Worthy Core

Of course, the Domain expedition didn't give up after a single ill-fated squad, although their carefully arranged plans were immediately thrown into disarray. The damage the dungeon had done to itself would automatically repair at midnight, but the second chamber would be no more trustworthy with an intact floor, and they certainly weren't going to camp out on the mountainside all night. After all, Worthy Dungeon was the original dungeon to be able to send guardians beyond its bounds.

Instead, squads had been reshuffled so as to send three earth mages into the dungeon, with support, to build some bridges over the gaping chasm. One of those ended up getting sniped by an archer from a hidden vantage point, and the mages's tactics immediately switched - to tearing up the hidden passageways being used by the dungeon's mortal defenders. Unfortunately, that proved to be a complete waste of time. The hidden ambush points were only connected to the rest of the dungeon by shortcut portals, and as they weren't on the main path to the dungeon core, Xenia was easily able to disconnect those portals long before any Domain soldiers could even think of diving into them.

Plan D, then, was to take advantage of the opening the dungeon had given them. The abyss within the mountain was directly connected to Floor Six, being that the 'floor' was little more than a reshaping of part of one of the dark canyon's walls, and so having direct access to the abyss meant potentially skipping five entire floors. Every demon capable of flight in the expedition was gathered together to swarm through the opening and claim a foothold, at which point they could see about using magic or ropes to create a more stable pathway down.

It was a massacre.

Flying monsters from both Floor Six and the exterior portion of Floor Two's massive elevator shaft began harassing the demons as soon as they got forty feet down, and the demons who managed to get anywhere near the ledges of Floor Six found themselves targeted by at least two dozen archers and mages positioned below, of both the mortal and monster variety. A more elite squadron of combatants may have still managed the job, but the expedition was mostly made up of Advanced-tier soldiers with a handful of Experts, and the toughest of them were lucky just to escape back to Floor One without their wings getting clipped.

The draconic commander then returned to Plan B, with the creation of stone bridges to cover the gap, but even after the remaining squads started pushing into the floor they found little more success than the first squad had. Traps and monsters had been pushed to the absolute maximum the dungeon accessibility rules would allow Xenia to form them, and they were then covered by additional ambushes and traps set up by the mortals to cover any weak points.

By time the expedition called for a retreat Xenia's killcount for the day had risen to three slimes, ten kobolds, fourteen demons, and six invading monsters, although she only managed to recover the souls of eleven of those thanks to many of them having died 'out of bounds'. Additionally, the monsters provided her with no apparent rewards at all, save perhaps some credit for any equipment they left behind. At least Valkryie Brightsky showed no interest in claiming any of the souls for her patron, which meant Xenia's soul stockpile had soared to well over a hundred waiting to be spent on dungeon upgrades. Another fourteen soldiers retreated with injuries, leaving barely enough troops left to make a few functional squads out of.

On her side, several dozen monsters bravely - and temporarily - gave their lives for the dungeon, however the mortal defenders avoided even a single injury.

------------------------ ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: ONCE UPON A SLIME 2 YOU HAVE SLAIN FIVE MORTAL SLIMES. MANA SPELL EFFECTIVENESS ON SLIMES INCREASED BY 40%. ------------------------

------------------------ ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: HEAVEN'S WRATH 3 YOU HAVE SLAIN TEN DEMONS. DEMONS RECEIVE A MINOR INTIMIDATION EFFECT UPON DUNGEON ENTRY. ------------------------

------------------------ ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: MOMENTUM 4 YOU HAVE SLAIN SEVEN MORTALS WITHIN TWO MINUTES. SLAYING A MORTAL NOW GIVES A VERY SLIGHT BOOST TO NEARBY MONSTERS. ------------------------

------------------------ ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: MOMENTUM 5 YOU HAVE SLAIN TEN MORTALS WITHIN TWO MINUTES. SLAYING A MORTAL NOW GIVES A SLIGHT BOOST TO NEARBY MONSTERS. ------------------------

Safe to say, the mood in Worthy Inn was rather jubilant that afternoon. The mood down at the Lucky Bastard meanwhile was a little less so.

Upon hearing of the survivors' return, Cerise Darktouched quickly makes her way towards the back room that had been set up as the garrison's 'command post'. The sound of Commander Gerlosius raging at his subordinates had been hard to miss, but as one of the leaders of the garrison force, Cerise knows she's in no position to show weakness. With a deep breath the demon pushes the door to the room open, and is relieved at least to see there's no signs of bloodshed within.

The green-scaled draconic on his way out however wears an expression on his face that makes it appear that he almost wishes Gerlosius had only literally bit his head off.

Turning towards the commander, Cerise states the obvious. "...I take it the first raid did not go well? Have we claimed the first floor, at least?"

"Ha!" The draconic's laugh is entirely free of any mirth. "The first floor? That fool wasn't even able to claim the first chamber! Of the eight monster legionaries sent with him, six have been sent back to reform within the Domain, potentially weeks away. And of our brave men and women?" There's an almost wild look in his eyes as he turns to face Cerise. "Over seventy percent casualties!"

The Emissary's own eyes grow wide. "Seventy...you mean forty soldiers dead or injured, at least? That's..." She takes a moment to consider her knowledge of dungeons. "I'm not sure I even recall a mention of a raid-scale guardian causing that many losses in a single day. I'm sure there's some I've not heard of, but still..."

"Ironic, isn't it?" Gerlosius turns to stare out the window. "For over a hundred years, we in the Domain have turned dungeons into our fortresses and our military bases. Although they've never been attacked by the northerners, it was obvious how useful they would be as defensive points, to protect our troops and strategic resources." While his voice is mostly calm, it's punctuated by the sound of his fist hitting one of the wall's support beams. Fortunately, it doesn't crack. "Yet we never practiced how to invade such a dungeon ourselves!"

Cerise's own role in the Domain government had always been one of diplomacy and espionage, and so this revelation of Domain military training makes her blink. "...Never? Surely there's been training drills and the like which would provide us with at least some insight as to how to invade a well-defended dungeon."

"Only as a piecemeal thing, and generally in ways too specific to help us here. Some certain dungeon spirits would put more effort into tracking what did and didn't work against their defenses, but those findings were never collected, and would never include questions like 'how does one invade a massive void in the middle of a dungeon'. In any case, we don't have many sapient dungeon monsters or dungeon garrison officers here who could even tell us what their local experience may have been. We're going to need to invent new strategies on our own." The draconic sighs before continuing. "At least we have plenty of troops available to us. But if the matter can only be resolved by high-tier specialists, I worry that we may disappoint our sovereign with our results."

The succubus taps her lips in thought. "...We may have a local resource we can use, and I have been overdue in meeting with them. We'll see what I can find out."

---

Half an hour later Cerise finds herself sitting in the Challengers Association main office, and the main thought passing through her mind is there had to have been a more suitable chair available. Driders have rather specialized needs when it comes to their furniture, but the large, couch-like seat usually reserved for the local Administrator is currently shoved into a corner of the room - and not gently, going by the scratches on the wooden floor. Meanwhile the current 'provisional' Assistant Administrator in charge of the Grassbrook branch is sitting on a chair that looks like it was stolen from the Lucky Bastard, and which doesn't suit the desk it sits behind at all. At least it is tall enough for its current resident to be able to see over said desk, which is probably an important consideration.

As for the resident himself, Ruckus Dullspoon is wearing a comfortable smile as he taps his fingertips together. "So, Emissary Cerise Darktouched, yes? What brings you to my humble little corner of the world, hrmm?"

Cerise returns a warm smile of her own. "Not so humble, is it? You only joined the Association not so long ago, after all, and now look at you - in charge of an entire branch! And one overseeing a...vitally important dungeon at that."

Ruckus modestly waves the praise off. "Oh, was just the right person in the right place at the right time, you know how it is. So tell me - looking to get registered as a Challenger? I couldn't find a record for you, so I'm guessing you've got one of those military-trained paths."

"Government, but not military. But no, I was actually hoping we might make use of your services, Administrator Dullspoon."

The imp raises an eyebrow. "Oh? And which services might those be?"

Cerise sits up a little straighter. "The Domain requires the Association's insight on Worthy Dungeon. Or should I say, yours in particular. I've heard rumors that you have, in the past, represented yourself as an 'expert' on the dungeon and how Xenia thinks. Such insight could prove invaluable to our needs."

Ruckus, to his credit, doesn't sweat in the least at the personal attention. "Ah, well perhaps at one point, but I'll admit my behind-the-scenes knowledge might've grown a lil...rusty, yeah? Besides, I'm afraid that I can't aid you in any activities that might pose a risk to the dungeon. Politics. You know how it is, I'm sure."

The demon leans forward, just slightly. "Unless, of course, those activities are approved of by the local governing authority. Which I am here as a representative of. Meaning the Association is bound to aid our requests."

"An extremely disputed authority, Emissary." Ruckus speaks back with all of the confidence he can muster, backed by several days of reading every Association regulation and rulebook he could find. "Submitting to your authority already, before a peace treaty has officially recognized you as the owners of this territory would essentially mean recognizing your claim on the place. So no, by the principle of Association neutrality I'm afraid I can't help you. Least, not past anything I'd be able to do to help any other Challenger. Win the war and hey, maybe things will be different then, eh?"

Cerise leans forward a little more, this time making the cleavage shown by her robes quite a bit more apparent. "Oh, no need to be so rigid. You know, being one of the first to back our territorial gains could come with some rather intriguing...personal benefits."

The imp puffs up his chest in response. "Ha! Sorry, I'm immune to your succubus charms!"

The statement does cause Cerise to smirk slightly. "Oh, I assure you Administrator, I'm not using any magical influences on you right now."

"Not talking about those charms!" Ruckus pounds a fist against his chest. "I recently discovered that I'm only sexually attracted to men! So ha!"

The proud declaration does manage to surprise Cerise into silence for a moment. "...Well, if you prefer, I do of course have several incubi in my employ who would be happy to meet an individual as...unique as yourself..."

"Curses! My one...no, no Ruckus, stand strong. Sorry, Emissary, but I'm afraid I can't be bought by, uh...pleasures of the flesh. I got principles!"

Cerise narrows her eyes. "...How about being bought by money?"

"...How much are we talking about, here?"