Chương 78: 78, loop 2 32

Almost immediately, gears started turning. They groaned louder than my uncle's snoring, and it was clear they hadn't been used in a long, long time. Which didn't add up. According to Flag, the dungeon said my uncle had been through here many times. Which meant either the dungeon rebuilt everything after each group left it, or someone was lying. Even scarier, if it was being rebuilt every time, it would require an unfathomable amount of magic to make it work.

But then again, I was standing inside a dungeon with its own soul. So maybe my standards for "unfathomable" needed updating. The two halves of the door swung inward. And the musty smell of a waterlogged, mildewy room hit us. In front of us, in an uncanny mirror of Therumia's grand staircase, was the same staircase. Or what that staircase would've looked like if several hundred years of water damage and nature and overgrowth had weathered it.

Vines crossed through and around the floor and into the banister, splitting the wood and curling along the railing. Water rushed down the right side, forming a shallow depression in the center of the steps. Just like the entrance room, the left side belonged to the forest, and the right side belonged to the water.

"Hey, Laz," Finn said, interrupting my thoughts.

"Isn't this—""Yep," I said.

"I guess she liked it so much she brought it into the real world."

"That's… This is the real world."

"You know what I mean, man. Come on, don't be pedantic. That's my job." The vines and plants had clearly made their way in from the entrance through cracks in the wall and door, and they were now creeping up the staircase into the second floor. Water flowed down before settling into a channel that led to the right side of the entrance room. Finn didn't respond. Instead, he ignored me and started making his way toward the staircase. So we climbed. And that was putting it lightly.

Vines and trees had swallowed entire sections of the staircase, forcing us over branches, under roots, and around thorns that kept snagging our clothes, tearing rips in the fabric. The farther we went up the stairs, the thicker everything became. Giant webs stretched between the vines, blocking further progress. Eventually, we'd had enough and decided to see if the ward had stopped blocking [Float]. Which it had. It kind of felt silly we took so long to try, but the rest of the trip was no time at all.

About twenty minutes later, forty-six Flags, seventeen or so golems, Axe, Finn, and I were all on the second floor, trying to stay out of the way of the river. Things were shockingly spacious up there. Almost like the staircase had led us into a regal ballroom. There was a massive chandelier hanging from the ceiling, though most of its crystals had fallen, and vines hung off its rusted frame. Roots had split the dance floor into uneven slabs.

And what looked like twenty-three trees reached towards the sky to a set of balconies overlooking the ballroom. Perched among those balconies were three of the winged skeleton fuckers. Because apparently, we couldn't go through a single room without a fight. Water, on the other hand, had started filling the first floor, now that the master door had been closed.

"Oh, joy. Another timer room. Isn't this fun, Finn? We're having fun." He rolled his eyes at me and floated forward to engage the monsters. Axe stopped him immediately.

"Commander."

"Yes, Axe?"

"Count the trees." I didn't have to recount them, but I immediately realized what he was getting at.

"Fuck."

"Count them."

"Twenty-three." Finn did it for me. In addition to the three winged ape things, we had found the twenty-three missing treants. I didn't have to be a genius to know what the dungeon was trying to do. It was trying to weaken us and waste our mana before fighting the real boss. I didn't care, and I cast [Embiggen] on Axe. He had earned this victory. Finn and I needed a plan quick. Because one winged ape was a threat. Three would almost certainly send us to our deaths.

Axe barely waited for the spell to take effect and was already halfway to the treants before he had grown to his full size.

"Dude, wait until the spell's done."

"I have been patient. No more waiting," he said.

"That's not true at all. You've been absolutely unbearable."

"Both things can be true, Commander," he said. I shook my head. He was as bad as I was. All twenty-three of the treants came to life at once. But they'd picked up some tricks since the last time we'd seen them. Because now, instead of throwing punches, they were throwing what looked like eggs. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. It was really the best way to describe it. They were oval-shaped and covered in bark.

And when the first one split against Axe's head, it burst open into the destroyed shape of one of the spider treants. Because that made sense. Maybe the spider treants were the baby form? I was learning entirely too much about the treant reproductive system. And I needed to stop. Finn floated next to me, his wand at the ready, and said, "Should we?" But I cut him off.

"No. It'll be fine."

"He's outnumbered twenty-three to one."

"Did you forget the hallway battle? They're the ones outnumbered one to twenty-three." Flag had been silent for a while, which was worrying me more than I wanted to admit. All forty-six of him stood, staring blankly ahead, while Axe charged the treants by himself. I sent a thought through our tether, but he didn't reply. I kept waiting for the ape men to attack. Which, of course, was the moment they finally did. The first winged ape flew down from his perch, straight towards Finn.

He had a ward up about half a second before they hit. The impact slid Finn back about a foot. The second and third apes followed suit, and he dodged out of the way just in time. Of course, that was when the already hectic situation got even worse. And every single last egg that had been thrown hatched simultaneously. Dozens upon dozens of the little spider treants started jumping all over the place. One tried to land on my face and I batted it down. And then two more replaced it. I retreated back to the staircase.

Axe was in la-la land, killing treant after treant, happily cleaning up loose ends. Finn was being cornered by the three ape monsters. And I had thirty fucking spiders to deal with. Of course, none of this would have been a problem if the forty-six Flags standing there had decided to chip in. But they were still frozen. And about as helpful as a Professor Mela lecture. Then Finn switched to a mobile ward so he could cast [Force Bolt] s. Across the ballroom, Axe tore through another treant.

As soon as the thing hit the floor, dozens of the eggs that had been tangled in its branches split open, and another wave of wooden spiders poured out. Which was making the problem worse. Every time Axe destroyed a treant, instead of throwing eggs, it dropped them. Which meant all of the eggs were going to hatch. I considered telling him to stop. But when an actual noise of glee escaped his otherwise silent body… well, I knew that conversation wasn't going to go well.

The three winged apes were still trying to break through Finn's ward. But he'd found a moment to harass me about my inaction.

"Whatever stupid thing you're about to do," he called while continuing to cast [Force Bolt], "please do it before I run out of ways to keep us alive."

"I'm thinking as fast as I can."

"Fuck, man, think faster." I cast [Gust] after [Gust], trying to move the spiders away from me and give me time to think of a way to eradicate them permanently. Water hadn't seemed to faze them. Fire probably wasn't viable this close to a fucking river, and they would just be able to jump over [Slick]. I could use a more powerful [Gust] and knock them off the balcony, but they'd probably just climb right back up. I wasn't one to be quick to frustration. Or at least, I didn't think I was.

But something about Flag standing there while Finn and I were slowly worn down was getting to me. I knew he could still hear me. I knew he was still in there. But whatever that red streak crawling through our connection was, it had stopped Flag from helping us. There was nothing to it. I was gonna have to take matters into my own two hands. Well, own three hands. I cast [Third Arm]. With my expanded mana pool, the spell almost felt worthwhile.

A translucent blue hand condensed out of the air beside me, in the size and shape of my own. I enlarged it and reached past Prime Flag for another clone. I grabbed it around the waist and threw it at a spider near Finn. Kill that spider, I demanded. But then the forty-five of the other Flags turned to face the forest. And something crazy happened. All forty-six Flags raised their hands. And cast [Fireball]. Hearing forty-six clones shout a word in unison is truly something.

And then seeing forty-six identical casts of the same spell, at the same time, is something else entirely. The spells hit the spiders, and then the treants and their eggs. And then the three winged skeletons before slamming against the wall on the other side. Heat overwhelmed me. Leaves around my feet curled black before I could even comprehend what was going on. The river next to me evaporated in an instant. And everything, every living thing in the room, died. The heat scoured my skin.

There was a blinding orange and yellow light. I moved my arm up to protect me from what was almost certainly death. Somehow, I didn't need to and I opened my eyes. I was kind of shocked I hadn't died from the heat. Prime Flag was standing directly in front of me. A curved green ward I had never taught him was held out in front of us, directing blast of the fireballs away. This close together, the red streak in our tether was mere inches from corrupting me. But I took a step back, and the distance made things safe.

The steam rose to the ceiling, but by the time it came back down, water was already pouring back in, forming a new river. The forest had been transformed. What had once been vibrant, lush, and full of life was now black, slicked over, and scorched. Around us, burning branches cracked and fell.

"So, you can hear me," I said to him. Prime Flag turned away first, looking toward his clones as if I hadn't spoken. I wanted to grab and shake him. Demand that he say literally anything. But I let him turn away. Axe came out of the smoke, followed a few moments later by Finn. Any threat had been completely evaporated by Axe or Flag. And it was clear Axe was furious.

"Commander. I am not happy."

"I know, dude."

"Those were mine to kill." He turned toward Prime Flag.

"How dare you."

"Hey, at least they're gone now. We're all on the same side."

"Yes. But I wanted to kill them." He pouted, or at least made the approximation of if Axe could pout. And then he lowered his arms.

"Laz, I'll be right back. I'm gonna go try the crank on that pillar. I bet my breakfast it'll stop all the water. So we can go up that stairwell." An odd silence settled over the room. While we waited on Finn, I tried one more time to get Flag to talk. The rushing of the water was replaced by practically nothing. Flag was silent, as were his golems. The normal golems also were. And Axe was thinking—or doing Therumia-knew-what. We approached the spiral staircase together.

Water was still dripping down the inside of it. But it was clear, given the red tether pointing upwards, what lay above: the dungeon boss.