Azaria 31

Hey Everyone. I don't have the next Dungeon robotics chapter ready. It starts book 9 so I've been taking some time to plan it out. A lot of things are happening around Murgin after all. For now, I hope you enjoy this instead.

Azaria

I watched as Lance tortured the men. I was glad to see my trap had worked as well as it did. The party just relied too much on Kyle’s power. Throw a lot of strong creatures at him and he would struggle to resist them. I was able to see that when he was unable to hold Starburst for more than a few seconds at a time.

The third floor was set up in way that each toy was about equal to a boss. The catch was that they had to trigger the trap. If they hugged the teddy bears they would have been able to proceed with little trouble. I figured the stigma towards dungeon monsters would cause most people to attack first rather than try and see past the fact that they were in a dungeon. 

All but Lance and the man named Kyle were dead by this point. Lance, herself, seemed to be greatly enjoying torturing the man. I never understood the appeal of torture, even after becoming a dungeon. I still felt it was better to end your prey’s suffering swiftly. I know the man had caused her a large amount of trouble, but still to do that to a man just seemed cruel.

A decent sized puddle of blood had formed around the pair from the many wounds that she had inflicted on him. I doubted he had much longer to live even if she stopped adding more injuries. I think another minute or two passed before I decided that was enough. I tapped into the tiny doll on Lance’s person.

“Finish him. I’m not a torture house, even if I am a dungeon.”

She pouted, looking at the doll but nodded. She looked at the man that was being held by one of the bears. Pulling her arm back, she shot it forward to impale his heart. I started to turn away as that amount of force should kill him instantly. I felt a burst of Aether, but it wasn’t what I was expecting. It had come from outside the dungeon. The next thing I knew, I was in incredible pain as something tore through the first and second floor to reach the spot that Lance and her target were in.

The pain was bad enough to force me to the ground. Ezaira rushed over and checked on me. I felt like a spike had been driven through my skull. “What happened?!” Did Lance use that one ability again? But I was sure it came from the outside. I cast my vision around and saw the crowd of people were apparently shocked by something. Looking at Lance, I found a girl a bit shorter than her standing between her and Kyle. I moved my vision closer so I could hear what was going on. 

“About time… you showed… up!?” Kyle said through gritted teeth. I was impressed that he was still conscious considering how wounded he was.

“You’re not the only one I have a contract with. You are the first to invoke the defense clause this early on though.”

“I was setup by that bitch Erica and this whore.”

“Yes. Hello brother, or rather sister.”

“Hello. …….. Mind stepping out of the way. I have some unfinished business with that scumbag.”

“Sorry, but I can’t do that. I have a contract with him. If you don’t want to die step back now.”

“That’s not every family of you. You don’t mind that he attempted to rape and kill me and failing that, ruined my life. Forcing me to take,” Lance held up her arms that had scales and claws. “This form?”

The girl looked at Lance before she covered her mouth with her hand. The sound of cute laughter soon filled the dungeon. “I think it quite suits you. I wish you had found that power a few months ago then you might have been of some use to me.” Lance audibly ground her teeth which was quite loud given how many fangs she had right now.

“So I mean nothing to you?”

“No. Not really. Now, I have a few plans for the city and would like you to stay out of my way.” The girl reached forward and much like Kyle had made his gesture like she was gripping something. Lance gasp then struggle tearing her hands against her chest. Bloody gashes followed the path of her fingers due to her claws.

I tightened my grip on my violin as I watched the events taking place. While it might not be accurate to call Lance my friend, she had helped me through the first few weeks of this new life of mine. It wasn’t right that I had to sit here and watch her die right as her plan was about to succeed. 

I frantically thought about what I could do to help her. Glancing at my violin again, I realized that I hadn’t been using the magic inside it to the fullest. I wasn’t sure I would survive this, but it was better than sitting here and watching her die. Focusing on the doll under Lance’s collar, I sent her a message. “Want me to save you?”

I couldn’t be sure if she replied with how much thrashing she was doing as she struggled, but I took it as a yes. The dungeon magic seemed to agree, as my ethereal form gained mass as it took form. I moved into the cave, grabbing Tenderheart in the process.

“That will be enough killing for today,” I said floating behind Lance. Pulling the bow across the violin’s strings, a wave of magic sliced through whatever was holding Lance. She dropped to the ground breathing heavily in a puddle of her own blood.

“The dungeon I presume? Are you sure you want to interfer?” The girl asked dropping her hand to her side. “I can make even your life difficult.”

“I’ve grown fond of Lance here. She has done me a great service over the last couple weeks.”

“Very well. I guess there isn’t anything else to discuss.” She gestured and I felt something in my chest twist painfully. It was painful, but disconnected as well. Like I didn’t truly need it. I grimaced and began a note. Streams of aether ripped through the air as blades of wind.

The girl dodged them with ease. I directed the bears and Tenderheart to attack the girl while I distracted her with my magic. Playing another note, fireballs like the ones I saw the divers make streaked toward the girl. Her power extend further than just grabbing hearts, as the fireballs exploded in midair.

The girl was flexible as she dodged not only my magic, but the swipes and lunges from the dozen bears. Playing several notes at once, I created steel wires that shot around the room in an attempt to trip the girl up. One of the wires caught her cape, and tore a long gash revealing her left arm and part of her torso.

I floated next to Lance as she pulled herself back up. “Go finish what you started.” Kyle had been thrown to one side of the cave at the beginning of the fight. He was still alive, but unconscious front the looks of it. Lance gave me a nod and started running toward the prone man. 

I heard the girl click her tongue before she started moving even faster. One of the bears that was about to give her a bear hug exploded as she punched it. She slid to a stop in front of the prone man and Lance was forced to come to a stop as well. The girl gestured again as Lance began to suffer again.

Playing several notes to try and force the girl to stop, she dodged them while focusing on her sister. I thought Lance was a goner when there was an explosion of Aether. It rippled off her as her body went through a change right in front of our eyes. It was like a demon had taken her place as her claws grew longer and she gained horns and wings.

“SERA!” There was an explosion of green flame around her as she flew forward. She slammed the girl into the wall forming a small crater from the impact. There was a spray of blood from the girl’s mouth. Lance appeared to loose it completely as she brought her mouth down and bit the girl on the base of her neck. A small fountain of blood splattered against the wall.

The girl, Sera, wasn’t out of the fight yet though. She brought her foot up and kicked Lance hard enough to crack the new armor that had formed on her chest. She held the wound and breathed heavily. “You really have become a monster.” She looked down at Kyle that was cowering next to her. “Sorry. I’m going to need your life. I’ll make sure the parties involved are reimbursed.” 

She extended her hand and Kyle’s chest burst as the heart flew into Sera’s hand. She brought it to her mouth and began to eat it without any pause or hesitation. I saw that Sera’s Aether surged as her wounds healed before our eyes. “That’s better.” She extended her hand again only this time pointing at the wall. A chunk of stone tore free and she launched it at Lance. 

I played several notes rapidly and a spike of stone erupted and blocked the stone in its path. The action earned a glare from Sera. Lance launched herself through the air roaring. I was a hundred percent sure that her reason was completely lost at this point. Sera jumped out of the way, and Lance slammed into the wall head first.

Sera jumped and kicked Lance full in the head, launching her through the air. Lance used her wings to correct herself midair, then flew back into the fray. Clouds of purple gas and flames surrounded her, melting the ground and ceiling of the cave. Sera did her best to keep her distance, but still suffered a few burns.

“I suppose this is my limit. Been a while since anyone has pushed me this far. I’ll let you live in acknowledgment of that fact.” An aura of aether wrapped around her before she suddenly tore back through the dungeon in a completely different direction causing me more than a little pain.

I exhaled in relief that the threat was gone. Lance was still lost in her blood or battle lust. She spotted Kyle’s body and rushed at it as she began to reduce it to a paste. I didn’t try to interrupt her and allowed her to get it out of her system. Finally, after about another two or three minutes she breathed out a large cloud of steam then collapsed to the ground.

Her body started to shrink back to normal, but I saw that her skin was torn in places. It looked like whatever that was had been a double edged sword. Blood rapidly began to pool around her as she sat back against the wall. I played a few notes, that soon became a song, as I healed her enough that she didn’t die from the ability’s backlash.

Sending a glare at the two new tunnels that had been torn through my dungeon, I moved up to Starburst’s room. I accelerated the magic to recreate him. He groaned from the rushed return of his soul to the new body. From what he’d explained to me, it was normally like waking up from a dream when they were recreated.

“Ugh. What happened?”

“Lance’s plan backfired a bit. The threat was driven back, but I’m not sure if it will return with reinforcements. I need to make you more powerful and have you support me rather than as a boss monster.”

“You can channel Aether into me, but I’m not sure how much you will need to cause whatever change you’re aiming for,” he replied straight to the point. He could see that I was serious.

I checked my aether reserves. I was at about half after creating the amulets for some of the monsters. I had dropped even further from the battle with the girl. I ground my teeth in frustration at the fact that when I needed it, I was out of it and when I didn’t need it, I had it. I knew I didn’t have enough to make a significant enough change in Starburst.

I moved to the roof of the manor. I ignored the fact that my body was still in physical form. If anyone saw me then I would deal with it then. The sun had just gone down for the day. If I could expel Aether with my music, surely I could pull it in. Taking a deep breath, I began my song.

It was deep and echoing. I thought it might reach into a person’s soul and speak to them. My hunch proved to be right as a wave of Aether from outside the dungeon field rushed into me. It was only a few seconds before my Aether counter was full, but I was in my trance at this point. I kept playing until the night sky was illuminated by an aurora as color played around me.

Right as the son came to an end, I heard clapping. Turning, I saw the goddess standing at the end of the roof. “In under two months. Truly remarkable.”