Ch 34 - Before the storm

As Kyle demonstrated the different types of slime he had to the older Serenity members the ones they had been waiting for suddenly entered the room, King Jekyll followed by Elder Helen and Thurk with his routine of guards.

Jekyll's expression could only be described as weary, having taken some time before meeting with them to collect his thoughts after having listened to Thurk's report. The loss of the first northern gate didn't faze him, they were dwarves after all and construction wasn't a problem. What did however wear him down was the revelation of a powerful being assisting the undead dungeon and the headache brought to them by the loss of an adventurer belonging to the only people that accepted to help them.

Helen on the other hand wore her usual stone cold expression, her wings shone bright as her magic filled the room. An invisible aura that didn't effect anything but herself, a sensing aura that determined the emotions of those within range.

They both walked to stand in front of the gathering of three guilds, Apokalypse standing at attention behind their leader, Eternium gathered into two squadrons and Serenity lying about a pillar.

As previously agreed upon Eternium and Apok would ask for safe passage to the other side of the mountain range first and so they did as Zeeke spoke up "King Jekyll of the Dwarves and Elder Helen of the Fae, my and the Apok guild ask for passage through the mountains. We wish to reach our comrades on the other side as quickly as possible."

"Indeed" Jekyll replied with a grunt as he stared at Birse, a hollow feeling in his gut "You only needed ask". He turned to Thurk "Assemble a scouting party to take them through" he ordered and the guard officer nodded before walking towards them.

"Follow me adventurers, it will only take mere moments to get ready" Thurk explained as he guided Eternium and Apok out of the throne room. Glances of curiosity and worry were given at the remaining Serenity members but nobody spoke until they left.

Birse let go of Meril and took a couple steps back, glancing at the rest he gestured for them to gather around him. The Serenity members stood up and walked over forming a line behind him, their expressions either cold or glaring anger.

Helen frowned at what she sensed, although only one or two showed their anger the rest that hid it were far more fuming.

Jekyll cleared his throat "I would welcome you to my kingdom and even command for a feast whether it be not for our common enemies lying right beneath us" he spoke grimly as he gestured at the still frozen Meril to move, snapping out of her daze with a jerk she silently excused herself with a bow and walked towards a side exit as quickly as she could without breaking into a run.

Jekyll continued to speak "I have prepared our strongest remaining warriors to follow you i-"

Birse cut him off there "We do not need your help with the dungeon" he stated plainly with a cold tone.

The king stared at him awkwardly, his mouth slowly closing from being cut off mid-sentence. "Excuse my ignorance of your strength but a being cap-"

Again Birse cut him off, speaking louder this time "I assure you" he paused momentarily before continuing to speak again with the previous cold tone "For the loss of our member" another pause went by "Whether it be the threat of the coming Demon Legions, the Elven Purge or even the fucking Avatar itself".

Helen immediately shut her aura off as the amount of seating rage that emanated from the group sent her senses into confusion causing her to feel dizzy.

Birse continued to speak not noticing this "It will not be some petty justice that we shall inflict, we are not here to save the ones in need. We are here for retribution, the price for taking one of our own is equivalent to however much wrath we can muster." He paused again for effect as he glanced back at the better role player in the group.

Kyle stepped forward "You question our wrath?" he continued to speak before they could answer that question "We have removed associations ten times larger than us from existence! We have sent entire nations! Not kingdoms! Nations into disarray and chaos before delivering the killing blow to their patriarchs!".

The dramatic speech wasn't planned beforehand, instead Kyle acted on instinct to continue from where Birse left off. None of what he said was a lie, above all it was the entire truth except for one small part that went unmentioned…it was all done within a game.

He continued to speak as he gestured with his arms and hands for dramatic flair "We have ended wars before they even started, killed the highest members of powerful societies. Intelligence is the floor we stand on, our hands the tools and their bodies the materials we work with. The shadows are our reality, blood is our world. We are the calm after the storm, the silence after thunder. We are all that remains after, we are the serenity after the chaos."

Kyle turned to glance over his fellow guild members "This being inflicted a wound over us that shall never heal, it took away one of the gears that made us work. We cannot replace it, so instead we shall drench it with so much blood that it will never be forgotten throughout the rest of existence!" In unison all the members stomped down either their weapon or foot, the sound reverberated through the room proving the following point "We are not to be underestimated".

Helen the diplomat of the two wasn't impressed, the chance of any part of Kyle's speech being true terrified her. The tone he had spoken in, the emotion Kyle had put into his words were impossible to fake.

If Jekyll was worried before then now he was astounded, the speech was well and all but to him a warrior of his people the final part is what caught his attention. That single united stomp, it was as if one single giant had emitted it. Not an army, not a band of rogues or a squad of assassins. No the sound was made by a single unit, each part following a specific pace that was carved into the unit as a whole.

Both understood the meaning of what had been just shown to them, the dungeon and its supporter were doomed from the start. All that mattered now was shielding their city from the wrath of this monster, a monster they had poked and prodded the moment it came into their view.

Feeling as if his role was accomplished Kyle stepped back ("No loss is without gain") he thought to himself, something Birse had told them all many times even before this world.

A couple moments of absolute silence went through the room as Jekyll and Helen processed their declaration, not knowing how to proceed they waited for one of theirs to do so. Jekyll was simply out of words, he didn't know what to say or do anymore. Helen on the other hand guessed that they wanted something but decided to wait and see, see If they actually did want something out of them.

Having waited long enough for them to collect their thoughts Birse broke the silence "Now the reason we even stand here before you, instead of simply storming down to the dungeon." His eyes narrowed as he glared both of them down "You were the start of all of this. I understand that you couldn't have known such a being to be assisting the dungeon at the moment but" he momentarily paused before suddenly raising his voice "You knew it was a possibility, you knew we aren't of this world and have no such knowledge."

Helen was about to object but Birse gave her no room to talk "For the price of withholding information from us, information that costed us one of our own. We forward you two choices."

Having felt a pause Helen found her time to speak "What are these choices…" denying what he had just exclaimed was pointless, his tone making it obvious that in their eyes it was already undeniable.

Birse didn't respond for a couple moments until Jekyll spoke out of anxiety "The..choi-"

He cut him off "The first" he spoke loudly again "You are to fully comply to the following requests. Members of my guild will be allowed to take residence within New Ruk in the form of a guild base of which we shall decide the location, size and material. Resources for the previously stated guild base will be entirely provided by you. A rank within your community equal to your own will be handed to me along with a rank a step lower to all my guild members. You will forward all information you own and may own in the future regarding this, any and all kingdoms, allegiances, associations, groups and races of this world to us.

Along with the previous request you will also make us exact copies of the best maps you have within your possession of this world and research regarding all sorts of magic, skills, titles and classes you own and will in the future. Next, all equipment members of my guild purchase from you will come free of charge." Birse grew a slight smile as he mentioned the last request "The final request and this is by no means a joke nor does it hold any meaning towards rank or title, you will hand over the object that is that throne."

"I call dibs!" Wood suddenly exclaimed raising his right arm up as he rose to stand on his toes.

Slowly Birse glanced back and stared at him in astonishment, Wood lowered his arm and returned to standing on his feet "I'll take that as a no?..." Birse's expression twitched a couple times before turning to again look at Jekyll and Helen.

"Ignore the unicorn" he finally stated before waiting for their response.

Helen's eyes were wide with disbelief, not at the interruption but at the total implications of the requests. They could make the whole city their base, take any resource they wanted, any information they wanted and do whatever they wanted until the populace objected. She couldn't possibly fathom accepting this choice "And the alternative?" so she set her hopes upon the second.

Birse's smile faltered as he returned to his cold emotionless expression "The alternative is that all of the above will be taken by force." He fully understood what this meant, not only did he have the backing of more than half the adventurers but the Mage guilds as well. Along with the fact that the adventurers they gathered so far alone outnumbered the populace of both Dwarves and Fae, giving them the advantage of having the Dominion side with them.

Jekyll closed his eyes briefly and sighed, turning around he walked over to his throne. Suddenly his resounding laughter reverberated throughout the room, as he calmed down he stood staring at it with a grim expression while he rested his right hand over one of the many wing bones "I actually liked this throne…"

---

Deep below the Dwarven Mountains, The dungeon Under's core room. A couple hours earlier.

Abaddon rested against the pillar holding up the core as she lay sitting down and breathing heavily "It took a couple tries…but I did it…damn things were protected but I did it…I took over one of their souls!" she exclaimed loudly and began to giggle. Glancing up she noted the dungeon hadn't responded "Under?" slowly she lifted her right hand up and touched the core.

("Your actions took great amounts of our mana pool, I must slumber until I recuperate") The dungeon spoke into her mind through their connection as core and limb, as master and minion. Although not a mindless minion Abaddon was still bound to the dungeon as part of it, she couldn't leave without being imbued with large amounts of mana from the core and even that was temporary.

Having fled from the battle of I'le decades ago, bathed in blood and moving in a dying body slashed by the blade hero himself she escaped deep into the Dwarven mines which now held the city of New Ruk. Abaddon chuckled to herself as she rose "You know Under, I still remember that day clearly. As I lay there dying in some random shit hole I picked for grave. As my many wounds bled me out, as my slashed heart took its final beats. I heard it, the voice of a weak existence trying announce it's name to some Fae for their guidance."

A weak smile grew on her face as she reminisced "As I left my corpse of a body behind, how you tugged at my fleeting consciousness for attention. How you saw in me a teacher I saw in you the potential to survive, the potential to be greater than anything your kind ever strived to be." She paused briefly as she rested her forehead to the core. "You saw me as guide, I saw you as a sapling I could grow. And so I did for all this time, showed you our ways and taught you the start of our most ancient summoning magic. My promise then is still my promise now."

The dungeon pulsed with power as she stepped back to get a full view of it "That pebble of a core that you once were, the promise I made to that pebble is the same I repeat to the boulder that you are now." She opened her arms wide as a wicked grin curved her lips "I will make you larger than a mountain, I will guide you into growing to the size of a world. For so long we have worked together, through blood and sweat. We are getting closer, with every addition we get closer. When we are ready you will devour the other dungeons, you will take over their power and land."

A humanoid silhouette with a tail could be seen slowly walking into the dimly lit room. Abaddon's laughter echoed throughout the dungeon as she glanced the new minion walk in "Let them come!" she exclaimed "Let the fools attack! Let them continue sending their best! No matter what we shall devour them whole!". Her eyes widened as they flared with bright red energy "I will make you into the ultimate dungeon! One that has devoured a whole world! The philosopher's stone of legend!"