Worthy Core

DAY 804

Sadly, Trush's estimation of Lollyp's durability proved to be a little optimistic. She was able to set up a few earth-magic-constructed defenses before Squad Four worked up the courage to head inside, but the Challenge Mode was no longer a surprise at that point, nor did Lollyp have the time to return to a hiding place before they arrived. She was still able to kill three of them and injure several more before they beat a retreat out the door, but Squad Five immediately went in after them and gave the slime elementalist no time to recover.

Trush and his squad of rabbit squires bought her that time however, hopping in through a rift in the ceiling and killing several more soldiers before they had time to adapt. Squad Six kept up the pressure with another wave, and this time they managed to finish off Lollyp as well as a few squires before needing to fall back. It was then left to Trush himself to defend the arena against Squad Seven, and although he put up a pretty good show of things, Squad Eight didn't even bother waiting their turn before joining in on the fight.

A few of the dungeon's mortal residents asked for the chance to join in, but Xenia denied their request. While dungeon monsters weren't immune to the whirling tornadoes of death the Challenge Mode had spawned, they did seem to...fit together in some sort of sense, where monsters seemed to be at least relatively safe from their own arena defenses. Dungeon systems didn't have a concept for 'friendly mortals' however, and it's likely the hazards would have killed as many of their own defenders as they would have invaders. The Challenge Mode did shut off after Trush was slain, but at that point it would have simply been a pitched mortal-vs-mortal fight, and Xenia would rather reserve that type of encounter for a more suitable terrain.

For the time being at least, Floor Two was lost.

Fortunately, that didn't mean things were much easier for the Domain soldiers now that they had claimed the place. The route from the top of the shaft to the bottom was still a complicated and risky series of moving platforms and jumps, and there would continue to be a risk of soldiers falling to their deaths just trying to pass through the floor. Moving supplies seemed even trickier, until one officer came up with the idea of just taking bottomless bags full of goods and tossing them to the bottom of the shaft.

Bringing them back up for a second trip was just a bit more complicated.

At least it couldn't be said that Floor Two had gone down easy. Even not counting the disastrous first attempt, this 'successful' attack on the floor had cost the lives of twenty-seven soldiers and four Domain dungeon monsters, including twelve demons, nine kobolds, and six slimes. Xenia wagered she could probably continue passively ganking a few here and there by playing with the layout during resets, plus the occasional ambush to keep them on their toes. The important thing however was this: the Domain would need further reinforcements before pushing on to Floor Three. With the troops already required in reserve to occupy the first floor, they had nearly exhausted their manpower resources at it was.

And that meant that it was time to dust off a plan Xenia and her commanders had been prepping for a while. As a select few mortals make their way into the Floor Five 'command center', Emma fixes Tinsel with a grin. "Heya, shortstuff. You still prepped for that outdoors excursion we were talking about a while back?"

The mousekin frowns. "What, last week? Yeah, I've been spending practically all day making whatever stuff we can from the goods we've got around here. But uh...wasn't the plan supposed to have Lollyp helping me with setting up the traps? She's kind of...well, not dead, but inaccessible now, yeah?"

The reflection shakes her head. "They still haven't figured out that Lollyp's respawn point is hidden above the arena, so they won't be killing her immediately like they do with BB. And even if they were, Xen can afford the extra expense for a special mission like this. You won't be heading out until after midnight, anyways."

Taly grins as she takes a seat, followed by the trio of the Dungeon Fuckers. "So what's the plan, again? Anything changed?"

Xenia answers her Banshee Queen's question directly. "The Domain needs another wave of reinforcements for the place - not only to keep pushing forward, but also to be able to reserve some troops to hold Floor Two. That means now would be a great time to make sure they don't get those reserves, at least not any time soon. So to review, step one is this - Taly, you're gonna cover Tinsel, Lollyp, and Zappy as they sneak outside tonight and booby-trap the path up. I don't know how well it's guarded or patrolled, I don't got eyes out there, but you need to make sure they slip through the cracks."

Taly starts to nod before pausing. "...Uh, sneaking myself through the front door would be hard, I'm definitely not getting all four of us out there. Nevermind that the Dungeon Fuckers here are going to be setting up an ambush of their own, right? How are we getting out there?"

The Fuckers seem just as curious about this small issue, so Emma takes charge of answering. "Well, you know how Floor Five is actually physically located at the top of the dungeon? Since Xen just connected it to Four and Six through shortcut portals? Well...we've been keeping silent on exactly where the floor is at, so don't tell anyone, but..."

She tilts her head towards Xenia, who takes the cue to wave a hand at the wall behind her. The rock melts away, liquefying in the mysterious manner that dungeons use to modify their spaces, but instead of expanding the size of the room...the dungeon master creates a window.

A glass-less window, which means that everyone in the room suddenly starts shivering as freezing mountaintop air immediately rushes inside. Yelping, Paladin Tolla shouts out in surprise. "Wait, we coulda been having windows up here all this time, and we've been makin' do with magic torches and shit!?"

Emma snorts. "What, and let the first demon or draconic doing a flyby find out, so that they can drill in through here and kill everyone?" As she says that the window immediately seals back up, having served its demonstration purposes. "We'll open it long enough for you to get in and out, and that's it. We'll keep a troop of Challengers on standby too, just in case, but...if something goes wrong out there we can't guarantee any sort of rescue. So be careful, alright?"

Taly gives a serious nod in return. "Don't worry. Anyone spots us, I'll focus full efforts on getting everyone back." Her expression shifts into a grin. "And if I get stuck out there, at least I've got an express way back to the dungeon."

Xenia sighs. "Just don't be too eager. This goes best if no one knows you're there, after all..."

---

After Lollyp had time to respawn and get briefed on the plan, the mission operatives made their way back to Floor Five to await their window. The plan had two teams - the first would be Tinsel and Lollyp, being carried by Zappy, to scope out the path and identify good places to set explosives and other traps. The second team was the Dungeon Fuckers, who would make their own way around the mountain at a higher altitude to set an ambush point. Taly would switch between teams - first doing her best to conceal the movements of the sabotage team, before meeting back up with the Fuckers to help them escape after their cover was blown. Xenia couldn't create any shortcut portals on the outside of the mountain, so their return trip would have to be at high speed across treacherous terrain.

As the Challengers start their hike, Lollyp watches on while Tinsel fits into her Zappy-harness. "So uh, I should've asked this earlier probably, but...is this gonna be quiet? I've never really seen how Zappy flies, before."

The magnetic elemental eagerly nods her sculpted head. "Totally! Hrmm, maybe a little hum? But I think you'd have to be pretty close for that. Usually the loudest part of my trips with Tinsel is when I make her scream."

"In terror!" The mousekin quickly interjects. "Zappy will do crazy loops and drops and shit and I scream because I'm scared! That's all!" As she looks away and refocuses on her harness, Lollyp and Taly tilt their heads.

The Banshee Queen taps her lips. "Was there...some other reason you would be screaming?"

"Nope! Just the totally normal reason! Anyways, you're here to help with the stealth, yeah?"

"...Yeah, definitely. I can't fly but I can scale and jump across cliffsides pretty damn well, so I should be able to keep up with you as long as Zappy doesn't go too high or fast. If you stay within...fifty feet or so I can help silence any noise you make, and when you start doing your thing I can cloak that part of the trail in shadow. Given it's the middle of the night, no one should notice anything weird."

"Sounds good!" Tinsel gives a thumbs up before opening a bag and pushing it in Lollyp's direction. "Now, in the bag, goostuff."

"Hrmm, definitely going to have to dock the carrier service a few points on courtesy." Lollyp shakes her head before handing Zappy another bag with her gear in it, then leans over and...more or less pours herself into Tinsel's open bag. The slime clearly turns out to be a little heavier than Tinsel was expecting, and Zappy needs to reach out to steady her girlfriend's arm before the mousekin accidentally drops her passenger.

"Whoa, got you! Now don't squish around too much while we're moving, alright? I haven't tried this with two people before..."

A mouth forms at the top of the bag. "Now you tell me...whatever, I'll try not to 'squish', alright? Let's get moving, we're burning lack-of-daylight!"

Zappy gives a few experimental bounces on her ankles before hopping into the air, and although it takes a moment she eventually stabilizes around ten feet above the surface of the stone. "...Think I can manage it. Definitely wouldn't have worked with a human, though! Alright, Tinsel, point the way you want me to go!"

Her primary passenger points in the direction of the mountain trail, and the elemental takes off with Taly following behind. It takes a bit of experimentation for the group to find the maximum range of Taly's stealth-granting abilities, but fortunately they sort it out long before getting near any Domain soldiers. The most dangerous part of the trip is when they have to pass over the main dungeon entryway, lit up even at night by camping soldiers. Fortunately even the soldiers on watch rarely look upwards, and even if they had, Doorman is standing ready to distract them with a good knock-knock joke.

They keep on traveling for a good distance down the mountain, not wanting to risk being anywhere near the semi-alert camp while they're working. Lights from the bottom of the trail indicate that the former checkpoint once run by the Rainlands army has been repurposed by new occupants, so they also avoid going too far down. Sadly, no part of the trail is entirely shrouded in darkness. Torches have been set up to light the way at regular intervals, and there appears to be at least one patrol party going up and down the mountain even at night.

Zappy does her best to whisper to her girlfriend. "Looks like...what, six of those soldiers there? I bet we could totally take them by surprise! One good burst of lightning, Taly can shoot the survivors, then we toss the bodies off the mountain!"

"No! No lightning! Hells, even if we could do it quiet, a patrol going missing would spoil the whole thing! Just...wait til they pass, okay? This is probably a good spot to start working, since we know they won't be back here for a while."

"Finnneee..." The trio continue hovering as the soldiers continue making their way, unlightninged, and as they finally pass a corner in the mountain trail Zappy goes in for a landing. Shadows quickly sprout up on either side of them, although they keep some distance from the trio so that the saboteurs can see what they're working with.

With a plop, Lollyp oozes her way out of her transport bag and quickly reforms into her semi-humanoid shape. Taking a look at the stone both on and above the trail, she grins. "Well...now let's see what kind of trouble we can get up to here, eh?"