Dungeon Cleared

The pain of my self-inflicted wound was pulsating through my body which made my rest much less comfortable than I had hoped. I still laid on my back in the middle of the orc colosseum where Nymeria had bandaged the deep cut on my side. ‘Maybe that was a bit too convincing.’, I wondered. The elf hadn’t questioned me at all beyond her surprise that I had defeated Gubnar. She had searched the cave all over trying to find an orc in hiding or a hidden room, mumbling something about the cave being too large for this few orcs to here. The menacing aura of the dungeon however had vanished, probably because the Dungeon-Lord, Magol, had abandoned it. A message interrupted my pondering.

High Challenge Dungeon cleared!
High Level Dungeon Core acquired!
Bonus Incubus EXP gained, +400% by Demon King’s Heart!
Incubus LVL increased from 27 -> 29!
Skill "Ritual of Seduction" is upgraded to "Ritual of Depravity"!
The strength and area of effect of the Skill are increased.
Any person leaving the area of the Ritual of Depravity will remember what happened inside in a positive light. They will ignore or rationalise any negative effects they may have incurred inside the area of the ritual.

This was excellent news. Someone with powerful enough immunities or resistances might still resist the ritual, but due to my Doom Core they would suffer at least 5% of the effect like they had no resistance at all. No matter who entered my Dungeon, they would be affected. And with the added new bonus that they will always recall their visits positively, I wouldn’t have to worry as much about extending the area of effect even outside my dungeon. I had avoided this for fear of detection, but my level had risen significantly since my first casting of the ritual. I made a mental note to replace the Ritual in my Dungeon with the and improved one as soon as I arrived home in the Moon’s Embrace.

“Victor, we should leave this place.”, Nymeria’s whisper derailed my train of thought, “You need fresh air. You should also visit a cleric inside the city to heal your wound.”. I swallowed hard; a cleric was the last thing I wanted to see. Those vessels of divinity were probably able to see through my disguise, which would obviously be terrible for me, especially with Nymeria being close. I also had the increased healing factor of a demon, so I didn’t worry too much about the cut, “Don’t worry about me, my dark magic allows me to heal quite quickly.”, I lied. Nymeria’s brow furrowed, “I have never heard of such an ability.”, for a second, I was worried, until she continued, “You really are an impressive man, Victor.”. I accepted the compliment with a nod and grin, then I let her help me up. With me leaning on my shorter companion we lumbered our way back out of the dungeon.

We had another short rest when we finally reached the exit, during which Nymeria shared some odd-looking fruits that turned out to be very tasty and filling. We watched the sun set behind the mountains that were even further west, sitting together on a fallen tree. “What brings you here?”, I broke the silence, “I don’t think Valoria is your home.”. “What gave it away, the ears?”, the elf joked but then her expression turned serious, “I had a dream, a vision I should say. I saw this city in all its glory and then…”, she swallowed, and her voice was shaking slightly as she continued, “… then it was attacked. A swarm of killer hornets blackened the sky before descending upon the whole city. People were stung, bitten, pulled into the air and literally eaten alive… it was horrible. In the sky above the massacre, I saw a creature, half woman half hornet, who seemed to direct the swarm. I came here to warn Valoria and kill that monster.”. ‘The Hornet Empress!’, I immediately remembered the description that the angel had given me. One of the six main agents of darkness. She was an absolute factory for offspring, being able to give birth a thousand times a day. I also remembered something about her being able to reproduce sexually, creating offspring relative to the power of her mate. While it was worrying that she would attack the, no, MY city, I again felt the glimmer of opportunity. “That is horrible, but how do you know it wasn’t just a dream?”, I asked Nymeria. She scoffed, “Everyone asks that. I can tell the difference between a dream and a vision. Also, I… I ignored a vision before. I will not repeat that mistake.”, she hung her head as the memory of her past mistakes weighed on her mind.

I patted her back, “Sorry for asking. I don’t know what happened, but I guess that it was your first vision back then. Ignoring it is completely natural, anyone would have put it off as a bad dream.”, I comforted her. Nymeria nodded without looking at me, holding back tears. “Either way you can’t change the past, only affect the future.”, I continued, “Today you saved my life for example, and I want to help you save the city.”. She turned to me with teary eyes, “Are you sure? You won’t flee?”, she sniffled. I laughed, “Of course not, dummy, my friend lives here. He just opened a new tavern; it even has a bath in the basement.”, I stood up and threw myself into a heroic pose as best I could with my injuries, “Most of all, I am an adventurer.”. A smile crept onto her face, “Sit down you fool, your wounds will open again.”, she playfully scolded me. When I sat down, she took my hand, “Thank you, Victor, I am glad to have you at my side.”. I squeezed her hand, “I feel blessed to be at your side too, Nymeria. We will defeat this threat; together.”.

I wasn’t sure what to do with this girl. On one hand I wanted to corrupt and break her, but with the Mark of Submission her powers would be sealed, and she would become useless. It would be such a waste. She would be much more useful as an ally, at least for now that I still had use for someone of her calibre. I settled on gaining her trust and working with her for now. Who knows, if I managed to convince her to visit my bathhouse, I may even be able to fuck her anyways.