She barely managed to get a hand up to stop him, grabbing his wrist as her tail tried to curl around him. Keaton was faster, though, pushing away from her. His distance gave Cassia the chance to cleave downward with her halberd, the blood-stained edge of it feeding again. This time, as the head of the weapon sank into the dungeon lady’s shoulder, the wound didn’t begin to close automatically. When Cassia wrenched out the halberd, it didn’t close at all, gushing blood.
Adriana was the next to strike. Her broken wings were extended, spreading out behind her in a way that hinted at the majesty they’d once held. Her dagger was poised, ready to slide beneath the viper’s breasts, but the dungeon lady caught her. Like before, she wrapped her tail around Adriana, leaning back so the rest of her weight could support her as she lifted the dragonkin off the ground.
“I will break all of you,” she hissed, the smooth, seductive tone of earlier gone completely.
“No, I do not think so,” came Adriana’s reply.
She twisted in the viper’s grasp, wrenching her arm free. A flash of steel showed Keaton she hadn’t lost the dagger, and she plunged it into the snakekin’s tail. The dungeon lady cried out in pain, dropping Adriana immediately.
Cassia was prepared to strike again, but the viper was quicker. Bleeding and in pain, she still managed lightning fast reflexes, her hand shooting out to close around the Emvola’s throat. She squeezed hard, Cassia gagging in a desperate bid to get some air. From his vantage point, Keaton was able to see the snake woman’s violet eyes swirling with color, the irises seeming to move in a hypnotizing pattern.
He needed to end this, because if she had Cassia on her side, the tide would turn in her favor.
Rushing her, Keaton leapt over the tail that thrashed out to trap him, his sword arm extended.
“Hey!” he called, still in midair when the dungeon lady turned to look at him.
Her eyes widened moments before his blade sliced clean through her neck, severing the head. It flew from her shoulders, landing several feet behind her and bouncing once before going still, the eerie eyes still open and gazing sightlessly at him.
Keaton dropped the scimitar, the metal clattering on the ground as all the adrenaline left him at once. He was exhausted and shaking, and it took Cassia propping him up to keep him from collapsing.
“We did it,” she urged, shaking him in violent celebration.
They had done it, and Anima seemed to recognize that fact moments later.
You have inherited another dungeon lord’s power.
You have reached level 5.
The Slithering Crypt is no longer considered enemy territory.
The dungeon’s crystal may be claimed by another lord.
New advancements are available.
Keaton let out a heavy breath, taking all of it in. That surge of power brought feeling back to his limbs and helped him stand upright again, but his stomach was soured by everything he’d experienced and what he could still possibly do.
The crystal was unclaimed. His blood was mixed with the heart of it, and it would be easy enough for Keaton to take it over. But this was what the daemon wanted. She wanted him to conquer; to crush dissidents beneath his boot. All he’d been trying to do was protect his newfound friends and the life he’d made for himself.
His gaze cleared and Keaton looked up to find Adriana in front of him, her brow furrowed, hand resting on his arm.
“You are hesitant to claim this dungeon as your own,” she said, more insightful than he’d imagined.
Keaton nodded. “That’s not why I came here.”
“If you do not, another will. Likely someone worse than this snakekin.”
He had a hard time imagining that right now. Then again, they’d come into her lair. They’d stolen her things, and of course she’d retaliated. He would’ve done the same in her position.
I didn’t even know her name…
His stomach sank like a lead weight, his gaze casting to the crystal. Adriana had a point. Who knew what might make its way down here and inherit the power. It could be something infinitely worse.
But was he really ready to take on another dungeon?
“What happens to the minions? Are there any left?”
When he took over The Labyrinth, all of the minions he’d seen disappeared. Maybe they’d just left. He hoped for that, but he doubted it.
“Anima will reclaim them,” Adriana explained. “You must recruit any you wish to join us before interfacing with the crystal.”
“Good luck finding any,” Cassia muttered, pulling away from him to search the Crystal chamber.
“I believe there are a few who went into hiding. If you have Lord’s Sight, you can see them.”
Keaton let out a breath and closed his eyes, concentrating on a spot in the distance. The details of his surroundings faded away, revealing pockets of orange, red, and yellow, along with some purple and blue in the cave walls.
He swept the area, identifying the shapes of his own minions. Not as many as he’d come here with, but most of them were still alive. Searching beyond them, he found a few stragglers slithering deeper into the crypt, and one of them hiding in what looked like some kind of tomb.
“Let’s… deal with that first, I guess.”
Anything to avoid making an immediate decision.
Cassia remained behind, wanting to take an inventory of the items in the dungeon lady’s possession. Keaton and Adriana combed the dungeon looking for wayward minions. For each minion they found, Keaton made his offer: Join with The Labyrinth, or leave this crypt for good.
Out of the nine snakekin warriors they found, six joined them. Two decided to turn tail and run, and one was foolish enough to try and attack Adriana. Keaton had put a quick end to that.
Gathering the armor and weapon from the slain snakekin, he sent the others outside along with the Emvola warriors and the two goblins who’d served as scouts. His heart raced as he made his way back to the Crystal Chamber with Adriana. He’d need to decide soon, and he wasn’t sure there was actually a correct one here.
“Found some things that might be useful,” Cassia said when they returned. “A couple envenomed weapons, a circlet that has some kind of magic, though I’m not sure what, and some potions.”
Keaton inspected the items where she’d laid them out on the table, his gaze briefly straying to the goblet that still had mind fog potion in it. The weapons were a dagger and short sword respectively. The dagger was a nasty curved affair made of gleaming silver, and the short sword seemed to be its mate, with shimmering rubies encrusted in the hilts of each.
He picked up the dagger to inspect it more closely. In the torchlight, the silver shone with a green tint that made Keaton’s skin itch just looking at it. That must be the envenom enchantment.
“These would be handy for me to use, if you two don’t mind,” he said. “Or I can just take the dagger and one of you can use the sword.”
“You have first choice of the spoils, Lord Keaton,” Adriana said.
“That’s not how I want to do things. Do either of you want one of these?”
“Poison isn’t my thing,” Cassia said with a soft snort.
“I am not a skilled enough fighter to make use of them,” Adriana put in.
He’d have to help her rectify that. She’d done well today, but he knew her back was against the wall.
“Alright then,” he said, sheathing the dagger and sword and attaching both to his belt. “Let’s see this circlet.”
He picked it up to examine it, the image of it shimmering before showing itself to just be a plain, dented circlet.
“Are you sure this is worth anything?”