Chapter 43

I left Garnet to play with the new monster girls. Three more companions. I had to think about where to put them. Fara fell in beside me as I left the Vault. My elf held her journal before her. She had made several notes on there.

“I touched your Void Crystal while you were enjoying your bugbear and rakshasa,” my elf said. “I felt your new reserve of power. You are right, it wasn’t that much, but it’s a start. If you truly want to find all the shrines, you need to fight dungeon builders. It’s the only way.” My hands folded behind my back, my jaw set.

“There are hundreds of them scattered across the face of the world,” said Fara. “Little despots causing problems. One dies, another springs up.”

I nodded, hating it, but she was right. I had to grow my dungeon across this entire world. I was in the northern middle of it, too. Close to some shrines, but as far as possible from others. Not all the dungeon builders were evil. They were just ... forced into a meat grinder.

So was I. To achieve the Incarnate’s goal, I had to find all the shrines. Which meant I needed power. I had to kill my fellow dungeon builders. She wanted the strongest, didn’t she, through this Darwinian process.

Was she even worth saving?

I had to hope that doing this would stop her from summoning dungeon builders to “protect” her.

“What does Fuegin do with the dungeon builders that appear in his territory?” I asked.

“Kill them,” Fara said. “He sends in his monster girls, much like you do. It gives him more power, and allows him to stop any rivals from appearing.”

So why did he pick me? whispered through my mind. Because I was new and naïve? He wanted to learn the secrets, but now I’m holding back on him.

But if he thought I didn’t trust him, would he come to destroy me? Who sent that dragon?

“It’s not just me that needs to kill dungeon builders,” I said. “We need Siwang to get stronger. To gain more mana veins. Perhaps use his dungeon to reach different shrines than mine.”

“You trust him a great deal, Lord Leo,” Fara said.

“He’s tied to me like you are.” I smiled at Fara. “I trust you.”

She blushed. “I love you.”

“Love comes in many forms. In my world, the Greeks had multiple forms. A word for the love between friends and brothers, romantic love, the love of others. Compassion for them.” I smiled. “Love is too complicated to have just one meaning, one expression, one—”

“Lord Leo!” Bittaraya gasped in my mind, the harpy sounding shocked. Disturbed. “There’s an army of humans marching in from the south!” \ / * Halia studied the three dwarves as they stared at the Void Crystal. Sarkz grabbed it and held up the black gemstone. He hefted it, chuckling evilly as he did it. “The mages down south will shower us in gold.”

“And you’ll drink and gamble it away in a fortnight,” said Hagza.

“Mmm, yes,” said Vargi. “It’ll be a party.”

“That’s what you’re going to do?” Halia asked, not hiding the scorn in her voice. “Drink and gamble away the money.”

“Can’t spend it if you’re dead,” said Sarkz. “Sooner or later, we die. Like poor Fiztin and Garzan.” “Don’t forget Daliza. And Big Vath.” Vargi laughed “Oh, he was a fun priest. Worshiped the Lord and Lady of Metal. He’d turn himself into iron and just belly flop on the monster girls. Crush them.”

“Until that salamander melted him,” said Hagza. She studied Halia. “What are you getting at? What should we be doing?”

“Fighting the dungeon builders!” Halia cried. “The evil ones. The rogue ones that prey on the world. Like Berg!” She spat. “He got a taste of power and abused it. We put him down, and it felt good!”

“Lord Abzu’s stony balls, it did,” Sarkz said. “But we need a new party. Got to recruit a priest. A rogue.”

“No, you don’t,” Halia said. “Serve Lord Leo. Join with the adventurers that have signed up. With the ones we’ve trained. Fight dungeon builders with monster girls at your side.”

Sarkz tossed the crystal up in the air and back down. “Serve a dungeon builder?”

“Serve Lord Leo,” Halia countered. “Serve the man that wants to bring peace to this world. To change it. He has a plan to end the scourge. To stop them from coming.”

“Does he,” Vargi said, eyeing Halia. “You speak true.”

“As the daughter of Anguin of Astovin and a Paladin of Sherida, Lady of Light, I do,” Halia said. Vargi glanced at Sarkz. She arched her eyebrow.