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Story Codes: Gamelit, Magic, Fantasy

For a list of all the dungeon builder stories click here

Comments are very welcome. I would like all criticism, positive and negative, so long as it’s
constructive, and feedback is very appreciated.

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Click here for Part 11.

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Note: Thanks to Alex for beta reading this!

Chapter Twenty-Two

I sat at the head of the conference room table. My monster girls were here. All my companions plus Smerta and Usiku. I also had asked Kassie, Fara, and Halia to attend. The ghosts had returned from their scouting of the halfling city of Sharithin.

The five ghosts floated around us, their green, translucent bodies hard to see in the brightly lit room. Their ethereal presence lent a strange weight to the proceedings. It was hard to believe this was anything but the direst stakes.

On the table was a map of the city that Kassie had brought with her and the refugees.

“Dark One,” Duhot said, “we moved unseen through the city and saw that it is as Lady Kassie has reported. On the ground, the city is patrolled by werewolves that do terrorize the conquered halflings. The skies are full of phoenixes, thunderbirds, and hippogriffs.”

“Level 3 monster girls,” muttered Halia. She had a resolute expression to her face.

“That does sound bad,” said Lana Fulmine. My movie starlet looked across the map.

“We found two monster girl companions in the central building that seemed to be in command,” Duhot continued, her ghostly sisters nodding their heads in agreement. “A raiju and a treant.”

“Dark One, the halflings are treated horribly,” Grobi said. The ghost rubbed her ethereal hands together. “I saw one ripped apart by a werewolf for daring to defy an order.”

Kassie blanched and swallowed. The halfling looked down at the table, her slender shoulders quivering.

“How many of each did you see?” I asked, my heart hammering. Level 3 monster girls scared me, but if there was a small enough amount…

“We saw no more than five of each variety,” said Duhot. “Including the commanders, twenty-two monster girls are all that hold the city.”

“Twenty-two,” I said. That seemed doable. “Besides the werewolf ripping one halfling apart, how badly are the others being treated.”
Duhot looked down at her floating feet. “Badly.”

“There are many dead,” Dusata added. “There was a… pile outside the city. Maybe a few thousand have already died.”

Kassie squeezed her eyes shut. Fara, who sat on one side of her, put about a hesitant hand and placed it on the halfling. But then my mother hurried around the table and knelt beside Kassie, putting a comforting arm around the halfling and whispering in her ear. I swallowed. This was horrifying.

“Kassie,” I said, staring at her trembling form. “Kassie.”

She raised her head, her emerald eyes raw and bleeding pain. “Y-yes, Lord Leo.”

“Do you have any idea where Sulanga’s dungeon lies?”

“N-no.” She trembled.

I swallowed. “I know this is terrible to hear, but we need your input if we’re going to have a chance of saving the survivors.”

She drew in a shuddering breath, my mother rubbing her hands up and down Kassie’s arms and whispering more comforting words. The halfling gathered herself, holding her hand tight before her. She blinked back her tears.

“What do you need to know, Lord Leo?” she asked, her voice cracking.

“How is the teleportation circle coming?” I asked. We would need a way to move people around. An idea was forming in my mind, but we would need those circles to work.

“I am ready to test them,” she said. She pushed back her chair and pulled out a piece of chalk, which was attached to a string, and a book. She opened it as she knelt on a section of the floor.

She began to draw the circle around her, using the string attached to the chalk as a compass to make the circles. As she worked, I thought about my plan. I worked on it. It was probably doable. The only way to save those halflings in Sharithin.

And I would save them. What this Sulanga bastard did to them was horrible. Cruel.

He was the sort of dungeon builder that caused the world to hate us. I wouldn’t hesitate to put him down if I could. But for now, I would save the halflings he had conquered and brutalized. I would liberate them from his yoke.

“Lord Leo, which way is north in this room?” Kassie asked, looking up from her work.

I thought for a moment then pointed.

Nodding, the halfling drew in the symbols, glancing down at the book over and over again. She worked in a clockwise manner, scratching them down at around the perimeter of the circle. She moved slowly on her knees, the scratch of her chalk echoing through the room.

Everyone was quiet, as if they wanted her to have full concentration. Hagane studied what Kassie drew as did Fara, both of them peering down at the halfling’s work. I was surprised this could be done in chalk. The one we had found had been carved into stone.

Maybe that just made them permanent. Chalk smudged. You wouldn’t want the parts of it to be damaged.

“Okay,” Kassie said. She stood up. “I need a volunteer. If I did this wrong, you’ll die.”

“Ooh, ooh, I’ll do it!” Garnet gasped. She jumped out of her chair and leaped into the middle of the circle. “Me, me, me! I want to teleport.”

“You teleport all the time when Leo moves you around the dungeon,” Maya said, my undine girlfriend shaking her head at the succubus.

“Teleport!” Garnet shouted and thrust her arm up into the air.

“Asud Gu!” Kassie cried.

The circle flared with white light. Then Garnet was gone. Just popped out of existence. My stomach lurched. Even prepared for it, I was shocked to see my little sister just vanish like that. I stood up.

“Ooh, I’m down in the dungeon,” Garnet said through telepathy. “Wait, I’m all alone down in Meskalamdug’s dungeon!”

“We need to experiment,” I said. “How do you determine where the circle goes.”

“I think about the one I want it to connect to,” she said. “The one in Meskalamdug’s dungeon has lost its mate, so it was receptive to a new one.” She brushed off her hands. “Once they’re paired, they will remain so until one of the circles is damaged.”

She wiped her foot over the chalk. “Meskalamdug’s circle is open to be connected by another. I can make a more permanent one.”

“How long does it take you to make a permanent one?” I asked her.

“If you can provide me with circles that are already formed in the stone, I can carve the sigils in about an hour per circle,” Kassie said.

“Come with me,” I said and stood up. “We need to test if they’ll stay connected to each other after you link them.”

“Move them?” Kassie asked. “They’ll be carved into stone.”

“He can move rooms of the dungeon around with the Void Crystal,” said Hagane. “You want to use them for the mission.”

“But why do you need the teleportation circles if you can just move rooms around?” Kassie asked as she walked beside me out of the room.

“I can’t move myself that way unless it’s my Vault,” I said. “Since I have to be holding the Void Crystal to do it. And that puts us all in too much danger.”

“He risked it with Anguin,” Morana said. “The Dark Lord put his life on the line.”

“Leo,” gasped Ms. Trueno. “That’s so reckless. You didn’t.”

“It was a gamble,” I said. “But that’s not the only reason. I can’t move my dungeon at all when there are intruders in the dungeon.”

“You think the enemy will get in the dungeon,” gasped Mrs. Lucina as I pushed open the door to the throne room.

“It’s possible,” I said, the plan becoming more and more concrete. But I needed the teleportation circles to work. It would be easier if I could move them about, but if not, then this should still work. “Come on.”

I hurried through the throne room and our living quarters to my Vault. It was crowded.

My monster girls were talking as I grabbed the Void Crystal. Smerta and Usiku were talking tactics with Halia to deal with the Level 3 monster girls. Crystal joined in the conversation, sounding quite eager to fight. Mrs. Lucina and my mother were in deep conversation about how to give aid to the halflings that were in trouble.

“We’ll need to get supplies from Astovin,” said Mom. “Blankets and food.”

“We’ll talk to Feya,” said Mrs. Lucina.

I grabbed the Void Crystal and made two rooms off the Vault on the right and the left. They each had a magic circle in the middle. Big ones, ten feet across, so that many people could crowd on them at a time. Then I added some stone-carving tools and surveying supplies.

“Kassie, get to work,” I said and pointed at one door.

She turned around and blinked. “Your powers are so… bewildering.

“They’re neat,” said Maya, grabbing my arm. “How are you doing down there, Garnet?”

“I found the dungeon,” my little sister said. “It was so dark around the circle. I was scared.”

“You’re a Darkness monster girl,” Maya said, rolling her eyes and smiling at me.

“Still scary!” Garnet hissed. “Big bro, can you teleport me back?”

“So you admit that he teleports you,” Maya said like she had triumphed.

I rolled my eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kassie found this all so strange, but she was more than willing to work with Lord Leo. He genuinely was concerned about her people and wanted to save them. She had no doubts about that. He was a far nobler man than even she thought.

And so horny.

When Kassie had finished using her tools to inscribe the first circle, a special chisel imbued with Earth magic that made the wedge-like marks, she had come back into the Vault to find Leo fucking the fomorian in the ass, just pounding her hard and fast. Lying on the ground was Maya, her body painted in ropy lines of cum and a happy look on her face. Leaning against the wall, Nina Naughty gasped as Ms. Trueno ate her pussy.

It’s a bordello in here, thought Kassie, her cheeks burning as she tried not to look at Lord Leo’s muscular ass as he pumped away at Usiku’s bowels.

Then Kassie had to step around Garnet fucking Crystal with a dildo made of shadows.

“Pound my cunt, little sister!” the ice sprite moaned in incestuous delight.

Kassie shook her head and entered the other room where the second circle awaited her. She pulled out her chisel from her pouch and knelt in the circle. She started at the north point and pressed the chisel into the stone. It took nearly thirty heartbeats, but it melted the wedge into it. Each character could use multiple wedges or dots, made by the other end of the chisel.

She kept glancing at her book as she put down the archaic spell. It was so fascinating how it worked. She was thrilled to use this. To have rediscovered teleportation. It was such a dangerous field. If the spell wasn’t properly formulated, there would be catastrophic results.

But this spell… It’s elegance made her shiver.

The elegance made Kassie quiver in delight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Okay, okay, enough fun,” I said and grabbed the Void Crystal. I felt good from fucking Usiku in the ass. I had a plan that I liked, but I wanted to flesh it out. Fucking was a great way to clear the mind. “We’re going to get back to planning.”

I sent my magic girls to the conference room so I could cool down. Otherwise, I might start the fucking again. I might have a sex addiction problem.

I moved through the living quarters, drawing on my robe. I was cooled down by the time I reached the conference room. Crystal had a very disgruntled look on her face. I don’t think she had climaxed before I stopped the fun.

I would have to make it up to her later.

“Duhot,” I said, staring at the map on the table. “Where are the two monster girls at who are leading them?”

“They are in this building here, Dark One,” said the ghost, stabbing her ethereal finger through the map. “It is a governmental building of some sort.”

“The alderman’s office, perhaps,” said Halia, her breasts swaying naked.

“And where are the halflings being kept?” I asked.

“We saw them working to clear the streets of the damage,” said Grobi.

“That’s right, Dark One,” Nevidena added. “They were all working hard. They looked so scared.”

“They’re stronger monster girls than we’ve ever faced,” said Halia. “Werewolves and the rest. Even with so few of them, it’ll be hard without using destructive means. We can’t compromise the city’s defenses, either. They’ll have to hold the city after we liberate them.”

“We’ll take horrendous casualties even using only Level 2 monster girls,” Maya said. “The power difference between 2’s and 3’s has to be comparable to 1’s and 2’s.”

“This is foolish,” Hagane said. “You should focus on getting stronger, Leo.”

I shot her a glance. “They’re suffering. We have to free them as soon as possible.”

“But how can they hold the city?” Terra asked. “How do we keep them safe after we drive Sulanga’s forces out. He’ll just revive any monster girls we kill and attack again.” My golem gave me a fearful look. “Unless you want to invade his dungeon and fight him.”

I shook my head.

“We’re not strong enough for that,” Nina muttered.

“Dear, no,” Mrs. Lucina said. “I don’t see how we can possibly liberate this city and keep it free.”

“We don’t,” I said. This was what I had already realized. Why I needed the magic circles. “We are evacuating the halflings.”

“You’re going to bring them to Astovin, big bro!” Garnet squealed. She bounced up and down, her scarlet wings slapping and black pigtails jiggling.

“How can Astovin take that many people?” Hagane asked.

“I’m not sure,” Halia said. “It’ll be tough. The food will be stretched thin.”

“There will be a risk of famine,” Lana said, shaking her head. “They can’t stay in Astovin. But rescuing them seems the best plan.”

“I can increase crop growth with the Bloom ritual,” I muttered. “Get more yield out of them.” It was a Life ritual I knew.

“Then we have to do this,” Ms. Trueno said, her coppery scales flashing with reflected light as she nodded her head.

“Yeah,” Crystal said, “we can’t just let them suffer. You have to do this. If you don’t, dirty boy, I won’t let you eat my pussy ever again.”

“Our brother eats your pussy whenever he wants to,” Garnet said. “You’ve never had any say.”

“Because whenever he wants to do it, coincidentally, so do I, so I don’t object,” Crystal said, lifting her head.

I rolled my eyes.

“How do we do it?” Usiku asked. “Evacuate the halflings?”

“And how do we do it without weakening the defenses for our dungeon?” Smerta asked. The valkyrie shot me a fierce look. “The Level 1 monster girls can handle any low-level threat, but if a skilled party of adventurers attacks while we’re doing this, or another dungeon builder…”

“Leo, honey, you can change the entrance to the dungeon to only be in Astovin,” Mom said. “It’s behind the wall and your other guardians.”

I shook my head. “I don’t want to do that because I want adventurers to come to the valley and leave the village alone.”

“It would only be temporary,” my mother pressed. She gave me a pleading look.

Terra nodded, the fine, coppery wires of her hair rustling.

“Your mom’s right, Leo,” Maya said. “We need to not be worried about the dungeon. Then we can focus on attacking the city. We can even unleash Isatu on them.”

“She’s a last resort,” I said. “I need more mana veins, not to sacrifice the few I have.” I had one spare right now. “What we’ll do is clear the city of Sulanga’s monster girls and before he can regroup, we’ll evacuate the halflings into the dungeon.”

“And it’ll take days for them to get out of the dungeon,” said Hagane. “The distance between here, even with a straight tunnel to walk through, isn’t something that can be done quickly. It’s days of walking. We’ll have to repel a counterattack before long, and you won’t be able to revive any monster girls or change the dungeon around while the halfling refugees are inside the dungeon.”

“Hence, the magic circles that Kassie is working on,” I said. “We’ll have one in the halfling city. One in Astovin. We’ll just need a few hours once we clear the city to get them out.”

“The director has been thinking up a plan for a while,” said Nina, giving me a wry look.

“Yes, you have,” Lana said, an amused smile on her face. “Here I was afraid you wanted to hold the city or attack Sulanga’s dungeon.”

“I want to attack his dungeon and kill him, but Hagane’s right, that has to wait.” I looked around them. “We’re going to raid the city, free the enslaved, and bug out. We’re far enough away from Sulanga that his counterattack won’t happen right away. And he’ll have to hit me in my own territory. In my dungeon.”

“Lord Leo, I am finished,” Kassie reported. I nodded, hoping this would work.

Chapter Twenty-Three

“Asud Gu!”

Silver light flared around Kassie and me. Then we were standing in an identical room. The only reason I knew that we had teleported was the door that had been there before I was gone. I turned around and spotted it behind me.

“Not a long distance, Lord Leo,” Kassie said, smoothing her robes, “but they’re linked.”

“Excellent,” I said and marched to the door and opened it. My monster girl companions were crowding the room.

“Wasn’t it neat teleporting?” Garnet asked. “Big bro, wasn’t it so cool.”

“I guess,” I said as Kassie followed me out. “And you’re the only one that can use them?”

“Any mage can use them,” Kassie said. “That is one point of vulnerability to them. Of course, they have to have figured out the pass-code. That was most of my research, figuring out how to activate it.”

I nodded. “Fair enough. Now for the next test.”

I grabbed the Void Crystal. I took the room to the right and moved it adjacent to the hub beneath Astovin. The door vanished. “Kassie, let’s see if they still work.”

“Garnet,” said Kassie. “You volunteering again.”

“I’m not going to end up in Meskalamdug’s creepy dungeon, am I?” Garnet asked.

Crystal rolled her eyes. “There’s hardly any left of it. Just the teleportation circle and the inscription room. Our brother wrecked the rest of it.”

“Still,” Garnet said, fidgeting.

“I’ll do it,” Maya said. “Come on, Kassie.”

I followed them through the door. Maya stepped into the circle, the word was spoken, then she was gone. Just like that. The light faded.

“I’m in Astovin,” said Maya.

I smiled. “These are going to be so useful,” I said. “They’re points of vulnerability, but only if they stay in one place. When I need to use them to get around, I can just move one to where I’m going. I’m sorry you’ll have to be my chauffeur, Kassie.”

“Chauffeur?” she asked, giving me a strange look.

“A valet,” said Hagane.

Kassie shrugged. “I’m one of your servants, Lord Leo.” The halfling quivered, a big smile on her lips. “This is so fascinating that we can move the rooms around and they stay linked. I had never even thought of using them this way.”

“Then this is going to work,” I said. I grabbed the Void Crystal and brought back the room with Maya in it. She opened the door and peered into the room, blinking.

“I could have used the circle” she muttered.

“We have work to do.” I sent the ghosts to the tunnel beneath Sharithin. “Duhot, you and your sisters need to find me four buildings that we can use to bring in our forces. I want them to be spread out around the city. East, west, north, and south.”

“Yes, Dark One,” came Duhot’s mournful answer.

Excitement shot through me. Then I summoned Paanee and Baaghi, realizing I would need them, along with one of each of the Level 2 monster girls into the throne room. The first ones I made who often acted as the captains for their particular group. Gyvate the quetzalcoatl, Damhanalla the arachne, Bhaaloo the werebear, Skamianiela the basilisk, Zobens the orc, Snezhinka the yuki-onna, Rih the unicorn, Engana the salamander, and Talalo the sphinx.

The only ones I didn’t bring were Duhot since she was busy and Ghoda, my hippocampus. There would be no water for her to swim in. I always felt bad for the Water monster girls. They were so hard to use. The mermaids and hippocampi needed to swim to move around. They were useless on land.

I led the others back to the throne room where the monster girls were at. Kassie’s map was in the center of the room on a table I had created. I moved to it, the others watching. My monster girls knew that something was up.

That an attack was about to be launched.

Damhanalla looked so nervous, the arachne rubbing her hands together. Then she gasped at the sight of Kassie.

“A halfling,” she whimpered, her head whipping around. “They can melt your skin with their eyes.”

“We can?” Kassie asked, staring in shock at Damhanalla.

“She’s Lord Leo’s personal mage,” said Garnet. She raced over to the arachne. “Trust me. She’ll never hurt you.”

“She’s scared of me?” whispered Kassie.

“The arachne are shy,” I said. “But in a fight, they are fearless and deadly.”

Damhanalla hugged my little sister to those big, gray breasts with the red diamond stretched between them. The spider-girl’s black carapace had a waxy gleam to it, her multifaceted eyes reflecting a distorted and broken mirror of the world.

“The problem, Lord Leo, is the composition of the enemy monster girls,” said Hagane. “Fifteen out of twenty-two of them are going to be in the air. Thunderbirds, phoenixes, and hippogriffs will pose a major problem to us.”

I nodded as I looked around the room. Only the quetzalcoatls and the sphinxes could fly. “I have ten monster girls plus Lana, Garnet, Mrs. Lucina, and Nina.”

“I can fly, Lord Leo,” Isatu said, spreading her wings wide in emphasis.

“So can we,” Engana said. “Sort of.” The salamander spread her wings. They were made of flame. “We’re not the fastest, but we can help.”

I considered that. They were able to fly, but they didn’t seem as confident as the others. “How well do you fly.”

“Well, it’s more a glide,” Engana said. “But we’re really good at gliding.”

“That’s not going to work,” Nina Naughty said. “As much as I would like to fly in the sky with you.”

“Yeah,” Engana sighed. “I know, we’re more ground monster girls. Gliding is good for us to move through mountains and pounce on prey from above. I think that’s how we used to work.”

“You’re just not going to work for the air attack,” I said, sighing.

“Sorry,” Engana said.

I smiled at her. “I’ll still have a use for you.”

“There’s Feya,” Smerta pointed out.

“She has her responsibilities in Astovin,” I said. “And you’re on reserve, Isatu.” I stared at my dragon. “I don’t want to reveal to the world that I have a dragon if I don’t have to. Things have to have gone horribly wrong before I’ll unleash you.”

Isatu sighed. “I suppose that just makes me so special, right?”

“That’s right.”

“The ghosts can fly,” Morana pointed out. “That brings it to nineteen against fifteen.”

“Right, right,” I said, shaking my head. “I didn’t think about them in that way. Okay. Then we need to figure out how to take on these monster girls. Thunderbirds are thunder monster girls, so we’ll—”

“Lightning, actually,” corrected Fara. “They’re made of lightning.”

“Okay, so the quetzalcoatls are not useful against them,” I said.

“We’re ready to fight whomever you need us to, Lord Leo,” Gyvate said, her rainbow-hued hair framing her calm face.

“Send the ghosts after the thunderbirds,” Hagane said. “They’ll be hard to be hurt.”

Morana nodded. “The ghosts are perfect. Their spectral attacks will be effective.”

“Led by me,” Nina said. “I’m not going to be good again the phoenixes.”

“I’ll take the phoenixes, then,” Mrs. Lucina. “With the sphinxes.”

“So I have the hippogriffs with the quetzalcoatls,” Lana Fulmine said. “I am sure they would love to have their big sis with them.”

“We would!” Gyvate shouted, her rainbow wings fluttering. She rose up on her green snake tail. “We’ll defeat the hippogriffs.”

“Lord Leo, allow my orcs to kill the werewolves,” Zobens growled, her golden sword in hand. The orc stood tall and impressive.

“Don’t let the orcs have all the fun,” Bhaaloo growled. “I would love to tear those she-bitches apart. My werebears will fight hard.”

“I like that,” Leo said. “Better odds than we’ll have in the air.” I looked around. “Terra, you lead them.”

My golem nodded. The Earth monster girl formed her fist into a hammer.

“What about me?” Garnet asked. “I’m a flyer, big bro. I can fight.”

My stomach churned. She wasn’t the best fighter. Then something hit me. “I have a special task for you.”

“Ooh?” she asked, her wings fluttering.

“You’re coordinating evacuation from the air,” I told my little sister. “You will have to be flying around the city, making sure the halflings are getting out and no one is left behind.”

“You can count on me, big bro!” Garnet said with such seriousness in her voice. She wasn’t playing around here.

“Maya and Mom, you two will be commanding ground forces who are doing the actual evacuating.”

They both nodded.

“Maya, I want you to have the west half of the city. Mother, the east half. Rih and your unicorns, you’ll assist Maya. Skamianiela, your basilisks will aid my mother.”

“Lord Leo,” Skamianiela hissed, the blue-scaled basilisk smiling.

“I will, Lord Leo,” the gentle Rih said, her voice soft. Her hooves clopped on the ground as she shifted in place.

“Garnet, you’ll guide them to any who need to be saved.” I looked around the room. “We are saving as many halflings as we can.”

“We’ll save them all, big bro!” Garnet whooped, bouncing up and down. “Kweh, heh, heh.”

My mother smiled while Maya winked at me. I could count on them to get it done.

“What about me?” my older sister asked. “I want to kick ass, too.”

“Sky support,” I said. “You, Paanee, and the yuki-onna have long-range attacks. I want you on the rooftops to support the air battle.”

“Sounds fun,” Crystal said, rubbing her hands together.

“Massster,” hissed Paanee. The armless naga bowed, her large breasts swaying.

“We’ll cut them down, Lord Leo,” Snezhinka said. The pale yuki-onna also bowed, mist spilling off her frozen body.

“What about us?” Engana asked. The salamander’s eyes burned with eager fire. “If we can’t fight in the skies, where are we fighting?”

“Do you need us?” Damhanalla asked. “Halflings are scary. Maybe we can stay behind?”

“But you’re not fighting halflings, Damhanalla,” I said. “The arachnes and salamanders are with me, Halia, Usiku, and Ms. Trueno. We’re hitting the commanders in the middle.” I stabbed the map. “I’ll come from the north with Ms. Trueno and your arachnes, Damhanalla. Halia, you’ll lead Usiku and the salamanders from the south.”

“And what task shall I perform, Dark Lord,” Morana asked in an extra-gothy voice. Mournful and soulful, her black mist spilling thick over her pale figure.

“Yes, Lord Leo?” Baaghi asked. She licked her chops. The rakshasa’s whiskers twitched.

Hagane nodded, giving me a questioning look with her metallic eyes.

“You three are my reserves,” I said. “You will attack where we need extra help.”

“The QRF,” Hagane said.

“The what?” asked Ms. Trueno, giving me a quizzical look.

I shook my head.

“It’s a US Military term,” said Hagane. “It means Quick Reaction Force.”

“Exactly,” I said. “I’ll station you in the west, east, and south parts of the town. If someone in those areas needs help, you’re on it.” I glanced at my dragon. “You’ll be in the north part. My very last resort.”

Isatu nodded. “As you wish, Lord Leo.”

“We have found four suitable buildings, Lord Leo,” Duhot reported.

“Return to the dungeon,” I said and broke away from the table.

I quickly rushed to my Vault and used the Void Crystal to return the five ghosts to me. They drifted about me on the way back, a strange honor guard of ethereal women, naked and glowing green. There was nothing hotter than that.

I returned to the map room. “Okay, have we missed anything?”

“Are we going to use Siwang?” Maya asked. She arched a watery eyebrow that sent ripples across her face. “He seems keen to help.”

“He only has Level 1 monster girls.” I shook my head. “I think it’s best not to, and if he’s in my dungeon, he’ll make it impossible for me to rearrange things.”

“What about scouts?” Ms. Trueno asked. “Sulanga will respond once we attack. We’ll need warning if his forces are coming.”

I nodded. “Hela, you and your girls are going to be put to work.”

“Oh, Lord Leo?” the wildhounds answered.

“I’m going to deploy you around the halfling city in the wilderness. You’ll be our scouts.” I hesitated. “You might be left behind. Be prepared to return to the dungeon overland.”

“We’ll just find ways to kill ourselves, Lord Leo,” she answered brightly.

My stomach quivered at that. I didn’t like the sound of that at all.

“Your lives are not that worthless, Hela,” I said.

“I know. That’s why we have to return to you as soon as possible. We can’t waste days traveling through the wilderness back to you.”

I sighed. “Fine. You’ll make a ring around the city a few miles out. I want a warning if Sulanga counterattacks.”

“You can count on my girls!” she yipped.

I knew I could.

“You never gave me a job,” Smerta said. She stared at me. “Am I to remain behind?”

“Someone has to command the dungeon defenses,” I said.

She nodded. “No enemy will ever get past me.” She sighed. “I just wish I was joining you.”

I nodded. Then thought, “Feya, you need to prepare Astovin to take on refugees. It is vital to get the halflings out of the dungeon as fast as possible once they start teleporting. They will appear in a room beneath your command center.”

“I’ll begin coordinating with Mayor Bevlin,” she said.

Kassie sighed and stretched her back like it was sore. “I need to make more teleportation circles.”

I frowned. “But you can only use one at a time.”

She smiled. “One teleportation circle to get you from the Void Crystal to Sharithin. We can’t wait for you to spend a few hours to get to the Astovin circle. Once you thrust your tunnels up into the city, they could be discovered and ruin our surprise.”

“We cannot lose the initiative,” Hagane said, nodding in agreement.

“Then there’s the problem of you getting back to your Void Crystal to break the connection with Sharithin in a hurry if there is a counterattack,” Nina Naughty pointed out. My devil winked at me. “We need that second circle. You have to get back here and sever it before we get invaded.”

“Okay,” I said, the wisdom of it was clear. “I’ll make two more teleportation rooms. Fara, start working out how we’ll breach Sharithin.” I glanced at the ghosts. “Which buildings?”

The ghosts pointed. Fara took notes. Then she darted off to her study to start making the designs. She was good at that. I made two more teleportation rooms for Kassie to get to work. Things were moving fast. Smerta redeployed monster girls in the dungeon to defend against any assault. The level two monster girls gathered in the throne room as they were broken off into groups.

Plans were discussed again and again. We were getting ready for our biggest battle yet. This was our fight. We weren’t reacting, we were going on the offensive. Siwang was made aware of what was going on.

“He’ll be on standby,” Feya reported. “He has brought the entrance of his dungeon to within the boundaries of Astovin. He’ll have his monster girls ready to rush in if things go south.”

He had his lemures, choirs, and cockatrices, plus his three companions. Those would be more useful. A wraith, a lampetia, and a cyclops were his unique monster girls. I had never heard of a lampetia. They were from Greek mythology according to Hagane. Like nymphs of light or something.

“Lord Leo,” Bellia said, rushing up. She had the other adventurer trainees with her. “We wish to join the fight.”

Halia glanced at me and gave me a subtle no.

“I need you to help defend my dungeon,” I said, putting my hands on Bellia’s shoulders. “Smerta can use your swords in case a group of adventurers or another dungeon builder attacked.” It probably wouldn’t happen, but why take chances? They would be safe. “Can I count on you?”

“Of course, Lord Leo,” Bellia said.

“We won’t fail you, Lord Leo,” added Nomaz. The tallest of the four grinned at me. “We’re ready to fight for you.”

Karvin and Melin nodded. “Good, good.”

Fara hurried in after that. “I have it.”

I followed her to the Vault and grabbed the Void Crystal and created a little lectern once more. I unfurled the map on it so I could study it. Fara walked me through it, her ears quivering. “The Ghosts gave me very precise distances. This is accurate.”

“It better be,” I said and went to work.

From the tunnel I had driven, I raised it up closer to the surface than a large room in the middle with four tunnels thrusting out in a cross shape to the four target buildings. I moved one of the teleportation rooms into that large room, removing the walls. The other went to Astovin. I created additional rooms beneath the buildings but did not breach the surfaces. Not yet.

I extended all four of the tunnels two miles out of the city and sent them to the surface. I broke the wildhounds into three pairs with Hela by herself. They raced out into the surrounding area to set up their perimeter. I collapsed those tunnels right after, erasing them.

My wildhounds would be on their own, but I was confident in them.

We were getting closer and closer to time. We just needed Kassie.

“I have food ready,” my mother said. “Leo, you and Halia are going to eat it. Kassie, too, when you’re done carving. This is going to be a big day. You’ll need your energy.”

“I’m not hungry, Mom,” I answered, my stomach churning.

“You are going to eat!” she said in the sternest, most motherly voice possible.

I sighed and nodded.

I left behind the room, Fara coming with me. It was a hearty stew that I forced myself to eat with my mother watching me like a hawk. I spooned up the beef and vegetables, swallowing it. My stomach churned with nerves.

I wanted this to be over. I wanted to just get it done.

It was almost time.

Kassie came into the room in her blue robes trimmed in red. Her copper medallion gleamed as it swung beneath her. “They’re ready.”

I nodded as my mother pushed her a bowl. “Eat.”

“Yes, Mrs. Baldwin,” the halfling squeaked, intimidated by that fierce expression on my mother’s face.

Halia was devouring hers without any problem. I envied my paladin’s calm.

“I wish I could do more,” Fara said between her own bites. “There’s nothing left for me to do but wait and fret.”

“Sorry,” I told my elf. “You’re my scholar. Too valuable to risk doing anything dangerous.”

“I’ll try to distract myself from figuring out where more of the shrines are. If I can get two more pinpointed, we should be able to know where the rest are.” She leaned back. “Assuming they form a circle. That let me find the Thunder shrine, but what if Led was mistaken and they’re not in a circle? I could have just gotten lucky.”

“You have it,” I said.

I pushed back my bowl. “When you’re done, Kassie, we’ll begin.”

I moved to the Void Crystal. Souleen was on there. She stared at me with this worried look on her face. She bit her lip. “You’re going to be taking on a more powerful dungeon builder.”

I nodded. “I am. Nothing to be done about it. I have to protect these halflings.” I winked at her. “Besides, it’s not like Sulanga is in the city. We’ll have it all evacuated before he can arrive.”

“I hope so,” she said.

I gripped my humming Void Crystal. I moved one of the teleportation rooms to off the central one. Then I began moving my monster girls into position.

In the north, I placed the anti-werewolf group: Terra, the orcs, and the werebears. With them went Garnet to command the evacuation and the assault group that I would lead: Ms. Trueno and the arachne. Last, I dropped Isatu there, my trump card.

If things went real bad…

In the east, I put the anti-phoenix group: Mrs. Lucina and the sphinxes; the evacuation group: Mom and the basilisks; and in reserve, Baaghi.

In the south, the anti-hippogriff group: Lana Fulmine and the quetzalcoatls; the sky support: Crystal, Paanee, and the yuki-onna; and the assault group: Halia and the salamanders. Morana was left in reserve there.

Finally, I put in the west the anti-thunderbird group: Nina Naughty leading the ghosts; the second evacuation group: Maya and the unicorns; and in reserve, Hagane.

“Good luck to you all,” Feya shouted across the network from Astovin. “I’m ready to receive halfling refugees.”

“Wish I was with you,” growled Smerta. “Really do.”

“Keep my dungeon safe,” I told her as Kassie and I moved to the teleportation room.

“We’re all in position, Lord Leo!” yipped Hela. Then all the wildhounds chimed in that fact.

“Good luck, Master,” Sviesos said. My first monster girl I created. “All us will o’ wisps are rooting for you.”

“Yep,” cried Pani the mermaid. “Good luck. Come swim with us once you left.”

“Yes, yes, we’ll make it fun, Lord Leo,” Ghoda the hippocampus said.

I smiled, my monster girls were all amazing. I could feel their love. My heart pounded with fear. We were attacking a superior force but we had the advantage of numbers and surprise. This would work. We just had to move fast.

I stepped into the teleportation circle with Kassie.

“Asud Gu!”

The light engulfed us.

We appeared in the central room. Kassie glanced at me. The halfling had this nervous and excited look on her cute face. She arched her back, her blue robes rustling around her. Then she glanced at me, her eyes glossy with emotion.

“Thank you for this,” she said. “Thank you so much, Lord Leo.”

I smiled at her. “Just get your people teleported to Astovin as fast as possible. Open up a private channel with Feya.”

Kassie nodded.

I broke into a run. I had to join the northern group, rushing through the network of tunnels that I had created beneath the city. My heart was in my throat. I don’t recall ever being this scared. This was different from when the corrupted shade of Halia’s father attacked us. That time, I had been terrified of him. The first time as he ripped through my dungeon defenses, and the second as we went to fight him knowing what he could do. This was different.

I was gambling my life and all those I loved, the entire town of Astovin, to save the halflings. We were up against a foe who had abilities none of us knew. If his dungeon was close to the town, we would be in a lot of trouble.

I reached the northern group. Terra was there with the werebears. Ms. Trueno and the arachne smiled at the sight of me. Isatu leaned against the wall. She glanced at me, this hopeful look in the dragoness’s eyes.

I shook my head. “Last resort, Isatu. I mean it.”

“Yes, Master,” she said.

I closed my eyes and ordered, “Attack!”

To be continued…

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