Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus marched confidently with his men into the swamp. Not one beast barred their path since they entered. Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus inwardly sneered at the thought of the Adventurer’s Guild not having properly cleared this dungeon before allowing anyone to delve it. Dungeons were not people, and they were not gods. As a proud wolf-folk of the Empire, Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus would conquer this dungeon and claim the glory.

  Then there was an explosion of movement on the right flank—the sound of shearing metal and snapping bone.

  A massive turtle lunged out of the murky depths. In its initial charge, it caught someone unawares, biting them clean in half. Their legs took two more steps, as though they did not realize they were dead, before collapsing.

  “Don’t panic,” Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus growled as he took command. “It is but a beast. We can handle this!”

  Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus charged forward, divine energy infusing his blade as he brought it down upon the massive turtle.

  “Smite!” Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus roared.

  But his blade bounced off.

  [Entity is not infernal or evil in nature]

  Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus bit back a growl as he identified the creature and readied himself to charge again. What he saw made his eye twitch—the damned thing had so many modifiers: Giant, Dire, Brood-Mother, Heavily Armored, Well-Fed, and Crushing Bite. Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus could not help as his lips curled into a snarl.

  The turtle’s head lashed out, and another man simply ceased to exist from the waist up.

  Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus burst into motion, avoiding the shell. He drove his blade into the knee of the beast, this time finding purchase. It cried out in pain, and he grinned. In its moment of weakness, he ripped free his blade—no doubt doing further damage—and went for the neck. With the backup of several other men, they quickly dispatched the beast.

  Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus turned to announce their victory. He turned just in time to see one of his men get impaled. A goblin had dropped from the branches above, holding a long spear. They had used their weight to drive it all the way through the man.

  “Helmets on!” Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus bellowed. “Divine Barrier!”

  A wall of light appeared above his men just in time to stop half a dozen other falling beast goblins. Beams of divine light rose from his men and blasted the monsters into giblets. Loot and viscera rained down around them.

  “Form up. Activate protections!” Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus ordered. “It seems ambush is the only trick this dungeon knows. I, Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus, will not stand for it! Divine Protection!”

  Armor of light wrapped around his men as they continued forward. The losses so far were not great—only three—but they had lost two archers and a healer. Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus was not pleased.

  Like a storm of divine fury, they advanced, cleaving apart every beast and monster that stood in their way. Twice more, giant turtles nearly claimed the lives of his men, but Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus remained unbowed and undaunted. Between his skill and impressive speed, he prevented the worst from happening. Only once did a fellow paladin lose an arm. Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus used a divine blessing to replace the limb himself, both to prove how deeply he cared for his men and to keep morale high.

  They were all zealots of the gods, but every bit of zeal helped.

  It took another four hours of slaying beast goblins, giant crabs, spiders, and the occasional turtle to reach the first boss. It was a lesser hydra.

  Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus snorted in contempt. It did not even have proper regeneration.

  “Open fire,” he ordered with a sneer.

  The beast collapsed before it was even halfway across the clearing.

  Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus spat upon the corpse as he led his men past it toward the gazebo that led deeper into the dungeon. To his chagrin, the fabled Steve was not there.

  “The dungeon must be learning that we are not to be trifled with,” Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus mused as they ventured deeper.

  The winding stairs were far more extensive than expected, and yet there had not been a single trap. Once at the bottom, they realized why. They stood within yet another massive ecosystem—this one a mycelial forest.

  The landscape looked alien. Nothing was the right color as they scanned their surroundings. Fluorescent fungal trees rose at irregular intervals, revealing just enough to emphasize how unlike the surface this place truly was. They caught sight of the occasional scuttling horror crawling over and through the growth.

  “Ah, that must be our target,” Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus said, pointing while posing for his men.

  In the distance stood an illuminated structure, akin to a ziggurat. Every tier was dotted with braziers that blazed balefully.

  Stolen story; please report.

  “Form up and advance.”

  “I, Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus, will light our way,” he announced as he took his place at the center of the formation. He cast a simple light cantrip and nearly wished he had not.

  Horrors the likes of which he had never imagined shrieked as they recoiled from the light. Their large black eyes glinted with nothing but hunger.

  “Light!” one of the men on the outer edge of the formation called. A flare ignited above his head, pushing the darkness back further.

  Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus turned to nod to the man, but paused. A lance of darkness speared out from beyond the ring of light. It punched through the man’s backplate and out his front. He had time only to look up before the lance expanded. He did not even have time to scream before armor and body were torn apart. The lance then retreated into the dark.

  The smell of blood was the signal the horrors had been waiting for. A myriad of cries erupted as a tide of chitin, claws, and fangs closed in.

  “Fighting advance!” Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus ordered. “We can’t get pinned in place!”

  Every one of them cast a light spell as they engaged.

  It was a frenzy in every sense. The formation did not hold as the horrors climbed over one another to reach them. Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus led from the front of the wedge, driving forward. Though he bellowed in defiance, he could hear nothing over the chittering tide and the crushing sound of his blows. Ichor and blood flowed endlessly around them. Every man present had a divine class, meaning they could mend their own wounds. They kept fighting when dragged under, when limbs were lost, when separated.

  By the time they reached the ziggurat, only eighteen remained. Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus could hear a few of his men still fighting in the distance, but he turned his back.

  “Are we going to leave them?” one man asked.

  “They are covering our retreat,” he replied. “Holding the horde back. I, Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus, will not waste this opportunity.”

  He began ascending the ziggurat’s stairs.

  The march was not silent. None had the heart to speak, but the sounds of screams and battle followed them. By the time they reached the top, the fighting had stopped. A new sound replaced it—clicking and grinding that seemed to coil around the structure. Something massive, with far too many legs, was climbing.

  Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus looked up as the towering thing rose above the rim.

  [Gnashing Horrorpede]

  It resembled a massive centipede with jagged legs, a matte carapace of indeterminate color, eyes on every fourth segment, and a maw filled with rows of needle-like teeth. Four pincers writhed—one set blunt for crushing, the other sharp for slicing.

  With a roar of defiance, Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus met it in combat.

  __

  ---

  Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus panted as he regrew his arm for the third time. He was exhausted, but the beast was finally dead. He had gained four levels—more than he had earned in years. Weariness seeped into his bones, but duty remained.

  “Anyone still alive?” he asked.

  If he were honest, he could barely remember the fight. It was a blur of teeth, claws, and adrenaline.

  There was no answer.

  Embracing his duty—and his sword—he descended the stairs.

  “This is a new dungeon,” he muttered. “There cannot be much more.”

  He repeated the thought as he limped down the seemingly endless steps.

  “This dungeon seems to love its stairs,” he grumbled.

  Nearly an hour passed before he reached the bottom. When he stepped out, disbelief seized him. Another massive ecosystem sprawled before him. Tears welled as bitterness, anger, and exhaustion fought for dominance.

  Nearby stood a massive beast with four legs thicker than he was.

  [Brontosaur]

  Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus cast consecration, flooding the area with holy power to drive the creature back. It flinched and lumbered away—then turned, eyes locking onto him.

  He heard the rushing wind and snapping trees before he saw the tail. It struck his side before he could raise protections.

  He lost count of how many trees he crashed through. Pain consumed him. Every bone on his right side shattered. His armored sleeve collapsed, pinning the arm he had just regrown.

  He tried to recite a healing spell, but no sound came. Then he realized he could not breathe. Frothy blood seeped from his broken jaw. With one functioning eye, he blinked slowly and wondered where it had all gone wrong.

  Then the pain vanished.

  He stood once more, and beside him was a Valkyrie.

  “This could have been avoided,” she chastised.

  “I died a warrior’s death,” Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus said proudly. “I have no shame.”

  The Valkyrie grinned. “That was no warrior or predator. That was a herbivore. It would have ignored you had you not provoked it. As such, you did not die a warrior’s death.”

  “There is no way such a beast lives on plants,” he growled.

  “It is true,” Rey said as she stepped from a beam of light.

  “Even ethereal as we are, you can see us?” the Valkyrie asked in shock.

  “Body and soul are one and the same for the fey,” Rey replied coolly.

  “Now, Rey,” came a scolding male voice. Sylt stepped from the shadows. “Stealing my work again?”

  She sighed. “Indeed, it is the duty of the Unseelie to handle affairs with the divine. I will see myself out.” She vanished.

  Sylt chuckled as he approached the Valkyrie. “Seelie always let their emotions rule them. I am Sylt, First of the Unseelie. A pleasure to meet you officially.”

  “What does she mean, that body and soul are one?” the Valkyrie asked.

  “What came first, the body or the soul?” Sylt countered. “Does the body form around the soul, or does the soul form within the body?”

  Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus contemplated the question. It was a good one.

  “For us, the answer is that they are the same,” Sylt continued. “Your soul is no more monstrous than your form, no matter how vile your actions. Your body is simply the most comfortable shape. Why treat them differently when the mind within is unchanged?”

  Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus found the idea oddly comforting.

  “The dungeon wished me to guide you to the boss of this floor,” Sylt said. “He believed you would relish the chance to witness the apex challenge here.”

  Both the Valkyrie and Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus nodded.

  “I would appreciate it,” Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus admitted. “It is one more thing to report to my goddess.”

  Sylt offered a tight smile, bowed, and led them onward.

  Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus spotted the boss immediately. It was another hydra—but that comparison was meaningless.

  This creature stood sixty feet tall, its necks bent beneath their own weight. Bone spikes covered its body, each one clearly born of an old wound. This was no chosen guardian; it had clawed its way to dominance. Its heads were encased in bone, fangs massive and cruel. He could not count how many heads it possessed.

  [Primeval Hydra]

  It screeched as its eyes fixed upon a brontosaurus and surged toward its prey.

  “I never stood a chance, did I?” Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus whispered. “None of this mattered.”

  “It did matter,” Sylt corrected gently. “You have delved further than any other mortal. You earned my dungeon’s respect. Had you asked, he would have let you leave.”

  “I, Eugenius Lucrosus Imperiosus…” He faltered, then sighed. “Am ready to move on.”