It doesn't go well for the party.

For a moment, Kevin thought that Hwa might actually stop and tell them what she’d encountered on the Path of Conviction. The kumiho had spent nearly two minutes muttering curses at Lily, Harem Hotel, the audience, and occasionally Kevin himself before she’d caught her breath. Then she’d strode out of the first room as though a fire had been lit beneath her.

She’d stopped when Kevin stepped in front of her, but when his eyes inadvertently lingered overlong at the glistening expanse of pale thigh exposed between the tops of Hwa’s boots and the bottom of her skirts. Inadvertent though the stare might have been, the moment she realized that he’d seen the obvious evidence of her arousal and orgasm she’d pushed past him and charged into the path of conviction once more.

Kevin shook his head and turned back towards Elsie and Stheno, then realized that both were staring through the doorway which led into the Path of Sacrifice. No sound had emerged from the room, but it took him little more than a glance to realize what had captured their attention.

Rising in the center of the large chamber was a massive humanoid stone golem. It moved ponderously, as befit a creature that must have weighed fifty tons, but the sheer size and reach of the figure meant that only the corners of the room were outside of its ready grasp. The figure of Penny was visible as she stared up at it, and from the siren’s body language she was most likely making noise, but somehow no sound made it back to the room from which the three paths diverged. “Shit—the other paths are going to have to wait, we need to get in there and help Penny!”

“What are we even supposed to do against something like that?” Elsie asked the question without taking her eyes off of the massive figure. It had begun to reach a hand towards Penny, who was backing away slowly. From the siren’s body language, it was obvious she was singing, and only whatever magic separated the two rooms kept them from being affected by her song.

Kevin’s mind seemed to freeze. It was one thing to be brought into the world he’d created, but quite another to watch a creature on the golem’s scale in real life. There was no way. There was no—

“My lord!” Stheno’s voice cut through the haze of shock which had taken over Kevin’s mind. As thoughts started to filter through again, he realized that she had already tried to get his attention several times and the one he heard was just the latest and loudest of them. He turned to meet the gorgon’s bright green eyes, and once she was sure he was actually paying attention, she spoke urgently, “Your siren will be fine for a time. The creature is slow, and her song slows it further. I can help her, but I require your assistance to do so. Can you provide it?”

Kevin shot a worried look through the door. An assessment made with a slightly clearer mind revealed that Stheno was right—while the golem was reaching for Penny, the curvaceous blonde was able to evade its grasp by backing away in a circle. Her attention was split between keeping up her performance and remaining out of the massive creature’s reach, so she wasn’t making any real progress towards the door, but it didn’t look as though she was going to be grabbed immediately.

Kevin nodded. “Yes. What do you need?”

To his surprise, Stheno’s olive cheeks darkened in response and, for the first time since he’d met her, the gorgon hesitated. “I need more power. My lord, I need to—” Her bright green eyes closed for a moment, then opened as she looked at the season’s master and quickly rushed through her words.

“I need to worship you.”

-2d8: 7 HP Lost

When Hwa was transported back to the beginning of the 1st floor of the dungeon the second time, the cry that escaped her lips was soft enough not to attract the notice of the others.

She tried to tell herself that this was the result of her own self-control rather than her body having been worn down by the two treks, but the words rang hollow in her head; Lily’s magic made deception effectively impossible, even towards herself.

After a few minutes, she pushed herself shakily to her feet. Seven HP lost—not as bad as the eleven the first orgasm had cost her, and she still had sixty remaining, but considering what she’d needed to lower herself to do to earn those HP in the first place, it still galled and concerned her. Hwa took a moment to center herself as best she could, drew on her vast experience in meditation to push the needs of her body to the back of her mind once more, then stepped forward and opened the door.

Kevin stood at the far side of the room with his pants down around his ankles. Before him, once more in her fully humanoid form, knelt Stheno. The gorgon was still ‘dressed’—as much as you could call the scant set of metal plates which provided a modicum of modesty to her lithe frame an outfit—but that made the act which she performed no less obscene as she worshiped the dungeon master’s cock.

Hwa froze. Neither participant seemed to have noticed her enter, absorbed as they were in the act of perverse worship. Kevin swayed slightly on his feet, but Stheno’s hands on his thighs helped to steady both of them as the gorgon lovingly ran her lips and tongue along the man’s shaft. The expression on the green-haired woman’s face was one of devoted bliss, and the kumiho found her own mouth beginning to water in sympathetic response. She knew the power Lily had imparted to the man’s seed, and—

Motion in the periphery of her vision helped the Korean woman recover her focus enough to notice the fourth person in the room. Elsie stood half a dozen paces from the other two, and the brownie’s eyes had shifted so that she was no longer watching the gorgon fellate her master, but was instead staring straight at Hwa. The brownie’s expression was contemplative rather than judgmental, but that was still enough to spur motion out of stillness.

With a deep breath, Hwa turned and strode towards the door—her mind set as she did her best to ignore the way her slick thighs rubbed against each other with each step. She shoved her way into the Path of Conviction for the third time and, as it had the first two, felt the magic which permeated the route begin to work its way under her skin.

Neither orgasm had done anything to relieve the arousal which had built within the curvaceous woman’s core, and her recent witnessing of Stheno’s obvious bliss as she expressed devotion to Kevin had done little to help. Hwa should have been repulsed by the act, but as she pictured herself in the woman’s place, milking the man’s seed from him, she—

“Hwa!” The kumiho brought herself up short at the sound of her name. She’d been so absorbed in her own thoughts that she hadn’t noticed herself being followed while she retraced her steps, though her determined pace meant it was only as she reached the square room that Elsie finally caught up to her. Hwa turned and regarded the slight English woman with suspicion, prompting the latter to quickly add, “I want to make a bargain!”

The words were enough of a surprise to push Hwa’s most recent flight of fancy out of her immediate thoughts. A single perfect eyebrow rose on her face as she studied Elsie, the sudden burst of initiative seeming out of place from the normally meek woman. “What bargain?”

Before responding, Elsie took a few moments to catch her breath. Hwa’s irritation began to grow once more, but just as she was about to turn and abandon the farce, the brownie rushed out, “I want to make two! If you’ll hear me out to the end of the second bargain, I’ll tell you the truth the whole time!”

A dismissive sniff escaped Hwa at the words, and she muttered darkly, “I am already bound so that I cannot lie effectively. You would have me listen to your drivel in order just to put you on an even footing?” The brownie flinched back for a moment, then drew herself up to her full, unimpressive height and nodded.

Intriguing. Perhaps there was more to the brownie than she let on. “Very well. I accept your first bargain. What is the second?”

Elsie took advantage of Hwa’s acceptance to take a few more moments, finish catching her breath, and organize her thoughts before she spoke. When she did so, her words came out at a slow cadence as she carefully constructed her offer—no doubt doing her best to skirt the rules of the first bargain by making it seem as appealing as possible without outright deception. “I know how to get out of this Path. You’re never going to do it on your own—you’ll just keep getting transported back to the beginning and lose HP every time without me. For this bargain, I want you to help me get out, and in exchange I’ll tell you how to do the same.”

Hwa’s eyes narrowed as she studied Elsie’s face. She had felt the magic of the first bargain settle over her—she was now obligated to stay until the other woman finished making her offer, so presumably the brownie was now unable to lie. Still, she felt the need to ask, “How are you so certain that you know how to escape this maze?”

Elsie’s response was immediate. “One of my transformations lets me store a lesser version of a magic or power I’ve been exposed to. I used it to borrow ‘House Rule’ from Kevin. Part of how that works lets me understand the rules of the show.”

That—Hwa had to admit that made sense. She nodded slowly in understanding. “If you are to escape, I can simply follow you. How is it to be worth my time to offer you aid?”

Elsie shook her head. “It doesn’t work like that. Just walking through the maze won’t ever get you out. I won’t tell you any more than that without a bargain, though.”

Hwa scowled. If what the brownie said were true, this whole endeavor was a farce, and her eighteen lost HP a waste. “How, then,” she spat out, “will you tell me how to escape after you have already done so?”

To her surprise, the English girl once more responded immediately, “I’ll write it down. I’ll write down the rules of this path and put them on the table over there. Then you’ll help me finish the path. I promise the note will include the full details of what you need to do.”

The way that Elsie immediately bit her lower lip when she finished was suspicious, but the brownie realized what she was doing a moment later and **** an expression of determination onto her face instead. Hwa studied it for a few seconds. The compulsion to remain faded—apparently this was the end of the woman’s offer, so the first bargain was now complete. She was tempted to spin and take off down one of the paths immediately, just to make a point but—

She knew that Elsie had been telling the truth, at least as far as she knew. The other woman believed what she had said—she knew the rules, and she thought that through them, Hwa would never escape. That offered only retracing her steps and trying one of the other paths, or going along with the English woman’s plan as ways forward. “What’s to stop me from waiting until you write down the information and simply taking the paper from you?”

Hwa paced forward towards the other woman slowly as she spoke. The way Elsie flinched back as she did so was satisfying—it showed that she had not considered every part of her plan, which put the kumiho more at ease. Still, she stood her ground, and as quiet as her voice was, it was perfectly clear when she responded, “The bargain. And—I’m going to tie your hands behind your back.”

Hwa snorted. As though that would do anything. Still, if it made the other woman more comfortable, it would hardly hurt anything either. She nodded once. “I agree to your bargain.”

“Do you think we can get one of these to take back with us?” The incredulity Tess felt when she heard the question was enough to pull her attention away from her own predicament for a moment so she could stare at Blue in shock.

In the few minutes that had passed since Hazel took off down the hallway, the selkie ranger had been diligently working to fend off the advances of the twin slimes which had captured her, with middling success. Her sex throbbed in response to the squirming sensations caused by the fingers of the slime at her feet, the one which held her upper body had been free to explore. The pseudopod which held her arm was still in place, and it had extended another one which was slowly roaming over the athlete’s skintight silver tunic.

Worryingly, the one below her appeared to be taking on greater form and definition as it fed off of her nectar. What had started as a vaguely feminine form was now the distinct outline of a nude woman with exaggerated proportions. While the slime was still an undifferentiated translucent blue, her face now had the appearance of possessing eyes, a nose, and a full mouth, and Tess could feel the creature’s huge tits wrapped around her knee where it embraced her.

Blue, meanwhile, had taken off her pants. The harpy hadn’t ever upgraded her original outfit, and it appeared that while Tess’ magical shapeshifting garment was immune to the effect, the other women’s clothing now appeared tattered and frayed as it slowly dissolved under the slime’s touch. Her tight shirt wasn’t too badly affected, only having frayed around the bottom where it brushed against the slime’s embrace, but her shorts were little more than scraps of fabric which she’d wiggled her way free of.

She was still wiggling now, but as far as Tess could tell it wasn’t due to any attempt on the harpy’s part to escape. Blue’s eyes were squeezed shut, one hand grasping at her breast through her shirt as the slime buried its head between her thighs. Through the translucent gel which comprised the creature, the selkie could see the squirming of its tongue as it lapped frantically at the other woman’s obviously inflamed sex.

“I— You— But—” Tess sputtered in astonishment, only for Blue to bite her lip, then shrug.

“I’m just saying, this doesn’t actually seem so bad. We might as well enjoy it, right?”

A whimper escaped Tess’ lips. She squirmed as she felt the fingers of the slime begin to push aside the gusset of her panties and panted out, “I just hope Hazel gets back soon.”

Hazel stopped and stared.

Neither Kevin nor Stheno appeared to have noticed her entering the room, though she’d made no attempt to keep her footfalls silent as she jogged down the hallway. In the former’s case, it was obviously because the dungeon master’s attention was fully occupied by his sense of touch. The man was leaned up against one of the crates which littered the room, white-knuckle griped onto the wood to hold himself upright against the onslaught.

It wasn’t until Hazel walked around to the side where she could get a look at Stheno’s face that she understood how her arrival went undetected. The gorgon’s eyes were closed, and her expression set into one of absolutely blissful worship as she lavished attention upon Kevin’s turgid shaft. The woman’s movements weren’t slow, but neither did she appear to be rushing herself as she swallowed the first several inches of the man’s dick repeatedly, only to pull back and plant one sensual kiss after another on the swollen head. Her saliva had long since coated not only the shaft, but had dripped down her own lips and chin until it dripped onto the legendary woman’s skimpy metal breastplate.

Beyond them, visible through the open door to the Path of Sacrifice, Penny continued to back away from the massive golem which reached for her. The siren’s movements were becoming slower as time went on and the strain of singing while she dodged the thing’s clumsy swipes began to wear at her, yet neither Kevin nor Stheno seemed to be paying the woman’s plight any heed.

Of Elsie, there was no sign.

“Kevin.” Hazel spoke the man’s name once, then waited. When he didn’t respond, she tried again, “Kevin!” The nymph was met with silence which was all the more jarring when contrasted to the vision of the siren singing on the other side of the magically soundproofed doorway.

There was no such barrier between Hazel and the dungeon master, yet it was only when she shouted it a third time that Kevin managed to break free of Stheno’s distraction. His eyes opened, and while the gorgon’s worship continued to occupy much of his attention, his somewhat unfocused gaze scanned across the room and alighted on the mostly naked nymph. “Hazel? What—how are—”

“Blue and Tess need help. They’re trapped in sticky slimes that are trying to absorb their moisture. Which crate has the ropes?” The nymph did her best to sum the situation up in as few words as possible in an attempt to speed things along, but it still took Kevin several seconds to answer.

“Oh, um—” He gestured to indicate the right one. Hazel nodded and jogged over to it, then reached in and pulled out a coil of well-oiled rope. She slipped her arm through it to carry it over one shoulder, but when she began to reach for the next one, the first rope she wore began to unfurl. A shriek of surprise escaped the nymph’s lips as the rope slithered its way around her upper torso and began to wrap around her arms.

In moments, Hazel found herself half-bound in intricate Shibari knotwork which—somewhat to her surprise—didn’t actually prevent her from moving. Sure, it had pushed aside the vines which covered her breasts, in favor of lifting and showcasing her titanic tits in a bondage display, but her arms were mostly unbound. “Hmm. Not helpful. Kevin? Thoughts? I was going to use this to pull them free of the slimes, but—”

Hazel gestured down at her own chest as she turned to the man who was staring at her slack-jawed. A shiver ran through him, and the nymph rolled her eyes. “Fuck’s sake, Kevin, can you hurry it along?” She began to stalk across the room, the dungeon master’s eyes watching as her bound tits bounced lewdly with each step.

“I—uh—”

Hazel cut the man off by reaching a hand out and pressing a finger to his lips. “Let me guess—Stheno is going to help Penny, but she needs to use her boon first?” The nymph didn’t wait for an answer before continuing, “That’s fine, but listen to me—are you listening? Good. I need you to do something for me, Kevin.” She slipped her hand down and took the man’s wrist, then lifted his arm and placed it palm-first over one of her own tits. Men always seemed to like when she did that, and the way Kevin’s fingers reflexively curled so he could sink them into her pliant flesh showed that he was no different. “I need you to cum for me, so you can think. Can you do that for me, Kevin? Will you cum for me?”

He did. She had no idea how close he’d been to begin with, but a moment later his knees buckled and he nearly collapsed against the crate behind him. Stheno reflexively swallowed the first spurt, then pulled back and allowed herself to be bathed in her master’s seed. With each pulse of his cum, a golden glow washed over the gorgon as she was painted in pearly white.

Facial: +10 HP

First! (x2)

The results of the act on the gorgon were far more dramatic than they were on the man. While Kevin panted and tried to catch his breath from what was obviously an intense orgasm, the gorgon’s slender figure thrummed with power. Cum dripped from her face as she let her head drop back so that she faced the ceiling, before leaping to her feet suddenly. One hand rose up and she wiped each of her eyes carefully clean before opening them as a feral grin spread across her face. “Praise him. And praise Lily.”

A moment later, she was gone, sprinting into the room after Penny and leaving Hazel and Kevin alone.

“Better? Good, because now I need you to help me figure out what to do.”

Hazel’s statement and Stheno’s sudden departure served to bring Kevin back to his senses. The dungeon master took a deep breath, closed his eyes to calm himself, then opened them and looked at the rope and vine clad nymph. “Tell me what’s going on.”