Dungeon Builder's Harem Book 02 Ch. 08

Chapter Eight

I shook the sleep from my vision and I marched out of the bedroom. My mom hurried up from the kitchen, a look of concern on her woody face. Her leafy hair fluttered behind her. She swallowed as she saw me marching forward.

"Leo?"

"Get ready," I growled and went to my armor and weapons.

"Ooh, some bad boys are breaching the dungeon," Garnet said. She wore a white apron over her slender form. My little sister struck a dramatic pose. "Let's show them the folly of their ways. Kweh, heh, heh!"

Our mother glanced at her in shock. "This isn't a game, young lady."

Garnet deflated and muttered, "It's like a game."

"Leo," Lana said as she held open my gray robes for me to slip into.

As I thrust my arms in, I thought, "Who's seen the intruders?"

I was connected telepathically to everyone in the dungeon. Halia blinked and glanced at me. It looked like even she was in the network. By vowing to serve me, she had linked herself to the Void Crystal.

"I got eyes on them," Hela reported. My wildhound's thoughts reverberated in my mind. "We're about to pounce on them. Looks like a barbarian, a rogue, a mage, and a cleric."

"I know that cleric," added Nos. "And the rogue. They attacked us with Halia."

Halia groaned. "Norso and Milies?"

"I guess they got unbamboozled," I muttered.

"Well, my sexiness can only last so long," Garnet said with a shrug. "I'm amazing, but no one's that good."

Mom gave Garnet a curious look.

"Later," I said, belting on my gray robe while Lana lifted my breastplate. She helped to strap it on me.

A monster girl died. Seeng, one of my satyrs, just perished. I swallowed. Her soul was returned to the Void Crystal. When the battle was over, if we survived, I could revive her. It would be like she slept. But so long as the intruders were in the dungeon, I could do nothing to restore their flesh.

"I want them captured," I said. "Deal nonlethal damage."

"But they just killed Seeng, Lord Leo," Havas answered, sounding angry.

"And she'll be rewarded for her sacrifice," I said as Lana strapped the last one on. "I don't want them killed if we can avoid it."

"Will do, Lord Leo," Sviesos answered. The first-ever monster girl I made. Not a companion like Lana or my mother, but a true one birthed from the Void Crystal and my own will.

Kibir died as I took my lightning spear from Lana. It crackled with electricity. I had trained hard on it. I shook my head. I hadn't even had a chance to practice my new spells. Well, hopefully I wouldn't need them.

I marched out of the living room, my companions and Halia with me.

"I'm glad that you're trying to capture them," Mom said. "You shouldn't hurt people."

"I don't want to," I said. "But I will if I have to. I won't let them kill us all."

"He'll protect us," Garnet said. My little sister sounded so thrilled. "He's so gallant. Kweh, heh, heh, that's how he won this naughty succubus's heart."

"You loved your brother before coming here," Mom said. "Your crush was plain as day."

"Yep," Maya said. "Why do you think we got along so well."

"I know," Garnet said. "I'm glad we both got him. There are things we have to do."

"Now's not the time," I growled, feeling Havas dying. I swallowed. Was I getting my monster girls killed for nothing?

I threw open the door to the throne room. It was one of the largest rooms in the dungeon; shaped like the home plate in baseball, it was widest at my end. My throne sat on a raised dais with smaller chairs flanking it for my companions and Halia. I mounted my throne and gazed down at why I came here.

The dungeon map lay in here, a large section of the floor that showed off every bit of my domain. Dots glowed on it. I was a white dot surrounded by golden dots, my companions. Even Halia was a gold dot now, not a green dot like she used to be. My monster girls were blue dots. They were all converging on the attackers, who were red dots. They were in the opening labyrinth of the dungeon, fighting in a corridor. The dots moved about in staccato movements as the map updated only every second. The only monster girls not surging in that way were the mermaids.

The oozes were on the move. They were the ones with the farthest to travel. Most of the monster girls were at the fight. I swallowed. Should I send in Usiku, Baaghi, and Paanee? They were stationed in a room beyond my throne room, three dots in the center, the last line of defense before my throne room.

Nos died.

I swallowed. She had taken pain. She had suffered for me because of these damned adventurers. Halia, wearing her armor, gripped the pommel of her father's magic sword sheathed at her side. She paced back and forth, looking tense. She had broken into my dungeon a few weeks back with Norso and Milies. I had spared them and captured her to try to reason with adventurers.

I had shown Halia the depths of my conviction and won her to my cause. I didn't feel like that was possible.

The blue dots were all over the red. The four of them were getting mobbed. I swallowed, watching the fight and wishing that I could be there. I only had one life. I didn't get to come back. Halia and I were the only ones who could truly die. The others were made of my magic, vessels animated by my will. They had souls, though. They were unique beings who deserved to live. Who didn't deserve the pain they suffered for me.

"Come on," I muttered, gripping my spear. "No more of you die."

Mom hugged me from behind. Though I couldn't feel her body through my breastplate, just having her hold me was a comfort. "You're doing the right thing."

"Thanks, Mom," I said.

"You are, Leo," Maya added, coming up on my other side.

"You're noble." Lana smiled at me. "It's why we all love you."

"I loved him for being cute," Garnet said. My little succubus smiled. "And for making me wet. But this noble thing's working for me, too. Kweh, heh, heh, we'll show those adventurers!"

"Norso..." Halia groaned. "He had such a crush on me. He only became an adventurer to try to impress me."

"Explains a lot," I said. "Norso's the rogue?"

She nodded.

Only one of the red dots was moving now. He retreated towards the entrance, but a flood of monster girls rushed after him. They swarmed him in moments. His dot shifted a few more times then went still.

"All captured, Lord Leo," Hela reported. The wildhound sounded so pleased with herself. "We're binding them with their own rope."

I let out a heavy sigh. "Good, I'll be right there."

I marched forward, striding across the map itself. It was a part of the floor, a magical projection and not something I could damage with my boots. The butt of my spear tinked on the stones. My companions flowed after me, Garnet skipping along and humming.

We left behind the throne room and soon reached the guard room. Usiku, Baaghi, and Paanee were relaxing now. They nodded to me, Usiku looking amused. Baaghi and Paanee both gave me interesting looks.

"I thought there was a reason I wanted to serve you," Baaghi said. Companions could serve the dungeon builder who slew their original master, but only if they felt like he was compatible with them. Someone they could serve or even love.

"You are interesting," hissed Paanee,

"Yes, he is," Usiku said. She winked at me.

I winked back at my fomorian.

We worked our way through the labyrinth. Everyone knew the location of the traps. The knowledge was in all our brains, so avoiding them was easy. Not that they would activate for any of us. The dungeon knew who belonged and who didn't.

The mermaids rotated the bridge for us. They preened in the water and blew me kisses as I crossed it to exit their room. Garnet blew them kisses back as she pranced down the edge of the bridge. She hummed, her tail swishing.

She never took anything seriously.

We moved through the labyrinthine tunnels, passing trap after trap, until we came to where my monster girls had the adventurers bound and gagged. Hela had her foot planted on the back of the barbarian, a hulking figure in furs with blue paint drawn on his face and bare skin in patterns. Beyond him lay the rogue lying against the wall, hands behind his back, a gag in his mouth. The mage looked the most scared. Sviesos held his staff of carved wood with a crystal held in the root-like protrusions at the tip. Farther down was Milies the cleric. He was on his back, Cikata's gelatinous form sitting on his chest.

She waved to me.

"Did we do good, Lord Leo?" Hela asked. She bounced to me and fell to her knees before me. Her black tail wagged behind her and dog-ears twitched.

I petted her. "You all were amazing." I looked out at them, especially at the satyrs who had lost two of their number. "Bakara, you and your satyrs were fantastic."

They all smiled at me, their large breasts jiggling.

"Sviesos, form up an escort. One ooze, and two of the other types. We're taking these to Astovin."

Sviesos nodded. "Khur, Doodh, Gintaras, Zaibas, Cikata, Gwyllt, and Marwo."

The named monster girls all moved to the prisoners. Cikata stood up from hers and yanked the cleric to his feet. Khur pulled Norso who stared at Halia with shock. She stood at my side, her hand on her pommel.

"He's not what you think," she told her former adventuring companion. "He's a good man."

Norso's eyes bulged. Then he snarled something through his gag. Khur spun him around and pushed him towards the exit. The rogue twisted his head around and kept snarling through his gag at Halia.

She wilted.

"Are you okay?" I asked my paladin. I put a comforting hand on her polished, golden pauldron. She wore less armor than I, a low-cut affair that showed off her large breasts.

"I knew there would be those who wouldn't understand, but Norso?" She glanced to the priest. He, too, stared at her in shock, but instead of being outraged, he sagged, his shoulders slumping. "He hates me."

"He's just pissed that you found a man to love and it's not him," said Maya. "He did that beta male thing of being the nice guy thinking he was earning brownie points. That you would have to fall in love if he kept doing nice things for you."

I blinked at that and glanced at Maya. When did she get so perceptive?

"It doesn't matter," Halia said, lifting her head. "I know I made the right choice when I chose to serve you. There are no stopping dungeon builders from coming to this world. You want to make peace with us. You want to stop the others from hurting and dominating us. And you want to understand why." Halia gave me a penetrating look. "I want to know why, too. What dark force keeps drawing you dungeon builders to this world.

"I want it to stop."

"We'll figure that out," I said. "Come on, we have a walk to Astovin."