With some stories to break the tension

"Morning laddie, ready to give tha ol' geezer a right kick in tha tailbone?" Grungil gives a cheerful wave and Amara a curt nod the next morning as their group pushes their way through the crowd near the city gates.

Ugh, crowds. Maybe you should've picked somewhere else to stand about while the adventurers take their sweet time showing up. Well, no matter: with Amara and Grungil's group here you can finally set out. You motion to the assembled group of adventurers and begin to walk towards the city gates. Tension you didn't realize you were holding flows out of your body as you step outside of the city walls, and by the time you're trudging through dense forest you feel truly at peace.

"Cities. I don't know how you adventurers can stand them. They're so full of people who could kill you at any moment." Knowing your stance on this, the adventurers just chuckle and ignore the comment. "Give me a nice forest full of goblins any day of the week: at least goblins are willing to be reasonable more often than not."

"Oh my, that hurts. Here we are, up first thing in the morning to save your dungeon, and you talk about how untrustworthy adventurers are compared to goblins. I even called in sick today for you!" Sarcasm infuses Selena the invoker's voice as she speaks.

"My apologies. You are, of course, some of the good adventurers."

"Oh my, we're 'some of the good ones?'" Amara cocks an amused eyebrow at your remark.

"Hah, laddie, that's nae quite tha compliment ye think 'tis. Don't worry, we'll be righ' back to trustworthily kicking loot out o' your body tha moment this whole mess is right done with." Grungil gives you a cheerful pat on the back with a little more **** than you'd like, sending you staggering ahead.

"If you don't mind, we could ditch so you could pick up some trustworthy goblins on your mighty quest, o grand one?" Amara laughs and gives you another swat on your back, competing with her friend to make you stumble the most while ostensibly being friendly. Lucia and her friends simply look on in awe at the apparent rapport you have with the adventurers, both groups much higher level than her and her friends.

"Okay, before we go in, remember, you're not to engage the lich. Leave him to Rea and I—" you give the maid a pat on her shoulders "—and follow our lead. Other than that, we'll move in in two groups. Jared, you're with Amara and Grungil: you guys have fought together in the past and the arrangement shouldn't last that long anyways." You step to the side and pat Lucia on the rear, earning a quiet yet exaggerated moan that only reaches your ears. "The rest of us will be together: Rea will be pretending to be a much lower-level sorceress and I'll be acting like a low-level archer. We'll regroup at every boss."

"Say, imp, do you really expect this to work? I'm sure we can blast our way through the dungeon no problem: it was made by you after all, and we all know you aren't the best boss in the business." You politely chuckle at Amara's quip, waiting for her to get to the point. "But if this lich is really as powerful as you say, what's to stop him from just dispelling your illusion, or, you know, just checking Zalreanne's character sheet?"

"Honestly? I'm counting on his arrogance blinding him. He thinks he's invincible and I expect him to let his guard down: he already did once before. And if he doesn't? Then I get back on the express to Greater Impsville and the rest of you lose out on your quest rewards. So let's all cross our fingers, 'kay?" The words sound cheerful and optimistic leaving your lips, but deep down you have much the same concern that Amara does.

It doesn't take much more walking until the portal which leads into your dungeon looms in front of you. Ordinarily the sight is a welcoming one, and even today the swirling red vortex which abruptly blocks the mountain path feels somewhat calming, but the dungeon on the other side isn't the one you know. What awaits you? Has the lich changed the layout of your dungeon? Will you be slain instantly by some sort of magic you don't understand? Well, only one way to find out. The world fades around you as you step through the portal, then re-materializes into the same caves you remember from a few days ago.

"Oy, ye gitz, 'venturers are here, git ta work!" One of the hellhounds orders his squad of fallen ones forward and you draw your bow, pulling back the taut string and releasing an arrow. The motion feels somewhat alien: your stats give you the basic knowledge and skills necessary, but don't impart the same joy you feel when lighting things on fire. A fallen one gurgles and falls as your arrow lodges in his chest, and a small ball of mud launched by Zalreanne stuns another without killing it outright. The five other adventurers charge in a mass, a breath of scorching fire rushing to meet them, but other than a few burns your party dispatches the first group of fallen ones with ease.

"Okay, eyes peeled. I know those ones seemed weak but things get tougher the farther you go. Don't underestimate the big ones, even though they look similar to the little ones." Half your party has never been here before, but luckily they have an expert tour guide who knows all of the attractions. "Stay careful and don't take any unnecessary risks." Every muscle in your body is engaged in fear and anticipation of the battles ahead.

"And watch out for the slimes, at least unless you want to end up working in this dungeon." Cindy giggles as she speaks, and Annie blushes before breaking down in a fit of giggles of her own. A snort leaves your nose as you loosen up a bit.

"What was that about?" Lucia asks while casually slashing another fallen one with her sword made of solid blue mana.

"Well, you see, the dungeon boss can exert limited control over the various monsters in this place if they want to, using a certain device located elsewhere in this dungeon." Maybe the story will help you keep your mind off things. "Cindy and Annie here invaded the dungeon with these two dudes—"

"Our boyfriends at the time," Annie interrupts in explanation. "Well, ingame anyways. Now exes."

"Right, this paladin and warrior. So anyways, Cindy is being an absolute bore, picking off my underlings one by one with that homing dagger she has." A slimugon bursts due to that exact dagger as you speak. "Right, just like that. She's just sitting in a tunnel, letting the stupid slimes charge her one by one and then blowing them up."

"Hey, it's not my fault you didn't invest any points into minion AI," Cindy sticks out her tongue and then tosses her dagger at a fallen one who rounds the corner.

"So as you can imagine my girls and I are, well, not impressed by my underlings' display. Things happen and we discover that we can actually sort of control them, so Ari—that's the blonde elf you met—"

Becca butts in. "The cutie with the bow that Sandra took care of?"

"No, the one who looked just like her but with the horns and a tail. She really liked your work, by the way." The cleric smirks and patches up some minor acid burns Lucia took while trying to show off against the slimes. "Although Tina has those too now."

"Hey, Lucia, nice moves and all but you might want to avoid those slimes unless you want to end up a permanent fixture of this dungeon." Annie's eyes are glued to the nearly-bare tits of the magus: a glop of acid just barely missed the strap holding her chestpiece, if you can call it that, to her breasts.

"Huh, why?" Lucia gives a look of confusion but hangs back for a moment.

"Just listen to the story. So I nearly get their group with an ambush and Ari gets the idea to have a competition of sorts over who gets to ride me as we watch them try to clear the dungeon." Sandra chokes and Lucia lets out a laugh at this. "The goal is to do the most damage possible with one slime. She gets it to hide in a hole and someone steps in it—"

"That was Matt, the warrior I was banging at the time. Well, not that we weren't swapping with Chase and Annie."

"Right, so he steps in it and soaks both himself and his buddy in goo. Sera—that's one of the twin fallen angels, the one who looked like she wanted to stab you—"

"She's a cutie: I wouldn't mind getting between her thighs." Sandra the warrior dispatches three fallen ones with a long swing, her long purple hair swinging in an arc behind her and her breasts shifting as if making a bid for freedom under the skimpy top she's wearing.

"I'm sure that could be arranged. So Sera tries to sneak one up to the ceiling and drop it on them for a full party hit, but Cindy sees it falling—"

"That's right, best in the business!" She gives a little fist pump then tosses her dagger at a hellhound, dodging out of the way as it breathes fire in response.

"—and she blows it up. It still hits everyone a little bit, but not enough to accomplish much, so Ari gets to keep her seat. Mariel—that's the other angel—"

"Mmm-hmm," the cleric licks her lips as she pictures the fallen seraph.

"I'll tell them you're interested. Both of them were pretty jealous that we found some sluts who took care of us: no doubt they wouldn't mind having a turn." You swat the cleric's ass and she pretends to look offended, not doing a very good job. "Okay, so Mariel does something incredibly simple and hides the slime behind a rock, but she doesn't order it to attack when Cindy passes with the two dudes. Ari is appalled at this,"

"Mistress wasn't too sad, master. She was enjoying my tongue." Zalreanne reminds you in a good-natured voice.

"Okay, she wasn't too appalled, but she still thought it was a waste. Then miss bikini top walks by and gets a chestful of slime. Next thing anyone knows her armour is lying on the floor, and not by choice."

"At this point, one thing leads to another, and before anyone knows it Annie and I are going down on our two then-boyfriends." Cindy chimes in, flushing a bit as she stabs another fallen one.

"Right, 'one thing leads to another', miss got-down-on-her-knees-and-fished-out-their-cocks." Annie rolls her eyes but flushes as well.

"So at this point we figure it can't get much better, but Sera wants another try and takes control of a fallen. She manages to take down both of the men in an excellent ambush while they're stripped down, but before she can order them to kill the women Cindy gets an eyeful of what's under those dirty loincloths."

"Really, girl?" Lucia raises a skeptical eyebrow.

"Hey, don't knock it till you try it!" Cindy ducks under the club of a Fallen Ringleader as the other adventurers bombard it with projectiles and spells.

"I was skeptical at first, but Cindy really knows her dicks," Annie blushes as she launches a firebolt.

"Next thing you know they're both competing over how many cocks they can take at once. They were still there the next day when we headed out to Deepcrag Mine—which is what eventually led us to Zigrag's dungeon, and thus you three—and, well, that's how Cindy and Annie ended up employed here."

"There's no way that isn't embellished somehow," Becca's hand drifts under her robe as she maintains her blessing, enhancing the party's abilities as she toys with herself.

"I swear on all nine hells, that's how it happened. Say, we could always use more maids here if any of you want to give it a try. You even get to sample the boss from time to time." You idly shoot an arrow at another Ringleader, starting to get the feel for archery. It'll never be your specialization, but at least you don't look like a rank amateur anymore.

"Dream on, bucko." The purple-haired warrior rolls her eyes but is breathing heavily from the conversation.

"Well, maybe we could give it one little taste..." Rebecca ponders, her fingers now blatantly moving in her lap beneath her loose dress.

"Let's get a few levels in ourselves before we let in anything else, girls. Although we can stick around for a bit after this quest: boss boy still needs to return the favour and let us have a try, after all." Lucia finishes off the last fallen and you stand near one of the cave mouths which leads into the Fallen Village.

"Oy, ya big red oaf, did ya miss us?" Rishukan's form turns in the distance to see the adventurers currently in the process of blazing a trail of destruction through her dungeon, and a war cry echoes through the cavern as the remaining fallen ones rally for a battle.

"Well, looks like they've started without us. Let's head on in and give them a hand." Arrows fly over the chasm from the fallen ones, and your head maid pulls up a thin wall of mud to block them. When the wall falls, a volley of spells and arrows from your party takes down a few of the ex-goblins, then Lucia and Sandra charge over the bridge with eager shouts.

A roar echoes through the room as Amara smashes one of the Fallen Brutes in the side with her huge metal mace, the gigantic daemon reeling from the impact. The other one swings its huge greatsword in an arc, Lucia and Sandra doing all they can to block it while the other adventurers bombard the daemon from a safe distance. You spend a moment admiring the bare backsides of the two melee warriors before remembering the stakes, then run off to engage the boss.

You round a corner and Rishukan looms above you, obscured until now by an unusually tall fallen one tent. She spins around and lets out a roar, swinging her huge cleaver down towards you, and you just barely dodge in time. A crackling arrow of electricity strikes her from behind, and you covertly cast a faerie fire on her to make her easier to hit. The ground to your left explodes as another cleaver barely misses you, and you try to back up while shooting arrows at the huge daemon. Several fallen ones charge you from behind and a huge bolt of lightning electrocutes every enemy in the area, Selena tossing aside the fragments of the spent gem and drawing another from her pack. Another swing from Rishukan misses as well, this one cleaving several fallen ones who were about to flank you. The boss falls as Amara runs up and slams her mace into the huge fallen one's head, and the remaining enemies disperse as the way to the next level is opened.

"Say, is it just me or was she way easier than last time? It felt like her accuracy was terrible." Amara grins and sorts through the loot that the boss dropped. Huh, you hadn't thought of that, but it makes sense in retrospect. Thanks, Rishu. With that thought, you step into the portal and the world goes dark once again.