Dungeon Annihilation 3 - 1

Good Morning Night City! Yeah, I'll probably be doing that for a while lol. Anyway here is Chapter 1 of book 3! Also, I added a little bit to the last chapter of book 2, but I'll add it to the top here. 

After that, Louella led me to her other office and we… hashed out the details on her bed. Once the woman was thoroughly exhausted I made my way back to the dungeon. The necromancers should be arriving at Jade Wind any minute now, and I wanted to be in a place that I could focus. It would be the furthest core I’ve ever placed after all. Nearly three or four times that of the core I placed in the north.

I had barely reappeared in my aura, when I felt a connection that was soon overloaded with mana. If I was a mortal, I was sure I would have been knocked unconscious from intense energy, there was just so much of it. Wrestling with the energy flow, I brought it down to controllable levels by dividing it between my three sub-cores.

With that under control, I sent my mind to the source. The first thing that I saw was that I was at the top of a tower that had to be close to a kilometer in height. Something about the tower felt off though, like it wasn’t supposed to be a tower or was on the wrong plane. The way parts of it were shaped made me think that we were on the front nose of a ship rather than the top of a tower.

After that, I managed to take in a city surrounding the tower. It reminded me of a pseudo modern Japanese town, with parts being made from wood in the style of the culture back on Earth. The closer to the tower one got, the more modern it looked. I could barely make out people walking through the streets, given they appeared to be unphased, I assumed none had noticed the core being placed.

“My lord!”

Turning, I found Julie, Wrakras and the others standing in a circle around the new core that was pulsing as it rapidly absorbed the dense mana around it. Unlike the mana from processes, this mana was similar to the background ambient mana, meaning it would have the same value as the core moved through the tiers.

“Julie. I see everything went better than planned.”

“Yes! The gnomes are so overconfident in their city that we were able to place your core directly on their head.”

“Excellent! Well done!”

I cloaked the area around the top of the tower so that it would look like nothing was here. With that done, I formed my avatar and stepped to the edge. In the distance, there was only an ocean as far as the eye could see. I took a deep breath, enjoying the sea breeze. Turning, I found a virtual wall of storm clouds that reminded one of a hurricane.

“My lord. Welcome to Jade Wind!”

Helicilia

Staring out the window as the airship slowly lowered itself to the airdock, I scuffed at the sight. Marquis Valamar’s airship on prominent display anchored next to the mountain wall nearby. For such a… quaint little village to have an airdock. I guess some people liked to overestimate themselves.

Rubbing the bridge of my nose, I sighed. “So this is the mud hole I have to spend the next few weeks of my life.”

“Robia valley, my lady.”

I bared my teeth at the man, annoyed that he had spoken without waiting for me to tell him to do so. “Whatever its name, I frankly don’t care. Find and tell the marquis his fiancé is here. Now!”

The man bowed almost hitting his head on the desk. “Right away!” He jetted from the room as if his ass was on fire. That was more like it.

“You two. Find our acquaintances. The keeper says they are all alive.”

“As you command.” The pair, disguised to be a married couple, made their way out of the office.

“Jezes.”

“Yes?”

My eye twitched at his annoyingly no servitude tone, but when dealing with a man that could become anyone that he wanted. It was best to hide it. “I want you to investigate the tower. Obviously, the group sent here failed to take control of the thing. Perhaps you’ll have a better chance.”

“Sure. I can poke around for a bit.” He held his hand out. When I just stared at it, he shook it. I suppressed my growl and handed over a bag of gold. I swore I would kill him one of these days, but sadly his usefulness was greater than that desire for the moment.

Less than an hour later, the man sent to find Valamar returned. “His lordship wishes to speak with you.”

I stood up and straightened my dress. It wouldn’t do for a noble woman to be seen in any state of disarray. “Good. Hopefully, we can leave this dump and be back to our original plan.”

My guards formed up and we made our way out of the airship. I wasn’t the only noble arriving today. There had been at least four other on the airship with me. The fact that the marquis had been staying here had drawn more than one eye to the valley. Those that wanted to get in good with the marquis were working the little lord that had taken up lordship here for all that she was worth.

It made me want to grind my teeth considering that the bitch’s father had already been a duke before she came to this country. The work I put in for the cause, for my family, for our ambition. The fates must have been laughing the entire time to give her so much so easily while making me strive. Well, I can’t say I didn’t get a fair amount of power in return.

We approached the marquis’ airship, and I wiped the annoyance from my face and put on my mask of the perfect lady I had built up. The court was the one place that one wrong word could result in all your hard work being flushed down the drain. You had to be on everyone’s side and no one’s side at the same time.

A servant bowed to me once we climbed on the deck. “Right this way, my lady.”

“Thank you.” It always helped to be nice to the staff of others. You never know when they might slip you a juice piece of information that could tip the scales your way. Plus, they were easier to get rid of than spies that could change their faces at will.

I was escorted through the hull of the ship until we came to the conference hall. Marquis Valamar sat on a throne like chair at the back with his guards surrounding him as per usual. There was one person that I had never seen before who was sitting next to him. She was quite beautiful, for a Lecazar woman at least. No match for my looks of course, but plenty to get men to do what she wanted.

“Lady Helicilia Foesen. It is a pleasure that you have come to visit me in this out of the way place.” He looked to the woman at his side. “No offense.”

“None was taken until you said something,” she replied patting his arm.

I narrowed my eyes, my mask momentarily cracking before I recovered. I coughed to clear my throat. “Why wouldn’t I come here to be with my fiancé?”

Marquis Valamar rubbed his head with a grimace. “About that. I have decided to go against my father’s decision. I plan to wed Viscountess Louella Coates here.”

“Wha… What? What do you mean?” Equal parts rage and horror filled my chest. Not only was a man choosing some mud noble over me, but my family’s plan for the last several decades was coming unraveled.

“Believe me. This has nothing to do with you. I let my father continue with his little idea of wedding me because I had found no one that took my fancy. Louella here has taken said fancy. Why else do you think I stayed here for as long as I have?”

I frowned unable to think of what to say. With a barely suppressed growl, I turned on my heel and walked away. I wouldn’t put up with this. It looked like there was some adjustments that needed to be made to the plan. I quickly covered my left eye or risk people seeing the green flame that leaked from the corner. Some power came at a price.

Next:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/45142192

Previous:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/44883407