Dungeon Builder's Harem Book 03 Ch. 37

Chapter Thirty-Seven

I decided to add a new trap room to the Second Labyrinth on the first floor of the dungeon using the Death Glyph's powers. There was one route, not the most direct, that could bypass the Overgrown Room or the Stalactite Room. I added the Life Sap Room there.

Any living creature that entered the room would feel a chill and find the greenish glow of the room to be eerie. Once inside, the doors would all lock. To open the doors, they would have to find four switches hidden in the room. The entire time, the life would be slowly stolen from them, sapping them until they perished.

I decided not to put the monster girls there. The ghosts were too useful not to be roaming one of the labyrinths. They could come through walls and ceilings and floors. They could ambush adventurers who had gotten deep into the dungeon, a new surprise for them to deal with.

I added them to the Third Labyrinth on the second floor. They would join orcs in patrolling that spot. I scattered them about and then released the Void Crystal. I wanted to start searching for more Mana Veins. I had a theory on where I could find some, but first I had other things to do.

I had magic to practice.

I headed to the throne room to work on it. My fingers itched to try out these new spells and understand what they could do. Morana padded after me. She had cleaned up all the cum on her face. The others seemed to have scattered to the dungeon to have fun with the monster girls.

We reached the throne room. Isatu was sleeping in the corner. Although sustaining her human form was way less energy-intensive than sustaining her dragon form, she tended to sleep more than the others. Maybe she was just used to sleep a lot. But her sleeping position reminded me a lot of her dragon form. Curled up, like she tried to cover her snout by her wing.

"And who is she?" Morana asked, blinking in confusion.

"Isatu, the fire dragoness I've tamed" I said. "She's impressive in her dragon form."

"I bet." Morana shook her head. "Of course you have a dragon. That makes sense. This is that sort of world, isn't it."

"Yep."

I walked to the map in the floor. I stared down at it to see where everyone was. Garnet had not gotten past the guard room and was doing something with Usiku, Paanee, and Baaghi. I smiled at the sight of them having their fun.

Nina, surprisingly, was swimming with the mermaids. She had Skela and Mase right on her. I wondered what they were doing to my naughty porn star. Mom had a pair of ghosts with her. Were Dusata and Grobi suckling at her tits? Were the ghosts nursing at her and enjoying her breast milk? I hoped they were. Lana Fulmine had Cikhala, the ooze's dot overlapping hers while nearby Hagane had Philtara's. Maya and Terra had Duhot and Ipalsi playing with them, the four almost on top of each other. Fara was in the new room I had made for her, having no fun at all. Crystal had found the salamanders. My ice sprite was in the hottest room in the dungeon looking to be just getting ravished by the salamanders. All five were around her.

Well, nothing in the dungeon could hurt her.

I looked around and found Mrs. Lucina had gone all the way to the entrance, a dangerous spot, and had Bhaaloo the werebear and Skamianiela the basilisk playing with her. I smiled at that, glad they were giving them all delights.

If an adventurer party attacked, they would have an annoyed angel to deal with, too. I hoped that didn't happen.

"This is fascinating," Morana said as she watched me search through the dungeon for my monster girls. They stood out from the others with their gold dots. The normal monster girls were blue dots. "You have the entire dungeon on here."

"Yep," I said.

"What's that long tunnel." She pointed to the one shooting off from the entrance.

"Leads to the village of Astovin," I said. "Easier to get supplies if I can just teleport monster girls to the end so they can buy the food. Halia, Fara, and I need to eat. Mom usually does it since she's the main cook."

"That makes sense," Morana said. "So, you have magic. You can cast spells."

"He can," Souleen said, her voice echoing in my mind.

"Wait, we have telepathy, too?" Morana asked.

I nodded. "You can communicate with everyone, a select few, or just one on one. We're all linked through the Void Crystal. Even Halia and Fara are on it."

"A party line," Morana said.

I arched an eyebrow at her. "I've heard that term before, but never really knew where it came from."

"It was back when people used landlines," Morana said. "You would get a lot of people all on the same line. Like a group voice chat."

"Ah, something from the nineties," I said.

Morana nodded. The mythical Nineties. My mom spoke of that as this innocent age before things changed with 911 and then social media. A fun era without all the problems of the day. That was probably bullshit. The past was ever seen with rose-tinted glasses.

"So," I said to Morana. "What should I start with. Flashy Fire magic or should I do some spooky Death magic."

"You know what my vote will be," she said, her nose ring gleaming amid her pale flesh. She arched a dark eyebrow. Her cloak of mist spilled down her back and washed along the floor until it faded.

"Fire it is," I said, winking at her.

"Ah, I didn't make specifically say Death, so you're choosing the opposite of what I meant to be ironic, my Dark Lord?"

"Of course," I said. "Garnet's not here. So I feel someone has to be a brat."

"I would never think you were a brat," she said. "Annoying, maybe."

I smiled at her. "You're relaxing. That's good. I was real worried when you first appeared. I knew you would be sexy as a banshee, but I wasn't prepared for your personality."

"I can be stubborn," she said, her cheeks darkening slightly. A blushing banshee. God, how adorable. "So, let's see your flashy fire magic."

"The spells are all in my soul. I can hear the words. There are some rituals I won't practice. They are only useful in very specific situations, but the normal spells are generally useful in battle. Though there are a few that are also situational."

"Such as?"

"A spell to let me walk on ice without slipping," I said. "I mean, if I'm fighting on a frozen lake, it'll be useful, but a lot of the time, not so much."

Morana smiled. "I suppose that would be true."

"So, like all my powers, it's all based on Words. I summoned you by using your name, same with the monster girls. The Word that defines you, Morana, is also what defines your shape. Fills that vessel with your will. All our thoughts are based on the foundation of words. It is how we command and shape things. It's also important since we know that there's this Incarnation and something associated with her is known as the 'Word of my Father.'"

She nodded.

I pulled out the first spell in the fire tree. "This is a Beginner Tier spell. Low level, you would say. There are four tiers of strength for us dungeon builders. I'm at the Intermediate Tier. It let's me have Level 2 monster girls and cast more powerful spells. Like this!

"Whip and crack, let the lash of Lord Gibil strike!"

Flame lash sent a whip of flame flinging out and slashing in the air before me. Red and orange fires burned through the air. Morana arched an eyebrow. The heat from it washed over me. She nodded, a smile on her lips.

"Very flashy." She bit her lower lip. "How well is it at transferring energy. It doesn't last long. Normal fire probably wouldn't do much damage if it brushed someone for such a brief moment. Second-degree burns, maybe."

"It's magic," I said.

She rolled her eyes. "Such a lazy excuse for things. This is why I love sci-fi and hate Lord of the Rings."

"How can you hate Lord of the Rings?" I stared at her and shook my head. "But you love Star Wars?"

She rolled her eyes. "That's not sci-fi either. That's fantasy with a techno-babble veneer thrown on it. Especially those new movies." She made a retching sound. "No, no, Star Trek, and not that new shitty stuff either. Old Trek. Battlestar Galactica, minus those dumb angels or whatever they were, Babylon 5, Earth: Final Conflict, Black Mirror, Space Above and Beyond, Firefly, the Expanse. Lots of good, hard sci-fi out there."

"Nice," I said, nodding. "I haven't even heard of some of those. You're an interesting girl, Morana."

"I'm a banshee now," she said with pride, swelling up.

"A sexy and gothy banshee."

She snorted. "Gothy? That's not a word."

"Sure it is," I said. "I made it into an adjective with that little Y. Sounds cute, too. Just like you."

She rolled her eyes. "My Dark Lord, you are proving to be so disappointing. You are ruining all my fantasies."

"I can roleplay for you later," I said as I dredged up the next spell to use, Blazing Breath. "I'll conjure a dark cloak, some whips and chains, and then I'll torment my banshee with all my evil lusts and make you quiver."

Morana shivered. The mist spilling down her back poured even faster. "Would you truly do that for me? I would love that. Helpless to your passion. You would enslave me with your dark lusts and turn me into your dark queen."

"I'll even make a crown for you," I said. "Something silver."

She smiled for a moment. "Fine, fine, you have redeemed yourself, my Dark Lord."

We both burst into laughter. It was a delight seeing Morana laugh. She was always so serious, but now she was letting down that facade she hid behind. Mrs. Lucina had spanked right through the pretension that Morana had hidden behind.

Isatu let out a snort. I glanced at the dragon girl. She was still sleeping. She had hardly stirred. I guessed we weren't disturbing her. Fire was her element, after all, none of the spells I was practicing right now could harm her.

I faced forward and then spoke, "A gout of flame, let the breath of Lord Gibil burn!"

Flames burst from my mouth and swept over the ground. They spilled out of me, the heat crackling before me. It was like standing before a bonfire, and yet it didn't affect me like that. I didn't feel like my face was drying out or anything. The fire vanished in a second, leaving behind air rippling from the heat for a second.

"Very impressive," said Morana. "You would do well at a carnival."

I smiled. "Maybe I should take my act to Astovin and entertain the kiddies. Abandon this whole Dark Lord thing."

"But you've promised whips and chains," Morana said, quivering. "You can't do that if you abandon being my Dark Lord."

"True," I said. "Protection of fire, let the warmth of Lady Lamashtu shield!"

Fiery Blood heated me and made me immune to fire. Not just my own. "I think I could take a swim in magma with this spell going, Morana."

"You can't swim in magma," Morana said. "It's molten rock, so it's still way dense. You would just walk on the surface of it. You'd maybe sink in a bit, but it would be slow. You'd essentially float on it."

"There goes the dream of jumping into Mount Doom and pretending I'm Gollum," I said, shaking my head. "That was a Lord of the Ring reference for those of you that hate it."

"Thanks," she said. "I had nooooo idea what we were talking about."

I smiled at her. "Definitely like you now that you've come out of your shell. The real you is quite fun, you know that?"

"How horrifying." She shivered. "Fun? I'll have to work on getting back to dark and depressing." She slouched and put on a vacant look. "The ennui of life is drowning me in despair. I yearn for the cold embrace of the earth, buried for all eternity with the worms that shall feast upon my slowly rotting corpse until I am one with the soil."

"There you go," I said, shaking with mirth-. Then I unleashed Fireburst. "Fire explodes, let the rage of Lord Gibil erupt!"

A great burst of flame erupted on the far side of the throne room. The orange and red tongues leaped up into the air and vanished, leaving charred stones behind. The air danced and rippled. Isatu continued to sleep. What did it take to wake her up?

Morana arched an eyebrow. "That one was strong. Intermediate Magic?"

"Yep," I said. "Flame burst and burn, let the anger of Lord Gibil destroy!"

A spurt of flame flew from my hand and streaked across the room to strike the far wall where it burst across it, leaving a scorch mark behind. I smiled, loving the effect that Flame Spurt had. That could burn right through someone.

"Flashy," she said, cocking her head. "I would not want to be hit by that."

"Right?" Then I smiled at her. "You want to see something wild." I threw my arms wide. "Incarnation of flames, let the passion of Lady Lamashtu embrace!"

Flamebody engulfed me in, well, flames. I became a walking bonfire. It didn't hurt me. I felt fine, but I was a moving inferno. I advanced on Morana, my arms still wide like I wanted to hug her. She arched an eyebrow.

"Burning to death is not how I wish to die, my Dark Lord," she said. "I want to leave behind a beautiful, pristine corpse."

"For the worms to feed on and reduce you to soil."

"Exactly." She quivered, her small breasts jiggling. "To die young before age ravishes me."

"Well, you're a monster girl, so age won't ravish you." I smiled. "I know a dungeon builder who's been here for fifty years. Still looks like he's in his twenties."

"So I don't have to die to stay beautiful." Morana smiled. "Now I sound vain. Ugh, did I really talk like that all the time? All spooky and disturbing? Was I just creeping people out instead of awing them with how deep and profound I was?"

I killed Flamebody. "Yep."

"So what does it say about you that you brought me here over other girls," she said. "Like Alizee."

I smiled at the thought of the blonde cheerleader with her flawless face and those perky tits. She had toned thighs and an ass. "I still have two more glyphs to gain."

Morana rolled her eyes. "Still, why me? You had your pick of hot girls. Porn stars. Actresses. Sluts who put out. Why a weird virgin like me who pretended to be the queen of the dead?"

I pulled her naked body to mine, sliding my arms around her. The black mist spilling off her chilled my arms. She was cold to the touch, and yet that felt appropriate. "Because you were memorable. You stood out. You were your own person, even if it was a weird, gothy person." I slid my hands down and grabbed her ass. "Because you made an impression on me. I didn't just masturbate to any girl at our college."

"Why does that make me feel better?" Morana asked. "When it comes off so disturbing. Why do I feel proud that you jerked off to me and not disgusted?"

"Because you're the part of Morana that could fall in love with me," I said, rocking her. "And the part of Morana I could love. And love is accepting that your boyfriend jerked off to you before you got together. Didn't you rub your virgin pussy thinking about guys?"

"Mmm, Brandon Lee," she purred. "He's so sexy in the Crow. And he died. So it's so tragic. Young and hot. He'll never grow old."

"Wow, you never once masturbated to me?" I asked, massaging her rump.

"Not even once, my Dark Lord." She lifted her face. "And now you have a harem of fifty-something monster girls, so if I'm ever horny, I have a lot of options."

"Maybe, just once, you'll masturbate to me?" I asked, not sure why I wanted her to say that.

She hugged me back. "Sure." She wiggled, my cock throbbing against her. "Now, you were going to show off those Death spells. I'm curious.

"Right, right," I said. "Sorry. But this shouldn't hurt you."

She lifted her head. "What?"

"Cold and hungry, let the power of Lord Nergal consume!" I chanted, the words for Leach Life spilling from me.

She gasped as I tried to steal energy from her, but it didn't work. She wasn't "alive." She was a banshee. Undead. I thought so. If she were alive, and I had a feeling that "life" would include Hagane and Terra, I would have stolen her energy to heal my wounds.

"That felt... ticklish," she said. "Mmm, what did you try to do?"

I winked at her and then broke away. "Next one is Endure Pain. Lets me get hurt and not feel it. Not really something I'm into. I more prefer to armor myself with Granite Flash and Metalcoat, and just not get hurt at all. But if I had started with the Death Glyph, it would be useful. Getting hurt is quite the distraction."

"I bet," Morana said. She swallowed. "You really fight, don't you. You've killed before."

I closed my eyes, nodded. "I've slain four dungeon builders plus a lot of monster girls."

She stroked her hand to my heart. "I knew I saw real pain in your eyes." She squeezed hers shut. "I liked to pretend my life was pain, but it really wasn't all that bad. I didn't have to fight. I didn't have to hurt others. I didn't have to suffer to live. I just had annoying parents. I was such a shallow twit."

"Most young people are." I smiled at her. "But the good news, real suffering's going to come." I tried to laugh like it was a joke, but it died in my throat. I would be facing Halia's father again. Anguin would rip me apart. These Death spells were supposed to be the way to hurt him. Leach Life would be good. Endure Pain...

"Pain retreats, let the chill of Lady Ereshkigal sustain!"

The internal spell fell on me, the last of the Beginner Tier ones. Only two for Death. I broke from Morana and marched to the wall. I faced it and then punched it as hard as I could. I struck the stone. I should have felt my knuckle break. I felt the impact, but to me it was like I bumped into it.

I flexed my hand. "I think I broke a knuckle. Can't be sure."

"If you can't be sure," Morana said, "then that spell has a major flaw. You could be badly injured and not even realize it."

"Yeah." I glanced at her. "Smart. I could be bleeding to death with this spell." I dismissed it. "Shit!"

My hand burst with pain. I rubbed at my knuckle and felt where I had broken it. I winced and then muttered the words to Soothing Touch. The lesser healing spell numbed the pain away and repaired the damaged knuckle.

Morana had a big smirk on her lips and shook her head.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm being dumb," I said and then drew on the next spell, an Intermediate. "Death reaps and harvests, let the scythe of Lord Nergal kill!"

A slash of deathly energy shot from me and washed across the room. It hit the wall and passed through it. "Spectral Scythe," I said, nodding. "That's a spell."

"It can go through armor and leaves behind numbing pain," Souleen said, her voice echoing in my mind. "And don't go hurting yourself."

I smiled. She could be a bit of a mother. "That spell is going to be useful against Anguin."

"Anguin?" Morana asked.

"He's the man that killed every single one of my monster girls. I barely managed to drive him away. Only Halia and Fara survived." I explained what had happened.

Morana swallowed. She looked even paler than usual. Then she straightened. "You're stronger now. You have Nina Naughty, the salamanders, the ghosts, and me. You just need a plan to fight him. You found ways to hurt him. Light magic."

"Yeah," I said. I had one more Death spell and a ritual. The ritual was Animate Corpse. I could make zombies and skeletons to serve me. A macabre part of me thought about using the corpses of adventurers that way. It was disgusting.

I didn't want to go that far. It was bad enough I killed them, but to abuse their corpses?

"There must be more spells," Morana said.

"You'll love this one," I said and winked at her. "The grave embraces, let the embrace of Lady Ereshkigal preserve!"

* \ * / *

Morana gasped as the moment Leo finished saying those words, he collapsed. He lay limp on the ground, his face going pale. Her eyes widened in shock. Then she darted to him. She fell to her knees beside him, her fingers cupping his face. She stroked him, feeling for any sign of life. He was cold to the touch.