked up as the rest of their team joined them. Alyssa looked perplex, clearly not understanding what it meant. Raika was smiling, probably only thinking of the value of the weapon.

And Dominique's face was studiously neutral. But Allya could read the anxiety and worry in her eyes. They exchanged looks, and an unsaid understanding flowed between them.

This was bad. Not the weapon itself, but the fact that the dungeon core was using it to make a point. To them. Because if she'd just wanted to show off her tech, she would have done one of those demonstration fights, like when she had stomped team Crystalline into the ground. This was a warning, plain and simple.

And Allya, with everything that she knew of the dungeon core, was terrified of why she would warn them in such a way. There would be no need…unless the Earth-born was plotting something. Something that no amount of goodwill would be able to shrug off.

*****

"Lord Commander." Simply said the soldier as he entered the office, saluting him.

Joachim returned the salute. The soldier's expression was unreadable through his power armor, but their body language screamed tension.

Which was fine. After all, even he was profoundly unsure about this course of action. Too many unknowns, too much improvisation. The only thing that he could hope for would be that Lesly would divine his purpose and play along.

But if he wasn't willing to trust his commander and mentor, then he might as well not have started this endeavor in the first place.

"Is everything ready ?"

"Yes milord." The soldier visibly hesitated. "Sir, is…is this wise ?"

"No. None of this was or ever will be wise. But we do what we must in our pursuit of the restoration of humanity. Whatever it takes."

It was what the soldier needed to hear, and the office was filled with the sound of an armored fist pounding an even more heavily armored chestplate. A warrior's salute.

"Yes milord. It shall be done. Whatever it takes."

Joachim nodded…and wondered if he was signing the Order's death warrant.