Listen to the head.

"... You have wandered into the wrong catacombs, foolish traveller," comes a grumbly, wispy voice. It seems to be what the ogre would have sounded like if it was able to speak perfectly in the common tongue. "You and your allies will be trapped here until I consume every last ounce of your life essence."

"Are you the Dungeon Lord?" you ask.

"That I am. This is far from my most lovely form, but it is certainly strong. That is the closest to a compliment you will receive, so savour it before you perish."

"Fight us then. If you're so strong, you'll beat us. I'm not trying to hide anyway. So come on. Bring it."

It laughs boisterously. "Why head straight to the climax when we could have oh so much fun first?" And then with one last exhale, like the creature's final breath, it begins to melt back into a strange shadowy sludge, absorbing between the cracks in the stone until its once again an empty room.

"... Damn. We gotta find--Trin. Get up."

She continues to giggle as she flails back and forth. "N-No! Not there! Ahaha, I'm tickling, no no! Please! Hahaha!"

You grab her by the wrists and heave her onto her feet.

Once standing, she breaths a sigh of relief. "S-Sorry. I lost control of them for a second there. When I summon beasts, they are still just that. Beasts. That's what makes conjuring so dangerous. If one were to summon forth a powerful demon, that demon could just kill the one who brought them. They aren't automatically loyal to the mage. Though, it's usually close enough. And with this flute, anything I summon is more powerful."

You look back to the screech hounds. "They do seem to really like you."

"Y-Yeah. But they're pretty heavy."

"You'd be a lot heavier in your dragon form anyway, right?"

"That's such a rude thing to say!" she shouts.

"Well I mean--" You purse your lips. "Mmm. I mean to say stronger. Stronger in your dragon form, so you could easily throw them off."

"... Ohh yes. Yes, I could transform. Two problems with that. The first is that I'd be too big to comfortable go through these halls. Secondly, and more importantly, I'd have to take the time to take all my clothes off, because I'm not destroying this cute outfit. And for obvious reasons, I don't want to undress either." She reaches up and pokes you in the nose with her flute. "Though I guess that could bolster the party's morale, huh? Since I'm so cute."

"It would certainly make it harder for the enemies."

She stares blankly for a moment before her lips curl and a snicker comes from her throat. "I--"

But just then, you both turn to see the wall nearby pull open. The stone stretches, as if it were a curtain, which reveals a long hallway with a door at the end. Torches along the way plume into a bright, warm light which suddenly brings colour to what was otherwise only visible through your magical vision. For a moment, you hold your hand up and squint your eyes. As you adjust, however, you begin down the passage.

It knows we're here, but the Dungeon Core hasn't appeared. Clearly it wants us to go this way. We don't have much of a choice right now anyway, and if it's another fight it wants, it'll get another fight.

Behind you is Trin, and then her three hounds bring up the rear. They aren't exactly quiet, but at least they aren't screeching. The Dungeon Lord knows you're here anyway.

When you come to the door, you try the knob. It turns. You push the door open and peer inside at a lovely interior garden. There are beds of grass and flowers to both the left and right, and sunlight casts down from a glass ceiling, though it's surely not the actual exterior above. You're far too deep for that to be true. All the way on the farthest end is a large jar full of purple liquid. Upon closer inspection, that's not jam. That's Jelly. You see the slime wiggle about until a face comes into view--an adorable pair of eyes above a frown, though it turns quickly into a smile as she stares back at you. Not far away is a pile of her clothing.

"Jelly!" you call out with concern.

Directly next to the jar, sitting on top of a stump, is a strange creature--yet another you haven't seen before.