Chapter Twenty-Eight
Krysta lay nude across Vester’s lap, her huge tail draped in a curve up over her spine so Vester could get the tangles out of her undercoat. While Krysta’s hips were on Vester’s thighs, her head was resting on Kora’s lap, her face rather intimately placed to offer tiny licks to the kitsune’s clit.
Kora was shivering, but her attention was focused on using a comb to groom Krysta’s shoulder-length hair. Kora, also nude, was leaning against Vester’s shoulder, her five tails curled around his back, sleek from the brushing she’d already reserved.
Even Vester’s hair was glossy and smooth, both women having spent time combing and cleaning it until it fell like a river of silver down his spine. The three of them were alone at the moment, occupying an illusory tent Vester had created for some privacy.
“Mmmm,” Kora sighed, “you are quite good at that, Krysta. Perhaps I should pamper you more often…”
“I wouldn’t say no,” Krysta replied in a decadent, sleepy voice. Her tail twitched slightly, disrupting Vester’s brushing, so he used the back of the brush to give her round ass a light smack. “Ow!” she protested, wiggling. “Do it again!”
“Incorrigible,” Vester said with a chuckle. But he indulged her by delivering her three smacks to each cheek, then went back to his grooming. “You do know that I don’t get hurt and worry you on purpose, right?”
“I know…” Krysta admitted reluctantly. “And I know you can’t die permanently, but I’m also scared that Death might somehow remove her curse without warning and one day you’ll push too hard and never come back.”
“I get that,” Vester agreed. “I don’t think she can simply strip the curse away. Not unless I complete some kind of Quest that redeems my existence in her eyes… but I admit, I hadn’t really considered what I would do if she were to remove it. It’s not like I am trying to be reckless.”
“No, you’re usually well behaved,” Kora said with a soft kiss to his shoulder. “Perhaps the next time we speak with Non, we should ask her for more detailed i-i-information on how Curses and Blessings work.”
Kora’s regal tone had broken up when Krysta focused on licking with particular zeal, a happy sound escaping the pandali at having momentarily broken the kitsune’s concentration. Krysta gave another wiggle, proud of herself.
“That’s a smart idea,” Vester replied, nodding. He transferred his brush to the hand closer to Kora, since Krysta’s upper tail needed grooming, and his opposite hand began rubbing the pandali’s ass before sliding between her thighs.
It was no shock to find Krysta’s pussy wet—Vester was convinced it was her natural state. Of all his lovers, she was most often the one in the mood to play, and he’d yet to find her opposed to spending time together. When his fingers curled, it was Krysta’s turn to struggle to concentrate.
“V-Vester!” she squeaked. “We are talking!” Her protests were entirely fake, it was obvious in her tone of voice, and she spread her legs a little to give him deeper access. “Y-you’re picking on me,” she whined playfully.
Kora let out a sultry laugh, adjusting her thigh while using the hand combing Krysta’s hair to encourage the pandali to put her mouth back to work. “I believe we’re supposed to be grooming each other?” the kitsune said.
“That’s ri—” Vester began, though he never finished his words.
“VESTER!” Skylar shouted from outside the tent. “We’ve got company!” The illusory canopy covering them did nothing to prevent those inside from hearing the noise, so Vester clearly caught the sound of Reve’s wings flapping.
He also heard the unmistakable noise of rocks grinding as they were torn from the dungeon floor and lifted into the air.
Vester, Krysta, and Kora twisted, lunging to their feet in an attempt to get moving. Krysta looked angrier than Vester had ever seen, while Kora had a glacial expression on her face—and literal frost forming over her skin.
Chaos Thief let them quickly equip their gear, and the false tent vanished as they burst out of the enclosure. Vester had his hand clenched around Trickster’s Cane and he was preparing to cast when he came to a dead halt.
Blood elflings, hundreds of them, were gathered outside Krysta’s Sanctuary. There was even an airship gliding slowly into position above their heads, and Vester was left staring in shock at the sight of so many dungeon spawn arrayed around them.
It didn’t help that every single monstrous woman was wearing little more than a bikini, their hair pulled back from their faces, and their athletic forms on display. Fucking hell, getting blue balled by an army of swimsuit models just isn’t fair…
The spawn were standing in separate formations of about a hundred women, and Vester counted at least six across the front. He didn’t have a high-enough vantage to tell how many blocks of warriors were arrayed before them, but there had to be at least six or seven hundred total monsters.
“How many can you see?” he asked, using his Domain to ensure his voice reached Li Ra and Reve. Reve was flying above them, and Li Ra had climbed a tower of stone to take advantage of the elevation, though he was glad to see that she’d stayed low enough to remain inside Krysta’s Safe Zone.
Though that wouldn’t protect her from arrows shot in her direction.
“I count at least three thousand,” Reve called down.
“Three thousand two hundred and twenty-six,” Li corrected, “and that’s not including the crew of the airship and any cavalry it might be carrying. I see scorpion riders moving around to either flank, but they’re using cover to avoid giving away their numbers.”
“Well that’s not good,” Vester muttered. He tried to interpret the body language of the blood elflings. They were standing remarkably still, and while they were holding weapons, they were maintaining a neutral stance.
It’s like they’re waiting for something… but what?
Acting on impulse, Vester began using Trickster’s Domain to form a thin veneer of marble under his feet.
The polished white stone had black-and-crimson lines running through it, and it was barely a quarter of an inch thick.
His mana dropped, but he was able to spread the stone out until it was disk nearly ten feet wide before he started to feel the strain.
He cut off creating more and instead focused on carving the ritual circle to speak with the gods on its surface.
Another quarter of his mana drained when he filled the channels with silver.
Krysta’s Sanctuary was regenerating his energy steadily, so the measured approach wasn’t reducing him to empty, and he felt confident he could continue setting things up so long as he paced himself.
The question was whether he’d get the time.
The assembled dungeon spawn just sat there… staring. They gave no sign which of them were in charge, and none of them had stepped up to declare their intentions. Vester lifted his gaze to Reve and wondered if he should suggest she go out and talk to them.
Kora, Krysta, and Skylar were moving around at ground level, with Ripper, Dent, and Woody positioned along the sides.
Kora had taken the forward position with her tower shield at the ready, and Krysta was closest to Vester.
She kept shooting him anxious glances, so he nodded to show her he was okay.
“What should we do?” Krysta asked.
“Do we talk to them?” Skylar added. “They’re just standing there. It’s creepy.”
“Let’s bide our time,” Kora suggested. “I think Vester’s got the right idea. Just, go slow, Vester, we can’t have you dying on us.”
“I know,” he replied. The brief conversation had already allowed some of his mana to regenerate, so this time instead of creating reality, Vester formed illusions of tall candle holders of black metal with crimson wax pillars flickering with eerie blue flames.
Then he started Mars, Bringer of War playing in the air around them all.
Gustav Holst’s symphony never failed in making an impressive atmosphere.
The thrum of the string section finally saw the blood elflings shifting. They glanced around, looking confused, and several of them began adjusting their grips on their weapons. While they tried to adjust to what Vester was doing, he began funneling his mana down into the ritual at his feet.
With his illusions costing almost nothing, Vester allowed himself to indulge.
The dungeon ceiling began to glow as a massive crimson orb sank down through the cavern roof to hang over their heads.
Swirling black-and-blue clouds, carefully matching the candles’ aesthetic, drifted off the hovering planet, and the volume of the symphony swelled.
The candles flared, flames screaming upward toward the sky—timed to match the exact moment the mana in the ritual beneath his feet hit its apex. The circle ignited beneath his feet, then Vester let out a grunt.
Non yanked more mana than ever before out of his body. He had to lean hard on Trickster’s Cane to avoid going down on one knee, and his vision dimmed. Yet even his darkening sight couldn’t miss the moment the goddess came into being.
The eighty-foot-long dragon that burst into existence seemed to explode out of Vester’s illusion of Mars, and the magic came apart in a shower of flames he hadn’t created.
Wings like swirling nebula almost three hundred feet across expanded to catch her descent, and her black-and-purple scales glittered like the midnight sky.
Then Non opened her mouth and roared with a wave of sound that somehow usurped control over Vester’s music and spread it across the entire eleventh floor of the dungeon.
Vester felt the exact moment every single dungeon monster froze and looked up.
The titanbats gliding in the sky suddenly dropped, clinging to the pillars holding up the ceiling.
The airship tilted like it had been hit by a gust front.
The crimson-eyed dragon circled over the army of blood elflings and exhaled a cloud of green, blue, red, and purple gasses that formed a thick fog bank across the ground.
Fungus and mosses transformed, becoming grass and flowers.
Stone pillars melted and reformed as towering trees, with the branches spreading outward and sporting pink blossoms and purple leaves.
Non circled around them all, tracing a slow spiral through the air before she came in for a landing behind Vester and his Party.
Her head hung over them like a great serpentine wedge, the curled ram’s horns to either side of her face shimmering like pearls.
Non’s crimson eyes glowed with vibrant intensity when she turned them on the dungeon spawn.
“Blood elflings of the eleventh floor,” she called, her voice divine and mighty.
“Change stands before you. My Avatar has summoned me so that you might see a true goddess and learn the power of faith. You were created by the Great Dungeon to test the might of those who wish to travel from reality to reality, but you are not soulless monsters. The very essence of your existence is one that gives you the opportunity to become more.”
Her regal words echoed around the cavern and lingered in the air until she closed her wings with a snap that sent wind blasting over Vester. His hair, still unbound, flew forward like a silver banner, and he had to use his cane to keep his position.
“But if you wish to be more than spawn, if you wish to be a true species, you must embrace Change. You must grasp it, bring it into your hearts, and hold it tightly. You must dedicate yourself to the concept of becoming more… and you must leave. No longer can you remain on this floor. Your people must gather together and descend to the twentieth-floor Safe Zone. If you can make that journey, if you are strong enough to survive, then—only then—will you find an exit to a new world. Are you strong enough?”
Even seconds after she asked it, the question hung in the air.
Non padded forward slowly to step over and around Vester.
Her scaled belly was a paler color than her armor, closer to true purple than the sparkling black that girded her ribs.
She lashed her tail to the side, casually shattering a pillar and sending the stones crashing to the ground hundreds of feet away.
Wow… Vester thought, keeping still to avoid being stepped on. It’s one thing to know that Non is a goddess—it’s another to see her be a goddess. She’s… incredible. I can understand why people worship her. Maybe I should treat her with a bit more dignity?
He glanced up, trying to keep sight of her entire frame, but she was too large and too close. Nah, if I start acting like she’s not my Non she’ll get a big head. Got to keep my divine brat grounded so we can have a proper relationship once I reach her level.
With that thought, Vester felt a grin spread across his lips—which was when he realized the damned mask had reappeared over his features. Also going to have to figure out how to fix this stupid thing so I can enjoy kissing her again. Damned interfering divine fathers…
His musings were interrupted when the blood elflings began to respond.
Yet it wasn’t with words. No, they started stomping their feet against the ground.
The movements of so many monsters in unison created a breeze that ruffled the grasses around their legs, and then they began to strike their weapons to their chests with a rhythmic thump-thump-thump in perfect time to their stomping.
It was honestly imposing, especially since it appeared that the other blood elflings from the city had begun to gather. Two more airships had drifted into view, and the skittering sounds of scorpion legs hitting the rocks was creating a cacophony all around them.
What had numbered in the thousands was soon tens of thousands, and Vester’s mouth went dry when he realized exactly how many blood elflings had been spread out over the eleventh floor.
We would have been completely dead if we’d set off this entire city… There’s no way we could have survived this many dungeon monsters. It was a sobering realization, and Vester was left appreciating how the Great Dungeon balanced its dangers by making the blood elflings willing to negotiate.
“What is your answer, blood elflings of the eleventh floor? Are you ready to begin your journey and take the steps to true life? Are you ready to evolve yourselves and become more than respawning monsters in an endless machine of carnage? Are you ready for CHANGE?” Non demanded.
The blood elflings screamed their approval.
The dungeon spawn began marching in the direction Non’s crimson gaze pointed, and the dragon lifted her head to release a bellow that shook the floor. More of her strange nebula breath erupted, this time to create a vast cloud that covered the sky.
And everything transformed.