Chapter Twelve
I gripped my Void Crystal the next day. Fara was in the room with me. She stared at the black gemstone with this look of awe. She had changed when she touched it. Transformed from a woman who just wanted to work with me into an elf who loved me.
"Your map is perfect," I said, glancing to it on the wall.
"Let's just hope the maps I used were accurate," she said. "If this is off too much, we'll miss it."
"Just get me in the ballpark," I said. "I can find his dungeon if I have to."
"Yes, you can, Lord Leo," Souleen said. She perched on top. "I'm so excited. I feel like you'll learn something amazing."
I winked at her.
"I am intrigued myself," Fara said. "Another dungeon to explore. I just hope the dwarves haven't looted the place."
"Yeah," I said, remembering those poor dwarven slaves the Twins had used. "I should have done this right away, but I got distracted."
"You didn't miss out on much," Smerta said. "Led was a tool."
I had brought my Valkyrie in here today. She would be invaluable if I reached Led's dungeon. I might hit Ziamili's by mistake. She would be able to tell the difference between the two.
"I'm excited," Lana Fulmine said, her wings crackling with electricity.
"Yes," Morana said. I brought my goth banshee here. She was new to the harem, so I wanted her to have more experience beneath her belt. She had never been in another dungeon before. "I am quite curious what dark and macabre secrets Led's hiding."
"BDSM porn," said Smerta, rolling her eyes.
I put my hands on the Void Crystal and concentrated. I pictured Fara's map. Her dimensions. I drove it from the main hub that lay off the cave entrance. The safety feature kept anyone who breached these tunnels that ran to various places from being an immediate threat. They would still have my full labyrinth to go through to reach this room.
I wasn't taking a risk even if having a direct path from here to Astovin would be nice.
I hoped to run into a Mana Vein, too. I had searched the surrounding area and gotten all I could. My dungeon had to start greatly expanding for me to have any chance of growing more powerful. I would need it. If the Gods sent another saint against me or if a powerful adventuring party attacked us.
Or a dungeon builder with Level 3 magic and monster girls...
The tunnel was long and narrow, big enough for me to ride my undead horse down. I followed Fara's calculations on the gradient, passing beneath so much land. The people above would have no idea a dungeon stretched beneath their feet.
Once I had it fully fixed in my mind, it existed. All that way to, hopefully, the Twins' dungeons.
"Damn," I muttered. "I didn't hit a single Mana Vein."
Fara sighed. "I am sorry, Lord Leo. I wish I knew a way to detect them." Her ears twitched. "I will start researching that."
I swallowed the bitterness. "Now let's find the dungeon."
I sent out some feeler tunnels, driving in the rock from a room I made. One of my tunnels intersected an open space. A tunnel that I crashed through. I smiled. I had found Led's lair. This wasn't like Meskalamdug's dungeon. This wasn't an active one that could resist my intrusion.
I concentrated. Smerta, Lana Fulmine, Morana, and all the wildhounds (save Du who was on watch outside of Siwang's dungeon) vanished. I let go of the crystal. "Now we have some time to kill while they explore, Fara."
"Would you like to use my body?" the elf asked, a wicked smile on her lips.
* \ * / *
Morana trembled as she appeared at the end of a tunnel. It opened onto another dungeon, cutting into the floor making a heavy step. The banshee's cloak of black mist that fell down her pale form thickened with her excitement.
"What horrors and despairs we shall find," cooed Morana as Smerta climbed up into the tunnel. She had her sword in hand, clad in her armor. She looked so dangerous and deadly.
I bet she would ravish me after killing a hundred men,
thought Morana.
Dripping in blood. She's a valkyrie. A Corpse-Goddess of the Norse.
"We're in luck, Lord Leo,"
said Smerta telepathically.
"We broke into Led's dungeon. I'm unleashing the wildhounds to scout it. We'll make for the entrance first then work our way around. We're about in the middle of the dungeon."
"Oh, good,"
the Dark Lord answered, his thoughts a little scattered.
"That's perfect."
"Very perfect,"
Fara added on the group chat.
"Yes, yes, that's just wonderful, Lord Leo."
"He's fucking her," Lana said with a smirk. Her wings crackled with electricity.
"Hela, lead your girls," Smerta said. "The traps should be inactive now, but there's a lot of them. Ice spikes and blinding traps are the worst. The Frost Room can be avoided if you find it. If it still is deadly, don't go in there."
"I'm on it, Lady Smerta!" Hela said, the petite wildhound saluting.
They are so cute,
thought Morana.
Dark, deadly, and adorable. Just the sort of monster girls the Dark One needs.
The wildhounds surged out in both directions on all fours, their black tails swishing as they sniffed at the ground. They had such cute rumps, their hairless pussies an inviting sight. Morana was horny all the time in this world. All the monster girls were.
"This way," Smerta said, heading after Marwo, Cysgo, and Nos. The other three went the other direction.
Morana walked beside Lana Fulmine, Smerta before them, her sword out and ready to attack anyone. The wildhounds found traps, but they were all disabled. The place was so eerie. Morana loved it. Leo's dungeon always had the moans of monster girls making love echoing through it. They spent much of their time sparring or fucking.
After all, monster girls didn't
have to
sleep. Those protecting the dungeon were always awake, but only the ones in the entrance room had to be ready at all times, alert for danger. The others could respond when the alarm went off.
"Spooky," Lana Fulmine said. "It feels so dead."
"I know," Morana said, her pussy so wet. "You can feel that death has walked through these walls. Do you think there will be bodies?"
"Most corpses are not beautiful," said Lana Fulmine. "They bloat and rot."
Morana grimaced. "That's why our Dark Lord can preserve the dead and keep their beauty eternally. He did that for me. I will never age. Neither will you. No hitting the wall for this version of Lana Fulmine."
She smiled. "It takes a lot of the pressure off. I did so many drugs trying not to think about what would happen when my ass wasn't hot enough. When not even the CGI guys could make me look hot. Probably I would have started whining about how I was 'objectified' by the male gaze. Play the feminist card in a bid to stay relevant. But, really, I used how hot I was. I loved that men were staring at my ass in those booty shorts on screens across the world. Every actress wants to be desired. If we weren't attention whores, we would have gotten other jobs. Ones that matter."
Morana nodded. "Yes, the conformity of preps shackles women."
"You're the one that wants to be young and hot forever. You sure you're not shackled with us."
A smile crossed the banshee's lips. Mrs. Lucina had helped Morana to understand that she wasn't any different from the preppy girls. It was just a different aesthetic she had adopted. She had found conformity in another way.
"True. It is wonderful when the Dark One objectifies me. I enjoy being desired by him."
Smerta laughed. "I know what you mean. I loved coming out in the ring, all the guys lusting for me as they cheered me on. Then I got to dominate another woman before their eyes. They were all thinking about me doing more than just pinning her."
Morana was glad the Dark One had set her on this mission.
They moved through the silent dungeon, looking for any signs of danger. The wildhounds cleared it, moving down side passages. Smerta guided them. She knew this dungeon well. She probably helped Led design it.
Eventually, they reached the entrance.
It was bricked up.
"Well, well," said Smerta as she marched up to it. "Dwarven work. That is a wall that's not going to come down."
"No," said Cysgo. She pressed her ear against it. "I can't hear any sound out there."
"Dwarves probably went back to their real homes," Smerta said. "Good. It was wrong of Led and his dick-brother to enslave them."
If the Dark One ever falls, would I want to serve his vanquisher? I would get to live on, but would I come to despise Leo like Smerta hates Led?
Morana didn't think so, but it was a question that made her uneasy.
"Let's go," Smerta said.
"Hela, have you and your girls made it out of the labyrinth yet?"
"I think so. We're heading down a corridor through a door we found bashed down."
Smerta nodded. "Let's hurry."
She ran.
Morana was glad to see that her undead flesh had the stamina to keep up. They hurried back through the labyrinth, Smerta at the lead, the three wildhounds running behind them. The valkyrie wound through the tunnels.
"We found the Vault,"