Before they had even made it down the steps, they heard the sound of gathered masses resounding near the [Dungeon] entrance. Walking down a short corridor, they divided into small teams.

  Witmie and Durn went left toward the small chamber nearby (B). Thesa and Merijest took the non-sapient [Familiars] right into the small circular chamber (C).

  Through the [Party Message] both rooms were confirmed empty. Nothing but uneven brick walls and floors. “Looks like you were probably correct about the funnel, Merijest,” Witmie [Messaged].

  Witmie and Durn slowly made their way down the snaking corridor, taking each step with care to avoid unnecessary noise.

  Thesa and Merijest approached the spot where Witmie had recorded a possible secret door. Sure enough, there was a noticeable door-shaped outline in the bricks of the wall. The only mystery remaining was how to open it. The walls were decorated with sconces that might act as hidden levers, but none gave under pressure. None of the bricks turned out to be hidden switches either.

  While Thesa and Merijest continued to look around, Yabba breathed out a cloud of flies which squeezed between the outline of the door and buzzed through the walls.

  “Will they even have enough strength to–” Thesa started, but was cut off by a quiet squeak from Yabba. The Foxtapus, seeming to understand the noise, closed its eyes and flared its tentacle-tails. Something in the walls clicked and the door slid out of the way.

  “Good work, guys,” Merijest said, squatting to pet both creatures.

  The Foxtapus and Yabba (followed by the jingling Bronze Motif) departed toward chamber A where they waited out of sight of the corridor into the Entrance chamber. Witmie and Durn confirmed their position at the corridor fork just west of chamber A.

  Thesa and Merijest, alone for the first time in a while, passed through the secret doo,r but rather than a hidden chamber, it was simply a hidden corridor which took them directly into chamber F.

  “We knew this was a possibility,” Merijest reassured the party. “We still might be able to use this to force a temporary funnel later.”

  The large southeastern chamber was empty, but the corridor to chamber D was too well lined up with the corridor into the atrium’s eastern entrance.

  Thesa and Merijest looked at one another for a long moment. Merijest’s eyes glossed with held back tears. Thesa gave a weak but encouraging smile. Her heart wrung in her chest. She might never get another chance…

  “I won’t let you down, Mer,” Thesa said. Her smile faltered as she considered the coming battle. “But before we start the battle, I should tell you something.”

  Thesa continued, “before I met you, I was just living the life I was told I should be. The life I was told to want. I was so desperate for approval that I carried out their awful plans, but you’ve given me the opportunity to fix my mistakes and to live the life I want to lead. I just–” her characteristic uncertainty crept back into her voice. “I…I lo…I…” she mumbled. “Thank you.”

  Merijest smiled at her [Witch]. She pulled the half-elf into an embrace. “You flatter me, kitten,” the demoness said. “No matter what happens, I was so lucky to…to…” Merijest’s smile broke and tears started flowing.

  “We…we’re going to get through this,” Thesa said through her own tears. Each buried their head in the other’s shoulder. Thesa felt the soft plumage on Merijest’s neck. She felt warm breath on her neck. This might be her last chance to...

  She lifted her head and when Merijest did the same, their eyes met.

  “Thesa, can I k–” Merijest started to say, but she was cut off. Thesa accepted the request in action, mouth closing with her demoness’s mouth. Merijest’s hands held Thesa’s face. The tips of her retracted claws poked harmlessly against the half-elf’s cheeks. Thesa’s hands wrapped around Merijest and held the scale-covered small of her back.

  Before they could get too carried away, a [Party Message] came in from Witmie. “Hello? Are we ready to go? What are you two doing over there, making out?"

  “...Yeah, Sorry…” Thesa replied, too dazed by the kiss to question responding. When Witmie and Durn flooded the [Party Message] with excited words, Thesa fell out of Merijest’s grip, nearly landing on the ground but her demoness swiftly caught her in a dip, kissed her again, and placed her upright on her feet.

  “Ok, everyone,” Merijest replied. “We can win this. We NEED to win this!”

  “Damn, is Thesa that good at kissing?” Durn shot back.

  “Wait, did I just gain a Level?” Thesa replied.

  As Witmie and Durn lost their minds laughing, Thesa thought back to her realization that social encounters offered more experience for this class than she had expected.

  ***

  There wasn’t much time to read through every option, but leaving anything on the table before the fight would be a mistake. Merijest kept watch while Thesa, face still flushed, flicked through options. She opted for a [Curse] called [Synchronized Swimming] which would let her transport one sentient creature with her when using [Dive]. It had its own cooldown which was longer than that of [Dive], but it was game changing.

  “If we can just stay alive,” Thesa [Party Messaged], “then I can get everyone out one-by-one!”

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  “Love the confidence, but let's not get complacent,” Witmie replied. “We’re still going to need to fight like hell to stay alive.”

  “Good point,” Thesa agreed. “We’ll need to get close enough for me to get from one side of the [Raid] party to the other anyways.”

  “Alright, enough dawdling,” Merijest said. She was back to her confident-self. “Stick to the plan as much as possible but we’ll probably need to improvise.”

  Durn started everything off by casting [Foley Work] to project Witmie’s voice.

  ***

  The sun dominated the cloudless sky. Late-spring heat was broken only by infrequent gusts of cool air. Seedlets and pollen hung along the breeze and the distant shrilling of CicadaRats echoed through the leaves.

  Skilda stood at the front of the [Raid] party. “Everyone maintain your place. The enemy might emerge at any moment.” She delivered the thought via the temporary [Raid Message] to all who were present. She also had a number of smaller [Raid Team Messages] for contacting specific cores: the casters, the healers, and so on. Skilda had been a Knight for a decade and a half, but the past few weeks were more of a head-first dunk into the perils of evil than any of her previous training put together.

  Interspersed among the adventurers were banners with Beautuk’s iconography (mostly depictions of the Three-Horned Bull). Each displayed one of the god’s many epithets: ‘Illustrious Might’, ‘Purger’, ‘Lord of Truth,’ etc.

  Skilda tried to tell herself that the only reason Thesa turned traitor was because the girl was…odd. Everyone knew she was difficult to be around, but [Archknight Superior] had insisted the girl was chosen by Beautuk and good luck changing her mind about anything.

  The combat ahead certainly was important. However, Skilda told herself (again and again) that it would be a swift victory. The [High Devil] was a problem, but a couple of mid Level party members and some monsters were hardly worth the worry. Ultimately, Skilda’s job as [Raid Leader] was to direct the adventurers and devotees to mob the [High Devil] long enough for Sir Peter to show up and deliver the final blow. Smaller groups were prepared to counter each of the other opponents, but it was all secondary. The plan lived and died on whether Merijest lived or died.

  “Miss Skilda,” [Messaged] a turtle-kin [Fighter], “should I be nearer the front?”

  “Stay where you were assigned, Jelthul,”Skilda replied, rolling her eyes. The obnoxious adventurer had the barest of interactions with Thesa and expected star treatment. Kept referring to himself as an ‘eye witness.’ The information he gathered was nothing compared to what they’d extracted from Clorbo. The rabbit-eared gnome [Alchemist] stood by her side, full glass bottles in each shaky hand.

  “Don’t get cold feet on me,” Skilda spoke aloud.

  Clorbo only nodded.

  Then a sound called from the western corridor. It was…Peter?

  “No! I, Sir Peter the Knight, have been stabbed and am now dying, dying…dead. Bleh!” The voice was an accurate imitation of Peter’s but the melodramatic delivery left a lot to be desired. Skilda shook her head. Illusory nonsense.

  “Nobody move,” Skilda sent to the whole party. “They’re trying to pull us in with illusions.”

  The atrium suddenly filled with dust, kicked up by another spell no doubt.

  Skilda readied her sword. “Casters, begin dispelling. Nobody advance!”

  ***

  Durn’s [Dust Cloud] spell was short lived, but anything to drain dispelling resources might be worth it. Even as the cloud dispersed, Yabba was exhaling flies in the thousands. The swarms enveloped the [Raid] party as the Foxtapus released a series of whirling magic bolts. Merijest fired off icicle after icicle and Durn threw additional bursts of dust and air toward the group.

  The [Raid] party refused the bait. Although projectiles struck here and there, nobody moved any closer. A handful of casters shot back volleys, but Merijest’s party simply hid around their respective doorways. Meanwhile, the non-casters parried any target-seeking spells.

  This could only last for so long.

  Again, Durn used [Foley Work] to project Witmie’s voice, her real voice this time. “Hey, folks. Did you all know Beautuk has been lying to everyone?” the bunny-eared half-elf announced. “That’s right, the one and only Beautuk is full of it. He’s been hoarding tortured lives in his Realm to siphon their energy. But [High Devil] Merijest will put a stop to it. Anyone who quits the [Raid] now will be spared. Anyone who quits the [Raid] and joins our side will be rewarded. Everyone else, prepare to suffer the wrath of the hottest demon this side of Driskle!”

  There was a pause and then Witmie added. “Also, Clorbo, thanks for selling out on us after Merijest saved your life. Durn and I never even liked your paintings. We just wanted to support our friend, kind of like what you’re not doing right now.”

  “Ignore their posturing,” the Knight standing front and center called out behind her. “We have them cornered.”

  ***

  Vicaress Skilda caught another fly out of the air. The swarm was an annoyance, but nothing else.

  Among the hundred-or-so gathered adventurers, a very small handful decided to turn tail. The Vicaress wasn’t surprised. That sort of thing often happened just before melee broke out. The Convent devotees remained except for one Skilda didn’t recognize anyway.

  She looked down at Clorbo who was red in the face. Hopefully it was more righteous anger than regret.

  ***

  Yabba took a break from the flies to spit out a few dead birds and the Bronze Motif dropped a few illusory coins. The Foxtapus launched all of them into the [Raid] party if only to damage their morale.

  A [Party Message] went out from Durn. “Peter and Kelreyn tripped my [Alarm]. They’re about to descend to this [Floor].”

  “Alright,” Merijest replied. “Everyone, fallback for the ambush.”

  The whole of Merijest’s party returned to the fork just north of the stairs in chamber E. It was a risky gambit, but starting the fight back here might be their last chance to provoke the [Raid] to advance and break up the funnel at the entrance.

  Bonus Vignette

  “It will cost less [Mana] to project Witmie’s voice than to create the illusion whole-cloth,” Durn explained. Illusions were not her specialty so simpler was better.

  “Why Witmie?” Thesa asked.

  “She’s really good at impressions,” Durn replied.

  Witmie blushed.

  ***

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