Azaria 2-15

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Chapter 15: Siege of the City Part 1

Azaria

I thought an interdimensional breach into some hellish plane that was inhabited by blood-sucking demons couldn’t get worse, but it turned out I’d been wrong. A few minutes after the chains had embedded themselves into the ground and the blood roots over took them and spread out. There was a shaking that made me think the city was about to collapse.

It turned out whatever was on the other side of the crack wanted to pull the entire city over to their dimension. It had been close to an hour and the city had already risen several feet. Starburst and I estimated that it would only be two days or so before the entire city was pulled through the breach.

“Well… This is the pits,” I said sitting on the window seal.

“I’m not sure what options we have. The roots are holding the land together, but if its cut off, everything will apart as it falls back to the ground. Even only a few feet off the ground, the city will cease to exist.”

I nodded as my dungeon instinct had told me basically the same. I did have an idea on how to keep the city from collapsing but it required me leveling up again. I needed to do so anyway thanks to the bitch of a goddess, but the humans might get antsy. Every minute made the decision easier to make though. Another ten feet and most of the people in the city would die once the city hit the ground.

Closing my eyes, I focused on my link with the doll on Lance. It came awake to the scene of her tearing a man apart with her bare claws. The face she was making was quite out there. She looked absolutely delighted as her fingers dug into the still fresh flesh and guts.

“Am I interrupting anything?” I asked as I crawled out of the nock in her armor. She must have left it so she wouldn’t have to throw the doll into her storage.

“Actually. A little, yes.” Lance looked at me on her shoulder. Her eyes had lost most if not all their humanity, but that didn’t bother me. The closest people to me now were technically monsters.

“I’ll keep it short. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed during your little feast, but the city is going for a ride. I would like you to head over to my dungeon. I have an idea, but it is going to require everyone in the city to help.”

Lance sighed and dropped her head. “I’m not sure I’ll be much use. Most of the advanced divers and agents will likely attack me on sight.”

“I think they will be a bit too busy to worry about you. Look, Come or don’t. I’ll wait an hour, but after that I’ll write you off,” I said making the doll smack her cheek. It was like a feather hitting a block of steel but whatever.

“Make it an hour and a half. I have to finish this. Trust me it will be worth it.” Her eyes shifted again, and I saw the desire that I’d noticed on my own face since becoming a dungeon core. We needed all the fighters we could get.

“Fine,” I said then broke the link.

A flash of light drew my attention and I saw some of the city lights come back on. Now that I thought about it, I didn’t know how power was being generated in the city before. I knew that outside the city was close to a wasteland. Maybe a powered?

“What exactly is your plan, Empress?” Ophelia asked. Behind her were almost a hundred of her warriors. All of them women with the shortest being exactly seven foot tall. They all had chainsaw swords and great shields on their backs. I was sitting at close to four hundred Aether, but it was worth it to assemble a force like this. At least I hoped.

“I plan to ask the humans to give me as much Aether as they can. That way when I create my next floor, I can encompass the entire city.” I was glad that my dungeon had a ‘free’ floor as I liked to think of it. This plan might not work otherwise. I had no idea how many souls I needed to level up again after all.

“That has a lot of danger to it,” Starburst warned, and I smiled with a shrug. There wasn’t much I could do about that. I was part of the city. Even with the few miles I had control over, it the rest of it fell apart around me, the energy involved would tear me apart as well. That was what my dungeon instincts were telling me.

“Protect me,” I said simply and got a defeated smile in reply.

Waiting for Lance felt like it took twice as long than it actually did. I felt the doll that was with her rapidly approaching and when I looked outside, I saw a van careening toward the dungeon. The high leveled powered turned toward the sound with a few taking up battle stances. The van blew through the barricade and slid to a stop right in front of the dungeon entrance. Lance and another woman stepped out, the woman then proceeded to drop to her hands and knees to vomit.

“I’m here Azaria!” Lance shouted as several of the powered rushed toward the entrance. I flared the lights at my entrance, and they slid to a stop. The doors slowly opened then Ophelia and Starburst walked out. They were then followed by Ophelia’s troops. They proceeded to line up in front of my dungeon in neat rows.

“Listen humans! My lady wishes to discuss with you the fate of the city! You would do well to pay attention!” Ophelia announced with a booming voice.

Neo pushed through the crowd with a bit too much strength and ended up sending one guy flying several feet through the air. The woman and man with a blurred face also rushed forward, but I felt like they were more on guard toward Neo for some reason. With a mental nudge, Starburst walked over to Lance. “Do your thing.”

“My thing?” she asked confused then nodded as she realized what he wanted. “I wish to speak to the dungeon core!”

Aether washed through me and I took my form above the heads of my minions. I checked just to be sure, but I was wearing my summer dress. I floated down and landed on Starburst’s shoulder. I heard a shocked gasp and looked at the woman. I concentrated for all that I was worth, but her face was still blurred. Something was locking me out. That wouldn’t stand. I focused on using Total Domain in a more directed area around me. I would not be kept in the dark anymore.

The man and woman’s face snapped into focus and I nearly cried out. It was my parents. I bit my lip to keep from saying anything. There would be time for a reunion later. For now, for now it was best if we stayed as strangers. I took a breath and turned away from them.

“You are the dungeon?” A man demanded from the crowd. “I doubt that.”

I grinned exposing canines. “Don’t like the idea that a little girl managed to kill so many people?” I asked with a chuckle. I had to maintain a position of strength or this crowd might do something stupid.

The man growled angerly grabbing an axe from his back. Ophelia and the first row of her soldiers drew their weapons but didn’t move after that. “Enough! We know the system,” Neo whispered but even so, his voice reached everyone’s ears. “Right now, we handle the city.”

I clapped my hands and nodded. “We have about a day before we are pulled through the dimensional tear. I have an idea on how to protect the city, but I don’t know how to break the chains.”

“That’s less time than we thought,” my mother said biting her nail. She kept looking at me as if she wanted to say something, but I was doing my best not to look her in the eye.

“I could try burning through them, but the prospects are dim. I’ve never seen anything like them,” my father said as he took my mother’s hand. He also was having a hard time not staring at me.

“Attack the chains enforce and their defenders will come. You would need a strong force to protect you,” Starburst said from under me.

“How do you know so much?” my father asked.

Starburst gave my father a gentleman’s bow and shook his head. “That is a secret, I’m afraid good sir. Trust me when I say it is accurate, or it will be your life.”

“If we need to test the theory out, there is a chain right there!” Lance said gesturing to the root covered chain that was only a few hundred feet from my dungeon entrance. The roots had been drilling through the ground, but I was doing my best to resist them since they were in my field. The best I was doing was slowing them down.

“What is your idea for saving the city then?” Neo asked without any emotion. Even though his voice sounded like he didn’t care, it felt like he cared the most. It was a strange contradiction.

I nodded and floated up above the roof of the manor. Spreading my arms, I caused my field to change to be visible. It looked sort of like the edge of a bubble. They couldn’t see how much it encompassed, but they could see that it extended out in a circle around my manor. It was technically under them, but I was playing with the light to make my point.

“If I create another floor, I can encompass the city. I will be able to hold it together as well as bring it back down to the ground once we free it from the chains.”

“But we will be completely in your area of influence,” Neo added since I didn’t say it.

“Correct. I’ve heard that there has been little communication between dungeons and humans, but I woke up later than the others. My mind is different than theirs. I will play the game, but I am going to start making changes to the rules.” There were other ways to gather Aether, so I didn’t have to worry about my food source. My only real concern is the goddess and whatever she serves.

“What about the other dungeons in the city?” Lance asked.

“They shouldn’t have any bearing on this plan, but I have little control over their actions afterward. Do not blame me if people go to their deaths.”

“Like I said before. We know the system. The game,” Neo said waving my statement away. “Now. How do we help you create another floor?”

I floated back down after returning my field to normal. “I need Aether,” I replied. I held my hands out and took a deep breath. All the Aether in the area was pulled into my body. Even humans would be able to feel the lack in the air.

Neo looked to the other Powered and nodded. “Give us some time to discuss this.”

“Don’t take too long,” I said just loud enough for him to hear and pointed to the sky.

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