DD 304 Ch 24 (Patreon)

"What was that?" I asked, glaring at Helen. We were taking a small rest during the raid of the dwarven hive, and she’d said it was my problem that the healers were in such tight spots.

"You heard what I said. That was definitely a moment for offensive pressure if I've ever seen one." She told me.

"Yeah, well, offensive pressure doesn't work when they don't have healers," I said pointedly, knowing that even though PvP was frowned upon, there were basic strategies, which was clearly what she was referring to. "Right now, if their damage dealers are focusing on your healer, you focus on their healer to force their damage dealers to break off and protect their own. But there was no healer, they all basically had an onboard one with the Threadspawn."

"They were clearly protecting that Grimm," Helen said pointedly. "It would have worked the same."

I snorted, but there was no point arguing. The Threadspawn were so reckless, I doubt it would have done anything. "We live and we learn. Until next time," I said, letting out a breath of my own and resting while I recovered, knowing this battle was far from over.

Everyone sat, sipping water or having a light snack.

I sat for as long as I could before I grew restless. Which in the situation of an ongoing raid was about five minutes.

"Well, we can't sit on our butts this whole time," I prepared myself to fight again as more and more commotion began rising from the surrounding area. It seemed the Arcane wasn't the only group that had moved into the hive and begun assaulting the structure itself. The hive shook, and the ceiling crumbled in places, as if warning that the whole thing could come down at a moment’s notice. That, of course, only made me more eager to keep moving.

Helen shot to her feet. "How's your mana?" she asked, glancing at the healers.

Charlotte waffled her hand. "About ninety percent."

Selene's gaze settled on the ceiling. "Eighty, but we should be good to keep moving."

Helen glanced at me, and I gave her a thumbs up. "Feel free to lead the charge."

The paladin grunted, set her shield on her arm, and marched into the hallway the Grimm had fled through. Even as we moved, the structure continued to shake and chips of stone fell from the ceiling.

"Are we sure this is going to hold?" Helen gasped, staring at a massive crack in one of the walls.

"I'd hope so," I said. "I'm not stopping to stare. Otherwise we'll just have to make a temporary shelter here, which seems less than desirable. We could drop a couple of vertical supports and hope Helen can stop the roof from caving in on us."

Helen nodded. "I've got a few spare building supplies just in case we need to make a ramshackle bridge in the dungeon."

"Me too," Charlotte said, "and a small boat."

Selene stared at her hands. "They suddenly feel woefully unprepared for a dungeon dive."

"Me too," Misha agreed with a comforting pat on Selene’s shoulder, "though if the roof does collapse, I can make earthen pillars. I bet those would work wonders."

I smiled at her, making sure she felt included, and Misha beamed right back, her ears flopping.

"So we just need to huddle together should the place come down," Selene summarized.

"I think that's a fair plan," I agreed. "But we're going to have to do something about the remaining Threadspawn first. We are here to clear them out and them regrouping deeper in is only going to make this harder."

I activated [Eyes of Wisdom] to scan what was left in the structure. Where there had once possibly been thousands, the number was now contained to less than a hundred and continuing to concentrate at the center of the structure, dots winking out one by one as the other groups pushed deeper into the dwarven hive.

"This way," I said, taking a turn and following the masses.

"You know, those eyes are pretty useful," Selene said. "I bet there are a lot of things you and Crimson could use them to accomplish."

"Yeah, I'm sure there's a lot of trouble she could get up to. And that's trouble I'd like to avoid," I said, carefully measuring my tone. Selene nodded in full understanding.

[Eyes of Wisdom] was nearly as dangerous as it was helpful. The ability was almost too strong, at least I had made a few friends in both the Orkai and Demon societies to let them get used constructively without having myself or Crimson locked up and abused for the ability.

Then again, we were both hitting a point that containing us was going to become increasingly difficult.

The path through the hive sloped gently upward toward a more central section, and more Threadspawn were waiting for us. The place shook hard enough that Selene fell into my arms, and I had to crouch low to stay on my feet.

"My hero," Selene said, batting her lashes and pecking me on the cheek as I lifted her back to her feet. Helen watched with a scowl, Charlotte sighed, and Misha looked decidedly jealous.

"Flirt later. We need to get through this now," Helen said, charging forward through an opening that led into a massive central hall. The place had to be several football fields deep, lined with columns to hold up such a massive space.

As I took it all in, one of the columns shattered, fragments blown away as small figures darted between them by the dozens. It took me a moment to recognize who they were, but Charlotte beat me to recognizing them.

"Dad!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, rushing forward with Bun-Bun hot on her heels. Helen darted ahead of her, staying between the healer and any danger.

Marcus DuVell, leader of the Verdant, paused mid-attack, his massive gemstudded green armor hanging off his body and a new sword nearly as big as he was loose in his hands as he blocked an infected Orkai. "I love you, dear, but later," he said, breaking the stalemate and spinning his sword, cleaving green wind through the air.

The wind slashed the Orkai, sending its blood splattering, only for the wounds to heal instantly as it charged again. A moment later, a gale-force wind caught it and sent it flying through another set of pillars.

I drew my blades, ready to join the fight.

"They've got it," Charlotte reassured me. "Why don't we see what's at the end of the hall?" she asked, looking down the length of pillars into the dark mystery beyond.

With [Eyes of Wisdom], I could make out the glowing figures of dozens of Threadspawn at the very end.

"There's more Threadspawn down there," I told Helen, and that was all she needed to hear. She put her shield in front of her and barreled down the long hall, the rest of us in hot pursuit as Threadspawn occasionally blasted out from between the pillars.

It seemed Charlotte's family had been among the first to find this area. I took on the Threadspawn within as I charged through several attacks coming from amongst the pillars, though Misha surprised me, she ran alongside Charlotte and Selene, her new gauntlets flashing out to catch and deflect abilities coming from between the columns.

The space ahead slowly came into view, Threadspawn gathered within. And as I watched them, I felt a horrifying sense of power burbling up from something. I came up short, ripping open a portal to my side.

From the other side of the portal, Crimson's eyes turned toward me in fierce assessment of what might be happening.

"Crimson, come," I said before she could ask any questions. Without a moment's hesitation, she jumped through the portal, her own eyes glowing blue as she assessed the gathering Threadspawn before us. She went so far as to grimace and rip open her own portal.

"Hey, Broken Blade, do you want to prove you're not a complete waste?" she shouted through the portal, stepping away as a fuming, angry Neldra yelled through the other side.

"What was that?" Neldra shrieked, and I couldn't help but spot Crimson's massive grin.

"Did you have to provoke her?" I asked, only for Crimson to turn to me with a smile.

"We might as well make it more fun." Crimson stated, eyeing the threat in front of us.

Neldra stormed through the portal, blade out, a contingent of Royal Censors marching behind her. My eyes went immediately to Fayeth and Elysara, who were in the center of the tightly packed unit.

"Well?" Neldra barked, scanning the space and frowning, no doubt realizing the sheer size of the space.

"That way," I said, pointing the angry elf in the right direction, which was also notably not toward me.

Neldra came up short, turned to her contingent. "All of you, stay with Ken. Miriam, with me," she said, and with her [Limit Break] active, Neldra exploded down the hall. Miriam, who would do most anything for a price, did a small twirl and winked at me before exploding off with the same ferocity, minus the red lightning.

Hopefully they’d be enough. [Eyes of Wisdom] only answered if they were higher level than me with most of the ones up ahead being bright red and one figure such a dark dangerous red that I knew I needed to call reinforcements.

Helen turned to me. "Do you have to upset everyone you interact with?"

"Hey now, that was totally Crimson. You don't get to blame her shortcomings on me," I said quickly. "But more importantly, are we all going to wait here and let them have all the fun, or are you going to join me?" I rushed down the hall to join the others, and Helen set her jaw and rushed to overtake our group.

"I'm glad to be with you, Sir Ken," one of the Royal Censors said, her group easily keeping pace with our own.

I glanced at her, expecting I'd recognize her, but came up blank. It didn't hurt to be polite. "Wonderful to have you, as always," I said, and the censor beamed before setting her face into a hard grimace.

"Stop flirting with my censors," Elysara snapped playfully.

"I mean, aren't they my censors too?" I asked with as much dramatic effect as I could manage.

Elysara huffed, though a small smile danced across her face. "This is what you all have to watch out for," she said loudly to her censors. "My imperial husband will shamelessly devour all of you if you aren't careful."

I nearly missed a step and tripped over my own feet, only to watch Elysara giggle at my reaction. "Of course, if any of you can handle him, I welcome the night battle reinforcements."

"Fucking sex fiend," Helen mumbled up ahead.

"He's an incubus," one of the elves was quick to retort with a giant grin, and Helen seemed to nearly choke on the words. The atmosphere among the group improved considerably as my ladies and the elves found common ground almost too quickly for my comfort.

This hall was giant, and in the midst of the banter it felt nearly endless. That was, until up ahead a bright red flash lit the whole space, followed a moment later by a deafening boom, and then the shockwave washed over our group, causing us to stagger to a stop. It rolled through a second and third time, buffeting us and forcing us to dig in lest we be tossed about like ragdolls.

"Pillars!" I yelled without further explanation, grabbing Selene and Charlotte and pulling them that direction. The elves followed without a moment's hesitation, and Helen somehow got ahead of all of us. Our whole group collapsed behind the pillars as the violent shockwaves continued ripping down the hall.

At least with the pillars cutting some of the wind, we could continue down the hall.

We peered out to see the fight playing out ahead. It had been a while since I'd seen Crimson going all out. A glowing short sword sat in her left hand, a whip as dark as midnight sky in her right. She was dashing back and forth among dozens of Threadspawn. At the center sat one wearing the Dwarven Queen's body, perched on an enormous throne. It was bigger than any dwarven queen I'd seen before, at least ten feet tall and rippling with muscle. The familiar dark carapace covered her unbelievably large chest.

"Who goes there?" the Dwarven Queen called out, her eyes snapping to us as we waited in the wings. Before I could so much as flinch, a dozen dwarves flowed out of the surrounding stone, encircling our group while Crimson, Neldra, and Mariam fought at full, explosive force.

"Ken," Helen hissed, taking a step back. "Any chance you have more reinforcements?"

My eyes turned instead to Elysara and her cluster of Royal Censors all squared up against the dwarves that had come spilling out. And there were more than a few that stood frozen like statues, eyes wide, staring at the Dwarven Queen.

I could feel it from this close, the Queen oozed danger. It felt like a rusty, bloodstained knife resting against my skin in a way that Grandpa’s bloodlust could never quite mimic. It was so soaked in blood that being this close gave me goosebumps.

From the other side of the hall, more shouts erupted as conflict continued to trickle in from further down the hall; more and more attackers were filling the space.

Yet the Threadspawn seemed completely unperturbed. A group of six Threadspawn kept Crimson and Neldra occupied while the rest stood idly by, watching our group with vague disinterest, their attention never drifting toward what was happening further down the hall. It was as if we were being gathered before a regent about to hold court.

"Please," the Dwarven Queen boomed. "Must we cause such discord? I believe I speak for all of us when I say there's no need for further loss of life." She waved a hand, and the wind picked up, howling through the hall and dragging Crimson a good hundred feet through the hall, her sword creating a trench as she plowed it into the ground to try to stop her movement. 

The clashing continued as dozens of adventurers I recognized made their way to the end of the hall. Charlotte's parents, with the Harem Queen among them, and dozens of others came to a stop when they saw what lay at the end.

Crimson was on the ground leaning on her sword and Neldra was blasted against a column, clutching her ribs. Somehow Miriam was the only one of the three still standing, though the blood running down her chin didn't inspire much confidence. More than a few gazes fell on me with questions in their eyes.

"I only got here a few minutes before you," I told them, particularly to the angry expression on the face of Des' mother.

More groups kept arriving until nearly every high-level adventurer I'd ever laid eyes on was arrayed in the fighting force before me.

"Ah, I see all the human and elven forces have finally reached the center. I suppose you were all due a warm welcome," the massive Dwarven Queen said, clapping her hands together. Each strike created a resounding boom loud enough to affect my equilibrium and make me wobble in place.

"I am Dohaeth, lord of my people," she said, loud enough that my eardrums bled. It never stopped being odd hearing a Threadspawn speaking in another’s body. "Your people have come, and they have lost. And if I understand the ways of the dungeon correctly, the proper next step is for you to submit. Let it be known that I am benevolent in my acceptance of you, lesser races. Despite the great harm to my people that you so woefully ignored, I will allow you to live." She sat back proudly on her throne.

"So magnanimous," someone groaned in the crowd.

"I know you would not be questioning my virtue," she boomed, making it a point to show she'd heard everything. "Because that would upset me." This time anger infused her voice enough to drive many of us to the ground, myself included.

I grit my teeth against a wave of nauseating pain in my inner ear, suddenly glad for all our gravity chamber training. Charlotte was already whispering something, causing healing to wash over our entire group and settle whatever had gone wrong.

"My people have been shackled, chained, and held within the depths of this dungeon. Yet races so profound that little escapes their notice mill about above our wasting forms, and you expect me to believe our plight was never recognized? That it was simply our own failing?" The Threadspawn smashed the queen’s hand against her throne, a reverberation rocking through the hall and knocking everyone off their feet. "For that, I declare each and every one of you lacking. You indulge in some sense of superiority, reigning above smaller races such as my own.

“I apologize for the pain your people have been burdened with, but we truly did not know.” Scaredy Cat stepped forward with a small contingent of his summoned valkyries. 

“It is almost comical that we only recently discovered other races living within the depths of this dungeon. But you all knew.  You have stories of drow, of orkai, of dwarves, and all manner of beings going back centuries. And you want me to believe that you had no knowledge of what was happening to us? You chose to ignore us.” Dohaeth paused and resettled into her chair as if her anger had faded, but I doubted that.

The same feeling of a knife resting against my skin persisted as if there was barely constrained violence. There was only a trace of pity for the Threadspawn in me, once we’d learned of how they were exploited by the Drow, there was a sense of pain. But that didn’t justify the hate and malice they now bore everyone.

 “But you were brave enough to step forward, so I will allow you to live and serve as hosts while you watch the dawning of a new age as my people take control of the dungeon, amassing the forces that should have been used to free us to destroy the drow scourge within it." Veins pulsed along the queen’s forehead as she clenched her hand hard enough to show bone through her skin.