Dungeon Annihilation 2 - 11

Good Morning!



Regan

I laughed manically as I watched my magic construct surround my new core. It was pulling in the tainted mana like a vacuum and was pumping the purified mana into my core. The impurities were funneled into crystal monoliths that were outside the core setup. This was then pumped out into a cloud around the dungeon that created new tainted air that was then reabsorbed by the dungeon at even more concentrated levels. I was literally pumping evil into the air around the dryad.

I had created a new mineral after fusing the nutrient absorbing weed with a few different chemicals after taking some notes from Lust. Now it not only pulled nutrients, but small amounts of mana as well. It suffered from the same drawback of anything else that gave me mana in the dungeon did in that once I moved up a rank it would lose some of its effectiveness.

That being said, it had the amazing property of growing like a plant. It would spread like a disease as long as it continued to absorb nutrients and mana. Possibly due to the unholy mana which had the amazing ability to corrupt that made up part of its magical structure, if left uncontrolled, I could see it spreading like a cancer around the entire planet.

All that to say, I fused it with the dryad I had captured and forcibly joined her to the dungeon. Even now the mineral was spreading out through the immediate area rapidly. The ground was already blackened from the tainted mana, but it grew even darker, with green crystals forming every so often. All of it linked by root-like crystals. It would slow once it hit the edge of my aura, but would steadily continue to grow into the foreseeable future. All of it linked to the Dryad like a hive.

I did find something interesting when I had claimed the dryad into my dungeon. She was the offspring of the dungeon up north. A few grabbled memories had remained that showed her being a seedling that had gotten out of the dungeon about two hundred years or so. Thinking of the dryad, I turned to take in her new appearance.

Still with the image of a dark elf, her hair had turned an emerald green, while green cracks ran from the corner of her eyes that showed the crystal material underneath her skin. She was nude with chains that wrapped around her in several places. The image was completed with two sets of horns that smoked slowly.

She was currently kneeling while waiting for my orders. It had been almost a day since I’d arrived, I would need to get back to my main dungeon core soon. I wanted to implement a similar setup over there to combat the taint I was dealing with from that mana. “Protect the area. Call for me if you need help.”

“As you wish,” she replied in a voice that would probably invoke nightmares in mortals. She sank into her tree causing a small ripple in the bark as she passed through it.

With a thought, I found my mind back in my main dungeon. It was weird that I could only ‘inhabit’ one dungeon at a time. Once back, I felt everything that was going on through all the halls instantly. While I was at my north core, it felt like everything had a piece of glass between it. I could still see everything that was happening, but only if I really focused.

Looking around, I found the necromancer awake. I think she said her name was Julie. I popped over there and formed my avatar. Her gaze snapped onto me the instant I took form before she dropped her head into a bow. “My Lord!”

“Don’t faint on me this time.”

“Of course, my lord!”

“Since we got interrupted last time, let’s start from there. What are the necromancers’ next couple of moves?”

“That information is extremely limited. I can’t even talk…” She grabbed her throat in confusion. “I can speak without pain?”

“Ah, are you talking about the silencing curse?” I gave a lazy gesture. I had found it pretty quickly once I examined all the necromancers. It was a pretty decent form of control and would keep their people undercover easier. Likely, the higher ups could turn off the curse for a while to hear reports and whatnot. Compared to the collar magic, it was child’s play. “I got rid of that a few minutes after I brought you to my dungeon. It wouldn’t do to not be able to talk to my newest toy.”

“Your power knows no bounds!” she exclaimed as she started kowtowing to me.

I sighed and snapped my fingers in front of her. “There’s time for that later. Answer my question.”

“Yes! Even without the curse my information is limited. We operated on an extreme need to know basis. I was sent orders to head here to try and capture the new core and once that was done, I was to await orders from the messenger or head to Tearfalls.”

I mentally pictured the map of the continent that I had acquired from a few of the dead adventurers. Tearfalls was to the east of the valley in the Lecazar Empire. It was close to the northern border, so it made sense that they had a network node there. Likely a business that was legit but had ample ways to house ‘travelers’ that visited often.

“When is the messenger due to arrive here?”

“Umm…” she looked at me nervously before she continued. “How long was I out of it?”

“About three full days in total.”

“Then they should arrive within the fortnight.”

“Even if you failed?” I wanted to be sure before I set a trap. While I had no plans to stop the necromancers’ plans. They had attacked me, they were bound to try again. I would rather establish a link with them and expand my cards a bit. If I could take them over then I would have a very well-established network at my command.

“Yes. They will attempt to figure out what went wrong so they can deal with the problem. We had trouble gaining access to the inner valley due to the Commander of the Golden Dawn here. She managed to deal with several of our infiltration members.”

“The bandit camps were a plan B then?”

“Yes, my lord. We generally try to shy away from outsiders. They have a way of dying around us thus causing people to catch onto us.”

I smirked at that thought. “Yes. I can see that being a problem when associating with necromancers.”

“I believe the man named Wrakras should have similar information to mine if slightly altered. The leaders liked to leave confusing information like that.”

I tapped my chin as I thought about that. It was smart and for a force like this that was hated by nearly everyone on the continent, it was probably the best way to survive long term. Wrakras was probably one of the necromancers I captured either outside the valley, or during the attack. They were all sitting in tiny holes waiting for me to interrogate them. I had just been a bit too busy to do so yet.

“I want you to come with me later and make the rest of the necromancers understand they work for me now. You will all be made to wear a collar and a mask to hide your identity. For the time being, you are in charge of them. If they fail, you will suffer the consequences.”

“Yes, my lord!” Julie slammed her head on the ground she bowed so hard.

With that, I created a collar and latched it around her neck. I wasn’t paying attention and used a bit too much force nearly chocking her. When I realized she couldn’t breath, I relaxed it but not before I noticed that she had a very pleased expression. I chuckled at that before I left the cell.

“Welcome back master,” Set said appearing next to me.

“Set. How were things while I was in the north?”

“Quiet. Only a few adventurers braved the first couple of floors. It appears most are preparing for the tournament that starts in a day.”

“Already that time?” I asked though it was more of an idle comment. I thought about the fighters were in the dungeon. I wanted a few of them to participate but Set and Raven would be participating with my other form Earle. Other than those two, there weren’t many more that wouldn’t be attacked once they stepped foot outside the dungeon.

Maybe I could have Wrath make an appearance. I wanted to test his powers since no one had managed to reach him yet. He was quite apathic when not fighting. I grinned as an idea formed.

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